Customer Reviews

The Handbook of Credit Derivatives

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Outdated is the only word that comes to my mind when thinking about this book. It has been edited by a finance professor who is painfully slow at solving simple mathematical equations, and I had the misfortune of having him as an instructor in Advanced Investment Analysis class. I later dropped the class, after I couldn't take any more.

Surprisingly, the content of the book is not so bad, except that the authors/editors/compilers have left out the analytical part, which is very essential to understanding derivative securities. Just learning about the structures of the instruments doesn't give a reader an ability to apply them to real-life situations. Since it is a handbook, it must carry all aspects of the subject so that the readers can use them in every possible way of reference.

Standing alone, the book is fairly decent, and I would have given it more stars, had it not been for the better alternatives available on the market. This book, as it stands now, should be skipped. If you just want to gain the peripheral knowledge on credit derivatives, log onto the internet, and search for documents. There is tonnes of information on derivative securities and their working. In fact, you might be able to find more relevant material on the web for free than this book offers you.

As an alternative, you may want to look into:

*Credit Derivatives, by Janet Tavakoli.
*Credit Derivatives, by Satyajit Das. THIS IS THE BEST BOOK AVAILABLE, AND COVERS ANALYTICAL DETAILS ADEQUATELY.

Commercial bankers, investment bankers, financial lawyers, finance professors, and (at least) one accountant who were in on the creation of credit derivatives during the mid-1990s author chapters that are non-mathematical. (Well, I guess Harvard Business School Professor Sanjiv Das's credit derivatives pricing chapter is kind of mathematical.) Each chapter author is expert in the aspect of credit derivatives about which they write. Every commercial banker in the world should read up on this subject.

This is another book in the Frank Fabozzi vein, being a compendium of articles written by practitioners in the field and loosely strung together by the editors. As a very basic introduction, it is not bad - there are discussions of the rationale for using credit derivatives, a cursory introduction to pricing and modelling, and very general discussions of issues relating to accounting, documentation, taxes, etc. The best chapter is "Credit Derivatives Pricing Dictionary," by Hardy M. Hodges, which provides definitions of some of the most important concepts and would stand quite well on its own. However, if you expect something more than generalities, you will be disappointed. There is very little by way of practical advice on structuring, modelling or other "nuts and bolt' issues. This book will teach you enough to get past the HR department, but if you want to get on the trading desk you had better look elsewhere!

This is another frustrating book with chapters submitted by various contributers. It's difficult to follow any cohesive logic to this book. Call this a Bible if you consider multiple authors a criterion, but as an information storehouse, this book is no better than reading a series of disconnected magazine articles.

The authors provide the reader with a reference manual for this new financial product. If you need a "Credit Derivative Bible" -- this is the book you want.