Synopses & Reviews
Risk is at the core of any financial business.
Quantitative Risk Management introduces the technical and managerial tools you need to assess and respond to risk. This comprehensive volume puts risk management in the hands of those on the front lines responsible for managing firms and their profits, and also provides readers access to a website that offers practical guidance for using the techniques discussed in the text.
In recent years, risk tools and techniques have grown increasingly mathematical and technical. Yet risk management is much more than just numbers and must be placed in the context of the broader goals of managing people, processes, and institutions. Author and risk expert Thomas Coleman reconciles the mathematical and managerial elements of the field in a way that all financial professionals can understand.
Understanding risk requires thinking carefully about uncertainty. Unfortunately, as humans we are often bad at doing so. Coleman introduces basic concepts in probability, focusing particularly on paradoxes and conundrums that highlight the errors and fallacies we can easily fall into in order to point you towards a deeper appreciation of how to think about, and manage, uncertainty.
Of course, risk management requires knowledge and appreciation of technical tools. This book details the techniques and formulas used to calculate risk, covering both fundamentals and advanced topics in a clear, accessible way. Coleman introduces and explains quantitative tools including volatility, VaR, contribution to risk, best hedges, and many others.
Beyond the numbers, Coleman takes you through issues such as managing people, data and IT, and infrastructure. In the end, risk management is about building a culture and organization that can respond to risk and withstand unanticipated events.
Innovative, wide-ranging in scope, and bringing the essentials of managing risk to life, Quantitative Risk Management uniquely combines the models, tools, and techniques that anyone working in the financial field must understand to build better, safer risk management practices.
Synopsis
An updated guide to risk management for financial firms post crisis. Written by an experienced risk manager and quantitative analyst, the book updates the theories and tools used to assess, measure, and monitor risk with their applications. The book then presents a guide map for tactical and strategic decision-making to control risk and capitalize on opportunities. Risk management, like portfolio management, must become a core firm competency. Quantitative Risk Measurement serves as an updated tutorial that addresses the current state of risk management and presents improvements in the practice and implementation. From risk measures, probability, and regulatory issues to a typology of financial institution riks and portfolio risk analytics and reporting, Coleman provides the models, tools, and techniques firms need to fully integrate the best in risk management practices. Includes interactive graphs, and portfolio risk and analytics computer code, documentation, and risk-reporting.
Synopsis
State of the art risk management techniques and practices—supplemented with interactive analyticsAll too often risk management books focus on risk measurement details without taking a broader view. Quantitative Risk Management delivers a synthesis of common sense management together with the cutting-edge tools of modern theory. This book presents a road map for tactical and strategic decision making designed to control risk and capitalize on opportunities. Most provocatively it challenges the conventional wisdom that "risk management" is or ever should be delegated to a separate department. Good managers have always known that managing risk is central to a financial firm and must be the responsibility of anyone who contributes to the profit of the firm.
A guide to risk management for financial firms and managers in the post-crisis world, Quantitative Risk Management updates the techniques and tools used to measure and monitor risk. These are often mathematical and specialized, but the ideas are simple. The book starts with how we think about risk and uncertainty, then turns to a practical explanation of how risk is measured in today's complex financial markets.
- Covers everything from risk measures, probability, and regulatory issues to portfolio risk analytics and reporting
- Includes interactive graphs and computer code for portfolio risk and analytics
- Explains why tactical and strategic decisions must be made at every level of the firm and portfolio
Providing the models, tools, and techniques firms need to build the best risk management practices, Quantitative Risk Management is an essential volume from an experienced manager and quantitative analyst.
Synopsis
State-of-the-art risk management techniques and practices for understanding, assessing, and responding to risk in financial firms
"The title says it all. This really is 'A Practical Guide to Risk Management.' It is an enjoyable read for almost anyone in the investment field, while still providing lots of insights to risk professionals. A very well-written book!" Roger G. Ibbotson, Chairman & CIO, Zebra Capital Management; Professor in Practice of Finance, Yale School of Management
"By combining solid probabilistic foundations with a relentless focus on real practitioner issues, Coleman has produced an invaluable reference for experienced risk managers and traders and also an introductory text for those new to the field." Andrew Morton, Global Head of G10 Rates, Citigroup; co-originator of the Heath-Jarrow-Morton interest rate model
"Very clear and easy to understand, concrete and matter-of-fact. It is a rare effort to make difficult subjects understandable while remaining true to the technical and professional foundations." Cyril Le Touzé, Chief Risk Officer, Crédit MutuelCIC Group
About the Author
Thomas S. Coleman has worked in the finance industry for more than twenty years and has considerable experience in trading, risk management, and quantitative modeling. Mr. Coleman currently manages a risk advisory consulting firm. He is the author, together with Roger Ibbotson and Larry Fisher, of Historical U.S. Treasury Yield Curves.
Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
PART ONE Managing Risk 1
CHAPTER 1 Risk Management versus Risk Measurement 3
CHAPTER 2 Risk, Uncertainty, Probability, and Luck 15
CHAPTER 3 Managing Risk 67
CHAPTER 4 Financial Risk Events 101
CHAPTER 5 Practical Risk Techniques 137
CHAPTER 6 Uses and Limitations of Quantitative Techniques 169
PART TWO Measuring Risk 173
CHAPTER 7 Introduction to Quantitative Risk Measurement 175
CHAPTER 8 Risk and Summary Measures: Volatility and VaR 187
CHAPTER 9 Using Volatility and VaR 269
CHAPTER 10 Portfolio Risk Analytics and Reporting 311
CHAPTER 11 Credit Risk 377
CHAPTER 12 Liquidity and Operational Risk 481
CHAPTER 13 Conclusion 529
About the Companion Web Site 531
References 533
About the Author 539
Index 541