Understanding financial markets. Far too many pension trustees - even in large funds - have an inadequate understanding of investment and financial markets. This book - tailored specifically for pension fund trustees - fills an important knowledge gap. Designed as a practical, easy-to-follow guide to the new financial environment in which pension trustees are learning to operate, it provides you with a set of working definitions, and the financial techniques and tools needed in order to improve returns and safeguard risks. It summarises the latest thinking and techniques in traditional assets, such as equities, bonds, property and cash, and examines the potential for investing in less conventional asset classes, such as hedge funds, private equity and commodities, where both rewards and risks can be high.