Financial Times Guide to the Financial Markets
$18.73
The Financial Times Guide to the Financial Markets explains how financial institutions, instruments, and markets work together. Glen Arnold begins with the economic purposes of finance—connecting savers with borrowers, supporting investment, and transferring risk—before examining the organizations and securities that perform these functions.
The book follows an accessible, explanatory approach supported by examples, case studies, market data, and financial reporting. It covers retail and corporate banking, investment banking, central banking, pooled investment funds, and insurance, then develops the reader’s understanding of money markets, bonds, equities, and capital raising. Its international perspective includes a particular emphasis on London and the European financial system.
Dedicated chapters explain futures, options, swaps, foreign exchange, hedge funds, and private equity. Arnold connects the mechanics of these instruments and institutions to their practical purposes, including financing, investing, hedging, and speculation. This provides a foundation for understanding financial products and the activities of market participants.
The closing chapters examine financial regulation and the financial crisis, showing how institutional incentives, funding structures, and complex products can contribute to instability. Published in 2012, the book places these discussions within the circumstances of that period. It is suited to readers seeking a structured introduction to financial markets and the terminology used across the industry.
✅ What You’ll Learn
- Explain how financial markets channel savings into borrowing, business investment, and economic activity.
- Distinguish the functions of retail banks, corporate banks, investment banks, and central banks.
- Compare pooled investment funds, insurance institutions, hedge funds, and private equity.
- Differentiate short-term money market instruments from longer-term debt securities.
- Understand government and corporate bonds alongside more complex forms of debt.
- Explain how equity markets operate and how companies raise share capital.
- Distinguish forwards, futures, options, and swaps and their uses in hedging and speculation.
- Understand foreign exchange market participants, transactions, and currency exposure.
- Examine the purposes of financial regulation and the mechanisms that contributed to the financial crisis.
💡 Key Benefits
- A coherent overview that connects individual financial products to the wider system.
- Greater confidence when reading financial news and interpreting market terminology.
- A stronger foundation for further study in investment, banking, and corporate finance.
- Clearer understanding of the roles and incentives of financial intermediaries.
- Practical context for evaluating product complexity and financial system vulnerabilities.
👤 Who This Book Is For
- Beginner to intermediate investors seeking to understand securities, investment funds, and the markets in which they operate.
- Business and finance students building foundational knowledge of financial institutions and instruments.
- Early-career banking and financial services professionals who need an overview beyond their immediate area of work.
- Business owners and corporate finance practitioners seeking context for borrowing, capital raising, and financial risk transfer.
📚 Table of Contents
- The purpose of financial markets
- An overview of the markets and institutions
- Banking: retail and corporate
- Investment banking
- Other types of banking
- Central banking
- Pooled investment funds
- Insurance
- Money markets
- Bond markets – governments and corporates
- Bond markets – the more exotic
- Equity markets
- Raising share capital
- Futures markets
- Options and swaps
- Foreign exchange markets
- Hedge funds and private equity
- Regulation of the financial sector
- The financial crisis
Financial Times Guide to the Financial Markets By Glen Arnold
| Author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Product Type | Ebook |
| Format | |
| Skill Level | Beginner to Intermediate |
| Pages | 575 |
| Publication Year | 2012 |
| Delivery | Instant Download |
11 reviews for Financial Times Guide to the Financial Markets
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Emersyn Patrick (verified owner) –
just what I needed
Derrick Hammond (verified owner) –
a very useful book for a finance degree excellent value for money and is just what was needed to help with exams
Jadiel Patel (verified owner) –
Excellent book. Sometimes too basic, but a must read if you want to understand the Financial Markets. I really liked the author’s style and will probably be reading other books he wrote. Highly recommended.
Barbara Hester (verified owner) –
Great book, I am a lecturer in Financial Services and my students often ask for a recommended book to give them a good overview of the industry. This is the book I always suggest.
It is very approachable and has no assumed prior knowledge. Having said that it still manages to build each topic to a reasonable level.
Davian Barrera (verified owner) –
A very thorough introduction for the novice to the financial industry, and how the professionals within it operate. A brief history is outlined as to how and why institutions such as money, banking, stock markets evolved, why they are still necessary today, and an account on the recent financial crisis and lessons to be learnt. It covers all the fundamentals and carefully explains them in plain english. A list of websites to follow-up information is also provided after each chapter. I shown this book to an economics graduate and he claimed the content was equivalent to a first year’s study of an economics degree.
I would also recommend the author’s ‘FT Guide to Investing’.
Carolyn Chandler (verified owner) –
Very good item to use
Madeline Good (verified owner) –
It’s a nice book on the topic.
It’s very deep in each market and well written.
Royal Bernard (verified owner) –
ok book
Jason Maynard (verified owner) –
Thought it was going to be very dry – you do have to pay attention, but I would say it can be understood by any audience.
Holly Mays (verified owner) –
Excellent text on the contemporary financial market that’s easy to read and understand. Particularly like the news clips on interesting and emerging trends and issues.
Beatrice Hamilton (verified owner) –
First, I have two disclaimers:
1) Due to demands of professional education I have set this volume aside, unfinished, for the time being.
2) My expertise is somewhat limited. I am not a financial professional, though I aspire to be one in the next few years.
BL: This is an outstanding book — written from by an insider, with an insider’s point of view — on the finance industry. This work appears comprehensive, with the informational girth of a textbook and the readability of occasional literature.
The perspective and voice of the author are what separates this work from a being droll textbook and a worthwhile educational work. Glen Arnold has done a great job of lifting the veil on what is otherwise condsidered to be the arcane workings of the finance industry, going so far as to shed light on the banking industry’s role in the global financial crisis.
I look forward to finishing this book as soon as I am able.
///UPDATE///
I’ve just completed the book and have upgraded the rating from 4 to 5 stars. The last chapter sealed the deal for me; it details the mechanics and insider failings that created the financial crisis of 2007/08. My advice is to read the last chapter first. Novice readers will be taken aback by some of the jargon as they do this, but will have a greater understanding and appreciation for the totality of the material as they make their way through the book. Expect several “ah-haaaa” moments. After reading the entire book, finish as you normally would with the last chapter.
I’m happy to have read this book from cover to cover (admittedly skipped portions of the FOREX chapter and a page or two on European reguation) and, though I lack the practical experience to cement the information into place permanently, I feel vastly more informed about the deapth and breadth of the financial industry and its myriad instruments.