Schroeck has written a theoretician's text on risk management and capital allocation within banks.

The first half of the book focuses on the debate about whether risk management adds value in financial institutions. Should banks incur the costs associated with managing risks, or should they let investors manage those risks through diversification? The answer depends upon how simplistic a model you assume. If you adopt the assumptions of Sharpe's capital asset pricing model (CAPM), the answer is no. However, that model is hardly realistic. Given its assumption of zero transaction costs, that model also suggests that banks and other intermediaries serve no purpose. Based upon a more realistic model, risk management can be justified. Accordingly, the first half of Schroeck's book largely addresses the question of how realistic a model is required in order to justify risk management.

The second half of the book addresses capital adequacy and capital allocation. It distinguishes between risk capital and economic capital and proposes some operational measures for economic capital. It introduces risk-adjusted performance metrics. Focusing on RAROC, it finds deficiencies with that "single factor" approach. It describes alternative "two factor" approaches discussed in the literature.

This is an entirely theoretical book. The writing style has scholarly airs. It makes frequent references to "neoclassic finance." Most pages have five or ten footnotes at the bottom. The first half especially reads like a too-long masters degree thesis. This doesn't mean the material lacks merit. It means that the audience is narrow.