Author: Finance Training Course

A key element in the construction of the Black Derman Toy interest rate model is the setting up and running of EXCEL’s Solver function. The Solver functionality links various parts of the model together, the inputs- initial zero curve rates and their volatilities, the calculation cells – price lattices and short rate tree, and the [...]

The Black Derman Toy (BDT) model is a one-factor, no-arbitrage interest rate model. One-factor in that the entire term structure of interest rates can be inferred with reference to the process underlying the short rates derived. No-arbitrage in that th...

475. North Martingale Road, Schaumburg, IL. It’s the address – etched deep inside my memory. For eleven years as I registered for actuarial exams, took them, anticipated results and wrote to the Society of Actuaries (SOA), the snail mail address that I wrote down hundreds of times across that one decade was: 475 North [...]

Everywhere I look, I see old couples.I guess as a 42 year old, the young no longer catch me eyes (except when they decide to go walkabout without adult supervision)) . I love teaching them and corrupting their bright fresh minds, but it’s the 80 year old holding hands as they board aircrafts and sit [...]

Everything you wanted to ask about startup failure but were afraid to ask  You were wondering what the fuss is all about? After all its just a book? So what if its on the iPad? Why does that make Reboot special? We put together a special section answering common questions around Reboot that have been asked. [...]

Enterprise Risk Management – Chicago Symposium – Highlights.Day One – ERM Pre Seminar – Forecasting Extreme Events Professor Guntram is really upset at Nassim Taleb. Nassim’s logic has never been perfect but he speaks from his heart as a practitioner. I can relate to the challenges he raises as a practitioner and I loved [...]

Chicago. Windy city, where the river meets the lake; Keeanu Reeves and Chain reaction. This April the location for Society of Actuaries, CAS & PRMIA’s join Enterprise Risk Management Symposium.Two and a half days of catching up with old friends and new and some very interesting lunch conversations. More to follow but for now [...]

Once upon a time in a galaxy far away, the search was on for a cure for blues. Turned into a global catastrophe, the blues sapped productivty & smiles everywhere you looked. Spending decades scouring the universe for an antidote, a depressed nation of aliens discovered that happiness comes in four flavours. And they [...]

Pitching for startups? Reboot, 3rd edition for iPad with a brand new chapter and 7 new videos on Pitching for startups is now available at the iTune store. Download it at the launch special $4.99, valid till 31st May 2013.It started as a labor of love. Part obituary, part therapy, part getting the record for history right. [...]

Why do startups fail? No, really, why do we fail? Why isn’t an even mix of ambition, inspiration, hard work, talent, drive, commitment and creativity enough? And why more often than not, a superior mix of the above ingredients fares much worse than a much more boring, passé combination. I have spent a large part of the last [...]