The Business of Hedging: Sound Risk Management without the Rocket-Science(Financial Times Series)

In today's financial climate, risk management can no longer remain the preserve of the select few. Every manager in every business must have knowledge and expertise to control the financial challenges they face. Hedging financial risk is the most fundamental and effective technique of protecting a business against adverse market conditions. What is more, in the world of business, profits are largely the result of successful risk-taking. Rocket-science is not a prerequisite of hedging. You don't even need a trading or financial background to be able to learn how to put the principles into good practice. The concepts and many of the executions of hedging are surprisingly simple. So do you need the plain facts? And how can you trim your risk with your eyes open? Starting with the fundamentals, The Business of Hedging is a systematic and clearly explained tour of financial risk management. The Business of Hedging analyses the concept of risk and the various forms it can take, and illustrates how hedging can be used as a countermeasure.The book dispels the mystique of high finance that surrounds the art of hedging and brings it back down to the people that need it most - the ordinary business person. It describes: *the various forms of risk, such as interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk, and commodity price risk *shows how these can have adverse effects on your business *reviews the different tools available to neutralise these including: forwards, swaps, futures and options, *illustrates how best to apply them to everyday business. *shows the strategies used by top companies around the world over the last century and a half, and describes how you can use the same techniques within your own company.

About the Author :
John J. Stephens practised law in Johannesburg for 22 years, after which he was CEO of a business-consulting firm for 10 years. He has acted as Financial Advisor to some major financial institutions and, most recently, he has been developing and conducting seminars for training staff in risk management. John is a non-executive director of a UK-based Web software development firm and acts as risk management consultant. He is a contributor of articles on risk management to international financial magazines and also acts as keynote speaker and seminar leader.

Review :
Indispensable reading for anyone who runs a business, is in risk management, or simply wants to learn more regarding the opposite side of speculating. "- Erik Gebhard, President, ALTAVEST Worldwide Trading, Inc. " [John] has the rare ability to make the most complicated subject matter comprehensible and easy to understand, while avoiding oversimplification. This book brings the important subject of hedging down from the rarified heights of academia and places it firmly in the hands of practical business managers, ready for use. "- Professor J. H. Reynhardt (Ph.D), Vista University " This book is a must for every business-person and director who is serious about executing their fiduciary duties towards stakeholders in a responsible manner. The author has succeeded in creating a guide which serves the beginner as well as the practitioner equally well. A well-written book technically, it is interspersed with good humour making for light reading. "- Martin G. Kruger, Independent Financial Advisor " John Stephens succeeds in explaining the business of hedging in an understandable manner whilst keeping the reader's interest with his stimulating way of handling a topic better understood by bankers than businessmen. "- Chris Perold, General Manager, Finance, Denel Aerospace"