Product Description

"It has been said that in theory, theory translates into practice, but in practice it never does. This breakthrough book defies this conventional wisdom in a unique way. It is a must read for anyone interested in structuring derivatives products." — Dr Peter Carr, Principal, Banc of America Securities

"Harry Kat has done a masterful job explaining the world of exotic options and the role that these options play in building structured securities. Dr Kat conveys the essence of these products from the perspective of a very experienced financial engineer but in a fashion that the less experienced reader can easily follow and understand. In this, Dr Kat has shown himself to be a marvellous teacher. I'm confident that this book will prove to be one of the classics to be read by future generations of financial engineers." — John F. Marshall, Principal, Marshall, Tucker & Associates, and Founding Executive Director, International Association of Financial Engineers

"This is a refreshingly new and different book about putting together structured equity products. It is not a book about deriving formulas but a book about applying formulas. The emphasis on hedging costs and alternative ways of reducing those costs by modifying the structure will be appreciated both by those who actually manufacture and sell these products and those who buy them." — Don Chance, First Union Professor, Virginia Tech

"This book is about applications, about solving real business problems with derivatives.... Contrary to many other books in the field, the approach is managerial rather than abstractly mathematical, aimed at practitioners instead of applied mathematicians. Professor Kat's book contains all the mathematics required. However, the mathematical aspects play a purely supportive role, not the starring role. Bravo!"
— Anthony F. Herbst, University of Texas at El Paso, Founding Editor, The Journal of Financial Engineering

"It is certainly a unique book, much more useful that most new books on derivatives. In a nutshell, this book is very creatively done and a great resource for professionals."
— Mark Rubinstein, Paul Stephens Professor of Applied Investment Analysis, University of California at Berkeley

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83614 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 392 pages

Review
"...there is no question that many industry participants will learn from and enjoy reading his book." (Risk, March 2002)

From the Inside Flap
Although the pricing and hedging of derivatives contracts has been the subject of a large number of books, hardly any books exist on the actual design of derivatives contracts. Structured Equity Derivatives fills this gap in a remarkable way. The book introduces an approach to the structuring and practical application of derivatives that allows readers to create their own derivatives solutions to an endless variety of problems. The approach is extremely natural -- the only limit is the reader's own creativity.

Since it clearly explains the reasons why derivatives exist and why there is such a large variety, this is the book that should be read before picking up any other book on the pricing and hedging of derivatives. As the book concentrates on product design instead of pricing, there are no complex pricing formulas or numerical procedures. The emphasis is on intuition and common sense rather than complex formal results, which makes the book accessible to people from many different backgrounds.

From the Back Cover
"It has been said that in theory, theory translates into practice, but in practice it never does. This breakthrough book defies this conventional wisdom in a unique way. It is a must read for anyone interested in structuring derivatives products." — Dr Peter Carr, Principal, Banc of America Securities

"Harry Kat has done a masterful job explaining the world of exotic options and the role that these options play in building structured securities. Dr Kat conveys the essence of these products from the perspective of a very experienced financial engineer but in a fashion that the less experienced reader can easily follow and understand. In this, Dr Kat has shown himself to be a marvellous teacher. I'm confident that this book will prove to be one of the classics to be read by future generations of financial engineers." — John F. Marshall, Principal, Marshall, Tucker & Associates, and Founding Executive Director, International Association of Financial Engineers

"This is a refreshingly new and different book about putting together structured equity products. It is not a book about deriving formulas but a book about applying formulas. The emphasis on hedging costs and alternative ways of reducing those costs by modifying the structure will be appreciated both by those who actually manufacture and sell these products and those who buy them." — Don Chance, First Union Professor, Virginia Tech

"This book is about applications, about solving real business problems with derivatives.... Contrary to many other books in the field, the approach is managerial rather than abstractly mathematical, aimed at practitioners instead of applied mathematicians. Professor Kat's book contains all the mathematics required. However, the mathematical aspects play a purely supportive role, not the starring role. Bravo!"
— Anthony F. Herbst, University of Texas at El Paso, Founding Editor, The Journal of Financial Engineering

"It is certainly a unique book, much more useful that most new books on derivatives. In a nutshell, this book is very creatively done and a great resource for professionals."
— Mark Rubinstein, Paul Stephens Professor of Applied Investment Analysis, University of California at Berkeley

Customer Reviews

Quite an insightful little blue book
I had to read this book as a requirement for a postgraduate level finance course which I took this year. I found it extremely insightful and easy to understand.

I believe (keeping fingers crossed!) that there are a lot of highly technical books out there for those with several years of experience in structured derivatives and the so called rocket scientists. But what about those who don't fall under this category? Where should those new to this field ( structured derivatives) or students who want to grasp a better understanding of derivatives after reading books such a Hull's , start with? This is exactly where Dr. Kat's book comes to picture, with a claim to offer an through understanding of structured derivatives, nothing more or less.

Reading criticism such as the one from "reader from Seattle" (below) is surprising to me, specially when he says: "I bought this book with high hopes, but I found little knowledge in it that I couldn't get from my own colleagues. And now, where is the value of reading a long book if all your colleagues know it from the word go?" Well, let me tell you something, it's for those who are not surrounded by "colleagues who know it from the word go"! And, there are a lot of us out there.

I bought it with little hopes as a text book for my course, but I found insightful knowledge of derivatives in it, which I couldn't get from a lot of my teachers let alone my colleagues!

I highly recommend it to all those who have had an introductory course on derivatives covering books such as Hull's, and want to progress further.

Suggestion: Check your colleagues first, if they know the subject, drop the book!! : )

Hey, wait a minute........!
After reading the comments of another anonymous 'reader from Seattle'(although I suspect him to have a house in New York as well) it suddenly struck me that maybe a bit more expectations management is necessary here. The goal of Structured Equity Derivatives is not to improve the state-of-the-art and tell experienced professionals how they can further improve their act (although I am almost flattered by the fact that our reader from Seattle still found something that he could not get from his own collegues). Instead, the goal of the book is to offer students and relative newcomers a quick but at the same time thorough way to come to grips with this complex area. The sparse use of mathematics and ample use of graphs are all aimed towards that goal. People that are only interested in the mathematics of derivatives or in mind-boggling new nonsense structures should not buy this book (or be allowed to write reviews on it).

Unique Approach
I view and judge this book from a Structured Equity Derivatives Sales point of view. First the chapters:
1) the General Framework
2) Stocks and Market Indices
3) Special Contract Features
4) Index Linked Cash Flows
5) Pricing and Hedging
6) Improving Efficiency
7) Risk Management
8) Reducing the Cost of Buying Options
9) Equity Linked Notes
10) Raising the Participation Rate
11) Market Timing and Non-Bullish Views
12) Digital and Coupon Bearing Notes
13) Equity Linked Savings
First and foremost, this book is unique in the sense that it concentrates on payoff formulas, rather than mathematical formulas. Congratulation! The author has an excellent theoretical AND practical knowledge of the topic. One recognises the later in the phylosophical notes. What I do not understand though, are the chapters 5,6, or 7 to the overall topic. Sorry, but I sometimes had the feeling the products alone could not fill the book (even though including the questioned chapters, the book is still pretty slim). Nevertheless, the authors comments and analysise and many standard products are very well explained and graphically supported. It's 100% a book for the beginner and semi-pro in the world of structuring/selling/using equity derivatives. The pro might miss some new "hot" structures used today (like worst-of constructions or selection mechanism), but then, no book will ever be that up to date...