Developments in Investment Policy During the Last Decade

Abstract

Investment conditions have changed widely and rapidly in the post-war era; and since the publication of Mr Lewis G. Whyte's textbook, Principles of Finance and Investment, there has been a spate of papers on investment theory, each of them either covering a small part of the subject or setting forth a particular view.The aims of this paper are:I. To suggest a balanced and consistent approach to investment principles as they affect funds of actuarial interest.II. To discuss the application of these principles to particular types of funds.III. To discuss the characteristics of the securities that are available in present-day conditions to implement investment policy.These aims may sound comprehensive, but within the limitations of a paper it is only possible to touch on them briefly.