Pavement Asset Management

A practical approach to the mathematical tools needed to increase portfolio growth, learn successful trading strategies, and manage the risks associated with market fluctuation Mathematical Asset Management presents an accessible and practical introduction to financial derivatives and portfolio selection while also acting as a basis for further study in mathematical finance. Assuming a fundamental background in calculus, real analysis, and linear algebra, the book uses mathematical tools only as needed and provides comprehensive, yet concise, coverage of various topics, such as: Interest rates and the connection between present value and arbitrage Financial instruments beyond bonds that serve as building blocks for portfolios Trading strategies and risk performance measures Stochastic properties of stock prices The difference between expected return and expected growth and the geometric Brownian motion Diversification through the creation of optimal portfolios under various constraints The use of the Capital Asset Pricing Model to accurately estimate the difference between the return of the market and the short rate To further demonstrate the reality of the discussed concepts, the author analyzes five active stocks over a four-year period and highlights the different methods and portfolios that exist in today's economic world. Exercises are also provided throughout the text, along with the solutions, allowing readers to measure their understanding of presented techniques as well as see how the methods work in real life. Mathematical Asset Management is an excellent book for courses in mathematical finance, actuarial mathematics, financial derivatives, and financial engineering at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a valuable reference for practitioners in banking, insurance, and asset management industries.

The aim of this book is to study three essential components of modern finance – Risk Management, Asset Management and Asset and Liability Management, as well as the links that bind them together. It is divided into five parts: Part I sets out the financial and regulatory contexts that explain the rapid development of these three areas during the last few years and shows the ways in which the Risk Management function has developed recently in financial institutions. Part II is dedicated to the underlying theories of Asset Management and deals in depth with evaluation of financial assets and with theories relating to equities, bonds and options. Part III deals with a central theory of Risk Management, the general theory of Value at Risk or VaR, its estimation techniques and the setting up of the methodology. Part IV is the point at which Asset Management and Risk Management meet. It deals with Portfolio Risk Management (the application of risk management methods to private asset management), with an adaptation of Sharpe’s simple index method and the EGP method to suit VaR and application of the APT method to investment funds in terms of behavioural analysis. Part V is the point at which Risk Management and Asset and Liability Management (ALM) meet, and touches on techniques for measuring structural risks within the on and off balance sheet. The book is aimed both at financial professionals and at students whose studies contain a financial aspect. «Esch, Kieffer and Lopez have provided us with a comprehensive and well written treatise on risk. This is a must read, must keep volume for all those who need or aspire to a professional understanding of risk and its management.» —Harry M Markowitz, San Diego, USA

In the Handbook of Asset and Liability Management: From Models to Optimal Return Strategies, Alexandre Adam presents a comprehensive guide to Asset and Liability Management. Written from a quantitative perspective with economic explanations, this book will appeal to both mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike as it gives an operational view on the business. Well structured, this book includes essential information on Balance Sheet Items and Products Modeling, Tools for Asset and Liability Managers, as well as Optimal Returns Strategies. Explaining, in detail, all the written and unwritten rules of Asset Liability Management, using up-to-date models and the latest findings, the Handbook of Asset and Liability Management is an essential tool for Asset and Liability Managers both for the present day and the future.

This book is an update and expansion of topics covered in Guidelines for Mechanical Integrity Systems (2006). The new book is consistent with Risk-Based Process Safety and Life Cycle approaches and includes details on failure modes and mechanisms. Also, example testing an inspection programs is included for various types of equipment and systems. Guidance and examples are provided for selecting and maintaining critical safety systems.

A practical guide to facilitate statistically well-founded decisions in the management of assets of an electricity grid Effective and economic electric grid asset management and incident management involve many complex decisions on inspection, maintenance, repair and replacement. This timely reference provides statistically well-founded, tried and tested analysis methodologies for improved decision making and asset management strategy for optimum grid reliability and availability. The techniques described are also sufficiently robust to apply to small data sets enabling asset managers to deal with early failures or testing with limited sample sets. The book describes the background, concepts and statistical techniques to evaluate failure distributions, probabilities, remaining lifetime, similarity and compliancy of observed data with specifications, asymptotic behavior of parameter estimators, effectiveness of network configurations and stocks of spare parts. It also shows how the graphical representation and parameter estimation from analysis of data can be made consistent, as well as explaining modern upcoming methodologies such as the Health Index and Risk Index. Key features: Offers hands-on tools and techniques for data analysis, similarity index, failure forecasting, health and risk indices and the resulting maintenance strategies. End-of-chapter problems and solutions to facilitate self-study via a book companion website. The book is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in electrical engineering, quality engineers, utilities and industry strategists, transmission and distribution system planners, asset managers and risk managers.

This book introduces ALM in the context of banks and insurance companies. Although this strategy has a core of fundamental frameworks, models may vary between banks and insurance companies because of the different risks and goals involved. The authors compare and contrast these methodologies to draw parallels between the commonalities and divergences of these two services and thereby provide a deeper understanding of ALM in general.

A comprehensive, state-of-the-art guide to pavement design and materials With innovations ranging from the advent of Superpave™, the data generated by the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) project, to the recent release of the Mechanistic-Empirical pavement design guide developed under NCHRP Study 1-37A, the field of pavement engineering is experiencing significant development. Pavement Design and Materials is a practical reference for both students and practicing engineers that explores all the aspects of pavement engineering, including materials, analysis, design, evaluation, and economic analysis. Historically, numerous techniques have been applied by a multitude of jurisdictions dealing with roadway pavements. This book focuses on the best-established, currently applicable techniques available. Pavement Design and Materials offers complete coverage of: The characterization of traffic input The characterization of pavement bases/subgrades and aggregates Asphalt binder and asphalt concrete characterization Portland cement and concrete characterization Analysis of flexible and rigid pavements Pavement evaluation Environmental effects on pavements The design of flexible and rigid pavements Pavement rehabilitation Economic analysis of alternative pavement designs The coverage is accompanied by suggestions for software for implementing various analytical techniques described in these chapters. These tools are easily accessible through the book’s companion Web site, which is constantly updated to ensure that the reader finds the most up-to-date software available.

Providing a balanced and practical approach to capital management and budgeting, this book covers the full spectrum of capital investments, from the basics through the latest innovations. It is aimed at managers who are involved in capital investment decisions: setting company capital investment policy; performing project analyses; and drafting recommendations. Those in top management will benefit from discussions of strong and weak points of various methods and concepts. Included in the arsenal of capital investment tools in this book are concepts of proven usefulness, such as the MAPI method, no longer available in other works on the topic of capital budgeting, and other topics not covered elsewhere, such as abandonment analysis.

The landmark project management reference, now in a new edition Now in a Tenth Edition, this industry-leading project management «bible» aligns its streamlined approach to the latest release of the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMI®'s PMBOK® Guide), the new mandatory source of training for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certificat-ion Exam. This outstanding edition gives students and professionals a profound understanding of project management with insights from one of the best-known and respected authorities on the subject. From the intricate framework of organizational behavior and structure that can determine project success to the planning, scheduling, and controlling processes vital to effective project management, the new edition thoroughly covers every key component of the subject. This Tenth Edition features: New sections on scope changes, exiting a project, collective belief, and managing virtual teams More than twenty-five case studies, including a new case on the Iridium Project covering all aspects of project management 400 discussion questions More than 125 multiple-choice questions (PMI, PMBOK, PMP, and Project Management Professional are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.)