Education Notes

Besides publishing reports on equities, bonds and other investments, UBS Wealth Management Research also provides analysis and background information on specific issues of interest to investors in the "Education Notes" research publication. In these reports we share our financial knowledge with clients who would like to expand their understanding of topics that could influence their investment decisions.

UBS client advisors are happy to provide you with more information and other research publications.

Education Notes 2008

Ethanol: Will green sustain?

(09 May 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

Ethanol is gaining popularity as an alternative renewable fuel owing to crude oil futures hitting a record high. Increased ethanol produc-tion has been accompanied by a rise in food prices, most notably that of grains. The diversion of land for the production of ethanol feedstock is being viewed as a major cause for the spike in food prices.

The many faces of infrastructure investments

(17 April 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

Developed countries face investment needs to replace and improve aging infrastructure and to add new infrastructure for an aging society. Emerging markets with fast growing populations will also have to invest to avoid bottlenecks that could threaten economic growth. Investors can benefit by investing directly in infrastructure assets. The other option is to invest in companies that are expected to profit from greater demand for their services due to increasing infrastructure development.

An Introduction to Credit Default Swaps

(16 April 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

This education note provides an overview of credit default swaps (CDS), a widely used instrument in the growing credit derivative market. These instruments effectively allow the transfer of credit risk from one party to another. Over the past decade, the market for credit derivatives has grown significantly with CDS now representing the dominant part of the credit derivative space.

Understanding US Bank Capital

(27 March 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

This education note explains different capital measures used by regulators and analysts to assess the capital adequacy of US banking organizations.

The Art of Portfolio Diversification (collection)

(21 February 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

This is a collection of nine education notes that have previously been published in the series "The Art of Portfolio Diversification".

Understanding Subprime

(19 February 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

This Education Note addresses the key questions that private investors most often ask WMR about the US subprime credit crisis. We employ a question-and-answer format to represent a typical conversation between a private investor and a UBS WMR analyst

Education Notes Foreign Exchange: Part 1 - 7

(01 February 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

Seven education notes discuss the fundamentals of foreign exchange. Part 1 to 5 explains the basics: Markets and Instruments. Fundamental and practical approaches of forecasting foreign exchange rates. UBS WMR Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). Part 6 is dedicated to the investor and the role of foreign currencies in his portfolio. Finally, Part 7 guides the reader through the construction of a personalized currency benchmark.

Foreign currencies in a portfoli0

(31 January 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

Foreign currencies are an asset that can improve the return of a portfolio. In fact, adding the right amount of foreign currency exposure to a portfolio typically enhances its overall risk/return efficiency - and effi-ciency with respect to risks and return (net of costs) is the main objective of portfolio management. However, simply buying foreign currencies is not the only way to gain foreign currency exposure. There are many more efficient ways to do this in modern financial markets.

Increasing Portfolio Diversification: NTAC

(25 January 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

Based on ten questions suggested by Prof. Harry M. Kat we analyze whether the non-traditional asset classes such as listed real estate, commodities, hedge funds, and private equity are good diversifiers for a portfolio of stocks and bonds. We conclude that all non-traditional asset classes are potentially good diversifiers for portfolios of stocks and bonds.

Sectors and Styles: a guide for 2008

(21 January 2008 / UBS Wealth Management Research)

Growth returned as the preferred style in 2007, and we expect this trend to continue in 2008. The US IT sector appears the best way to play growth. Large caps regained strength in 2007; in our view they should carry on outpacing the market in 2008.