Module Information
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Written essay or individual project on Refinitiv Workspace o (3,000 words) | 30% |
| Semester Exam | 3 Hours | 70% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Written essay or individual project on Refinitiv or similar Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to failure of the module. | 30% |
| Supplementary Exam | 3 Hours Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to failure of the module. | 70% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Explain the uses and limitations of portfolio theory in constructing an investment portfolio that delivers an investor’s preferred combination of expected return and risk.
2. Explain the distinction between passive and active investment styles, and evaluate practical tools for portfolio optimization available to the active investor or fund manager.
3. Attribute investment performance to components deriving from asset allocation, security selection and market timing, and explain the use of style analysis to identify a fund’s investment style.
4. Critically evaluate technical analysis as a practical tool for guiding the implementation of an investment strategy.
5. Critically evaluate behavioural finance explanations of financial market phenomena based on assumptions that some agents act in a manner that departs from the axioms of rational behaviour.
Brief description
This course examines the principles and practice of portfolio management, from the perspective of both the individual investor, and the professional fund manager employed by an institutional investor, such as a mutual fund, pension fund, or hedge fund. A core theme running through the module is that investment decisions are taken in a context where higher returns can only be earned at a cost of accepting greater risk; and willingness to tolerate risk is a key determinant of the optimal investment strategy.
Content
• Security valuation principles, practices and investment companies
• Financial markets and benchmarks
• Optimal portfolio selection
• Passive and active portfolio management
• The evaluation of portfolio performance
• Trading rules based on technical analysis
• Behavioural finance approaches to investor behaviour
• Behavioural finance investment and trading strategies
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Use of and manipulation of quantitative data. |
| Communication | Written via essays. Verbal via participation in seminars. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Private study and time keeping. |
| Information Technology | Use of the Refinitiv Workspace. Use of internet and social media to access relevant financial market information. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | |
| Problem solving | Identify the nature of the problem, and select an appropriate solution. |
| Research skills | Use of internet and web material as well as general use of the library. |
| Subject Specific Skills | By following and participating fully in the module via attendance at lectures and seminars and reading the material set in the syllabus as well as reading around the subject matter. |
| Team work | Seminar collaboration and participation. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7