Guidebook for Today's Asian Investor (eBook)

Bruce Von Cannon was most recently the chief representative in Asia for the Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild. He frequently speaks in academic settings as well as advising private banking clients.  

Preface 6
Acknowledgements 8
Contents 11
List of Figures 13
Chapter 1: Understanding the Money Markets 15
Chapter 2: Understanding the Fixed Income Markets 23
The Argument for Investing in Fixed Income Instruments 24
Risks in the Bond Markets 27
Credit Ratings and Issuer Risk 28
Interest Rate Risk 31
How Likely Is a Default in the Global Bond Market? 32
Chapter 3: Understanding Equity Markets 35
Time Horizon 36
Diversification Usually Works in Your Favor When Selecting Equities for Your Investment Portfolio 36
Price Volatility 38
Chapter 4: Derivatives and Structured Products 41
Using Options in the Money Market Segment of Your Investment Portfolio 44
Using Options with the Bond or Fixed Income Portion of Your Portfolio 48
Using Options with the Equity Portion of Your Portfolio 49
Chapter 5: The Key to Investing Wisely 52
Have a Time Horizon 52
Set Your Own Internal Risk Tolerance Level 53
Have a Return Expectation 54
Have a Yardstick for Managing Investment Success 55
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket 57
Chapter 6: Three Useful Concepts to Investing Wisely 59
Understanding Systemic Risk vs. Non-systemic Risk 59
The Concept of Correlation 60
Understanding the Concept of Standard Deviation 62
Chapter 7: Building an Investment Portfolio 65
Building a Conservative or Income Risk Portfolio 65
Building a Balanced or Moderate Risk Portfolio 69
Building an Aggressive or Growth Risk Portfolio 73
Chapter 8: Understanding International Indices and Exchange Traded Funds 79
Understanding ETFs 83
Chapter 9: Understanding Benchmarking 88
Applying the Concept of Benchmarking to Your Investment Process 90
Benchmark by Type 91
Benchmark by Geography 92
Assessing the Usefulness of Benchmarks 93
Chapter 10: Investing in the Future: The Glass Is Half Full 95
Continued Globalization of Investment Choices 96
Continued Proliferation of Hi-tech Investment Gadgetry that Brings Information to the Individual Investor 99
Continued Threat of Global Conflicts and New and Different Market Risks 101
Greater Effort by All Governments to Collect Taxes and Erect Tax Compliance Legislation 101
Continued Opportunities to Grow One’s Wealth! 102
Index 106