Modern financial management entails an appreciation of a number of key mathematical concepts. This is particularly relevant to risk and risk management products, such as derivatives. The central role played by these products in capital markets is forcing an ever broader range of personnel to be aware of and utilize these concepts either from a supervisory perspective or in their day to day activities. This text explains the mathematical basis of risk and derivatives in a non technical manner to allow non (maths) specialists to gain an appreciat…