Consider this a companion to Fabozzi and Markowitz's (2002) definitive collection on investment management. While the other book mentions financial instruments as needed to support an in-depth discussion of the investment management process, this book mentions the investment management process as needed to support an in-depth discussion of the financial instruments available to US investors. It is an equally substantive and important volume.

Three introductory chapters cover essential concepts of investment management. Chapter 1 covers basic concepts, the debt-equity distinction, valuation, leverage, methods of financing positions, and derivative instruments. Chapter 2 formalizes the investment process. Setting objectives leads to establishment of an investment policy. That policy entails certain risks that must be identified. Portfolios are constructed to balance objectives against risks. Performance is assessed over time to facilitate modifications in strategy.

Chapter 3 explains how to calculate investment returns. Issues such as management fees and client contributions/withdrawals are addressed.

The rest of the book comprises 29 chapters taking a focused look at specific instruments. These comprise the "meat" of the book. See the table of contents. Chapters are written by experts in each category. They are well written and provide a comprehensive introduction to their respective topics.

Consider the chapter on emerging market debt (EMD). It is 34 pages long and is written by a team of three EMD specialists from UBS Asset Management. It segments the market by geography (South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, etc.) and by types of issue (Brady bonds, Eurobonds, local issues, etc.). Yield and pricing conventions for the market's unique structures are discussed. Risk measures, and especially spread duration, are explained. There is a discussion of return attribution. A detailed section describes sovereign credit analysis. Portfolio issues—expected returns, volatilities and correlations—are described, as are active management opportunities. There are plenty of tables and figures. One is a correlation matrix for the strip spreads of various countries' issues. Several track various issues' spreads over time. Others describe aspects of credit risk.