In 2019, MIT hosted a 75th birthday symposium in honor of Robert C. Merton. The event included presentations by students and colleagues explaining the influence Merton has had on the profession and on their ideas. Each presenter focused on a specific aspect of Merton’s life and contributions so that the audience could gain a full picture of Merton’s influence while avoiding repetition across presentations. The brief contains edited transcripts of some of the speeches and panel discussions that took place at the symposium. The presentations cover Merton’s career, highlighting both his foundational work on continuous time finance and the functional approach to understanding organizations as well as recent work on retirement security and trust. Some of the presentations unveil new aspects of his life. Merton’s father, Robert K. Merton, was one of the most important sociologists of the 20th century, being the originator of concepts such as role model, unanticipated consequences, and self-fulfilling prophecies. Another of the presentations makes a convincing case for Merton as the first financial engineer; the presenter argues that a body of knowledge becomes a science when a field of engineering emerges from it. If that is the case, this brief achieves two goals. It celebrates the influence of Merton on the theory and practice of finance through a series of engaging presentations, and it traces the birth of finance as a science on its own.

How the greatest thinkers in finance changed the field and how their wisdom can help investors today Is there an ideal portfolio of investment assets, one that perfectly balances risk and reward? In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio examines this question by profiling and interviewing ten of the most prominent figures in the finance world—Jack Bogle, Charley Ellis, Gene Fama, Marty Leibowitz, Harry Markowitz, Bob Merton, Myron Scholes, Bill Sharpe, Bob Shiller, and Jeremy Siegel. We learn about the personal and intellectual journeys of these luminaries—which include six Nobel Laureates and a trailblazer in mutual funds—and their most innovative contributions. In the process, we come to understand how the science of modern investing came to be. Each of these finance greats discusses their idea of a perfect portfolio, offering invaluable insights to today’s investors. Inspiring such monikers as the Bond Guru, Wall Street’s Wisest Man, and the Wizard of Wharton, these pioneers of investment management provide candid perspectives, both expected and surprising, on a vast array of investment topics—effective diversification, passive versus active investment, security selection and market timing, foreign versus domestic investments, derivative securities, nontraditional assets, irrational investing, and so much more. While the perfect portfolio is ultimately a moving target based on individual age and stage in life, market conditions, and short- and long-term goals, the fundamental principles for success remain constant. Aimed at novice and professional investors alike, In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio is a compendium of financial wisdom that no market enthusiast will want to be without.

A new, evolutionary explanation of markets and investor behavior Half of all Americans have money in the stock market, yet economists can’t agree on whether investors and markets are rational and efficient, as modern financial theory assumes, or irrational and inefficient, as behavioral economists believe. The debate is one of the biggest in economics, and the value or futility of investment management and financial regulation hangs on the answer. In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Lo transforms the debate with a powerful new framework in which rationality and irrationality coexist—the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis. Drawing on psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other fields, Adaptive Markets shows that the theory of market efficiency is incomplete. When markets are unstable, investors react instinctively, creating inefficiencies for others to exploit. Lo’s new paradigm explains how financial evolution shapes behavior and markets at the speed of thought—a fact revealed by swings between stability and crisis, profit and loss, and innovation and regulation. An ambitious new answer to fundamental questions about economics and investing, Adaptive Markets is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how markets really work.

The compiled works of the man behind the evolution of quantitative finance Finance, Economics, and Mathematics is the complete Vasicek reference work, including published and unpublished work and interviews with the man himself. The name Oldrich A. Vasicek is synonymous with cutting-edge research in the finance fields, and this book comes straight from the source to bring you the undiluted mother lode of quant wisdom from one of the founders of the field. From his early work in yield curve dynamics, to the mean-reverting short-rate model, to his thoughts on derivatives pricing, to his work on credit risk, to his most recent research on the economics of interest rates, this book represents the life's work of an industry leader. Going beyond the papers, you'll also find the more personal side inspirational as Vasicek talks about the academics and professionals who made lasting impressions and collaborated, debated, and ultimately helped spawn some of his greatest thinking. Oldrich Vasicek has won virtually every important award and prize for his groundbreaking research in quantitative finance. You've followed his work for years; this book puts it all in a single volume to give you the definitive reference you'll turn to again and again. Explore Vasicek's insights on topics he helped create Discover his research and ideas that have gone unpublished—until now Understand yield curves and the Vasicek model from the source himself Gain a reference collection of some of the most influential work in quantitative finance Vasicek's research is the foundation of one of the most important innovations in finance. Quants around the world have been influenced by his ideas, and his status as thought leader is cemented in the annals of finance history. Finance, Economics, and Mathematics is the definitive Vasicek reference every finance professional needs.

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KEY BENEFIT: This significant new guide to finance has a broader scope and greater emphasis on general principles than most other books of its kind, which typically focus exclusively on corporate finance. Acclaimed authors Bodie and Merton offer an approach balanced among the three "pillars" of finance–optimization over time, asset valuation, and risk management. KEY TOPICS: Encompasses all subfields of finance within a single unifying conceptual framework. Offers the "big picture" of resource allocation over time under conditions of uncertainty. Focuses on personal finance topics, such as saving and investing, as well as asset valuation. Provides spreadsheet modeling exercises in the accompanying Prentice Hall Finance Center CD. MARKET: Ideal for executives or for anyone seeking a solid understanding and overview of the field of finance.