Description

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Written by one of North America's foremost authorities on the subject, this is the first sustained treatment of the complex relationship between real interest rates and investment returns. Spiro focuses specifically on the problems of measuring and predicting real interest rates in order to optimize corporate investment and borrowing strategy. The book provides a wealth of practical advice in such key areas as choosing types of investment instruments, selecting the best term to maturity, and assessing the risks versus rewards of different types of bond instruments. Considering the complex subject, the book is surprisingly well written. Corporate financial officers, in particular, will want to read it. Journal of Accountancy

Written by one of North America's foremost authorities on the subject, this is the first sustained treatment of the complex relationship between real interest rates and investment returns. The author focuses specifically on the problems of measuring and predicting real interest rates in order to optimize corporate investment and borrowing strategy. An invaluable decisionmaking tool for financial officers, treasurers, and portfolio managers, the book is written in clear, non-technical language and provides a wealth of practical advice in such key areas as choosing types of investment instruments, selecting the best term to maturity, and assessing the risks versus rewards of different types of bond instruments.

Spiro bases his book on rigorous empirical research and relates new findings in financial economics to the on-the-job problems and uncertainties faced by corporate investment managers. He highlights research which indicates that even moderate rates of inflation can have a substantial negative effect on the real interest rate and provides detailed empirical estimates to help the reader predict the value of the real interest rate under varying conditions. Additional topics covered include the impact of real interest rate changes on stock prices, the effects of exchange rate risk on international fixed income investment and borrowing, and the effects of government debts and deficits on real interest rates. Taken together, the information offered here will enhance the financial professional's ability to predict important interest rate trends and therefore increase the quality of their investment and financial decisions.

About the Author

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PETER S. SPIRO is Head of the Economic Forecasts Section at Ontario Hydro, one of North America's largest electric utility companies. In this capacity, he provides advice regarding a large borrowing program and also the investments of the corporation's pension fund. He was Manager of Fixed Income Investments for a major international corporation's pension fund, and was a lecturer on economics at the University of Toronto. Spiro has specialized in the study of interest rates throughout his career, and his original research on the subject has been published in numerous professional periodicals.