iBanker.jp

I took the liberty of commenting on an Alphaville post Death bonds’ unique risks . My comment is as follows: Life Settlements are clearly one of the asset classes you need to be extra-cautious investing into, but I have to disagree with the overall tone of this post, which appears to label ALL life settlement investments as money-losing and/or fraudulent products. Among the many life settlement investment managers I had a chance to speak with, there is a handful of people who seem to know what they are doing, having both the right industry experience and a (audited!) track record to back it up. The bottom line is, never invest into something you don't understand. Do your due diligence (especially if that is you fiduciary responsibility!). Pay attention to the valuation policy (no straight-line appreciation to life expectancy), type of policies (avoid those in their contestable period, be wary of the jumbo policies as they tend not to adhere to VBT), and check if the appropri...

CFA Japan is conducting a seminar on insurance-linked products. The speaker, Mr. Masaaki Katusyama is an industry veteran, with deep knowledge of re-insurance business. He also has the ability to bridge the worlds of capital markets and insurance in a plain and easy-to-follow language. Highly recommended event. Details can be found here: ＣＡＴボンドへの投資 - 金融危機で実証された、分散効果の高い保険リンク証券投資戦略 ■

One passage in this article ( Madoff claims Ponzi scheme’s roots legal ) in FT sent me laughing out loud: "Mr Madoff also blamed institutional clients for failing to ask the right questions and regulators for failing to spot the fraud" So, it's not really HIS fault that investors were defrauded. They have themselves to blame... The man is total nuts. ■

Are you a dog person or a cat person? Well, I don't know about the dogs, but the "cats" have been gaining popularity with investors for some time now. Not that purring furry things, of course, but the Cat Bonds.

トヨタ、販売好転につながるか　電子制御「シロ」判定 やっぱりJapan bashingだったよね・・・

S&P downgrades Japan to AA- : "Yen madness on Thursday — following Standard & Poors’ downgrading of Japan’s credit rating to AA- from AA. Just some hours ago we were discussing with a HF manager what would happen if the JGBs crash. While this is unlikely to be the start of it, the outlook is anything but rosy.

Two days ago I sat the CAIA Level 2 exam. Likewise my post on CAIA Level 1 , I cannot give much detail here, but the overall impression is as follows: Significantly harder than Level 1. More calculations, more detail required. There were again some questions I do not recall seeing answers to in Schweser Notes. Essay questions are not very difficult, but require to list up/describe certain processes/reasons for certain events, so memorizing these lists came in very useful (although I am not sure my answers were accurate enough). As such, I am much less confident in the outcome than I was for Level 1. Will be waiting for the results. RELATED POSTS: Preparing for CAIA Level 2 CAIA Level 1 Exam Comparison of financial certifications CFA and CAIA Designations ■