Introduction to Derivatives Workshop

Introduction to  Derivatives Workshop

SUMMARY

The financial sector around the globe is experiencing dramatic changes, especially in the aftermath of the global credit crunch. The credit crunch has put more importance on a good understanding of the measurement and management of financial risk that corporations, fund managers and financial institutions face in today’s high volatile market conditions. The regulators have also been very active in the surveillance of both derivatives and cash markets.

This three-day workshop will provide participants with an introduction to derivative instrument, foundation of the pricing of these derivatives, financial risk measurement and management and surveillance.  The programme will encourage participation through exercises, computer activities, and mini case studies to better understand the usefulness and the risks associated with derivatives.

The workshop is designed to address the problems from a practical perspective, rather than taking a detailed academic approach. An understanding of basic financial mathematics (discounting, compounding, risk free rate of return, yield to maturity) is required. However, as the workshop puts the emphasis on the practical use of derivatives to hedge the financial risk and surveillance, an in-depth knowledge of the theories of term structure of interest rates and option pricing models is not required.

The primary objective of this workshop is to enable participants to gain an understanding of the  use of derivatives to hedge the different types of risks that both corporations and fund managers face. For example, how derivatives can be used in hedging foreign exchange risk; hedging the volatility of the oil price; stock market volatility etc. The workshop will also enable participants to gain an understanding of the interlink between the derivatives and cash markets.