CORPFIN 7019 - Advanced Funds Management (M)

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2016

This course is an in-depth study of the funds management theory and practice. Participants will first develop a strong theoretical knowledge of asset pricing, market efficiency and funds management. Students will then be exposed to the managed funds industry and be required to apply their theoretical knowledge to understand the process of developing, managing and evaluating these assets. In addition, students will practically develop an Investment Policy Statement (or a Statement of Advice) for an investor, forecast characteristics of various asset classes in an economy, and be able to create an investment vehicle to satisfy investors' needs. The students will also learn various strategies to manage funds, issues that impact performance, and issues in benchmarking and performance evaluation. Equities, Fixed Income Securities, Commodities, Real Estate, Alternate Funds, Emerging, Developing and Developed markets will be examined in the context of portfolio construction.

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Course Details

Course Code	CORPFIN 7019
Course	Advanced Funds Management (M)
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Business School
Term	Semester 2
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 4 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Corequisites	CORPFIN 7039 & CORPFIN 7040
Assumed Knowledge	CORPFIN 7039 & CORPFIN 7040
Assessment	Exam/assignments/test/tutorial work as prescribed at first lecture

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Syed Zamin Ali

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

The main objective of this course is to have a deep understanding of the Theory and Practice of Portfolio construction and its implementation. This course is designed to cover the topic "Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning" of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK).

This course draws upon participant’s knowledge of Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), and Valuation models for Equities and Fixed Income Securities gained from Equity Valuation (M) and Fixed Income Securities (M) (or equivalent courses). Course participants will also call upon their skills in statistics and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analyses gained in Quantitative Methods (M) (or an equivalent course).

Course participants will refresh their knowledge ofthe Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) and the Markowitz Efficient Frontier to establish the necessary theoretical foundations for this course. Students will then learn how to profile an investor's investment needs and objectives, as well as their investment constraints. The course will then guide the student cohort to construct portfolios appropriate for institutional (and retail) investors by investing in Core asset classes (Equities and Fixed Income securities) in the international capital markets and Alternative investments (Real Estate, Private Equity and Venture Capital funds, Hedge funds and Commodities). The last part of the
course deals with operational issues that revolve around managing portfolios that include trading costs and performance measurements as well as the ethical and regulatory framework for the investment industry.

Graduates from this course are motivated to enter the Funds Management and the Financial Advisory industry both in Australia and overseas. At the very least, this course will help in making wise financial investment decisions for specific purposes such as retirement planning. Students graduating from this course should also consider acquiring the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification.

On successful completion of this course, students are expected to be able to:

1. Understand the framework of the Modern Portfolio Theory and the Mean-Variance Framework.

2. Formulate expectation of performance of Core asset classes based on their characteristics and their linkages with the economic and business cycles.

3. Understand the characteristics of Alternative Investments, and their relationship with Core asset classes, in a portfolio context.

4. Understand Active and Passive investment strategies, and their associated benefits and costs.

5. Evaluate any existing (or proposed) investment using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

6. Create investment vehicles for specific client needs that are consistent with ethical and regulatory framework of the Delegated Funds Management Industry.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	All
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	All
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	All
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	All
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	All
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	All

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Running Money: Professional Portfolio Management
by Stewart, S. D., Prios, C. D., and J. C. Heisler, 1st Edition, published by McGraw-Hill

Other readings from academic, semi-professional and professional sources.

Recommended Resources

Students are encouraged to stay abreast of global financial issues. The Australian Financial Review and finance commentary on the ABC network are excellent sources of current financial news and analysis. The internet is also abundantly populated with all aspects of this course, and should be used as well.

Online Learning

Discussion board will be the primary source of interface between students and the academic staff.

Lecture material such as presentation, articles, tutorial questions and lecture recording will be available on MyUni.
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

The approach in this course is to first establish the theoretical foundations and then to build upon these to understand real-world issues. This will be done through lectures, tutorials, assignment, test, and examination.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for a three-unit course or 13 hours for a four-unit course, of private study outside of your regular classes.

Students in this course are expected to attend all lectures throughout the semester plus one tutorial class each week.

Learning Activities Summary

Week 1: Introduction

Week 2: Client Objectives for a Diversified Portfolio

Week 3: Asset Allocation - Mean Variance Framework

Week 4: Equity Investing

Week 5: Fixed Income Investing

Week 6: Practical Asset Allocation and Stress Testing

Week 7: The Investment Management process

Week 8: Global Investing

Week 9: Alternative Investment Classes

Week 10: Portfolio Management through Time

Week 11: Performance Measurement

Week 12: Review

Specific Course Requirements

This course has two specific components: Embedded Research component and The CFA Ethical Standards and PracticeEmbedded Research

(25%)The postgraduate Finance coursework program requires the inclusion of an Embedded Research component, a piece of research that the student works on over 4 courses: Equity Valuation (M), Fixed Income Securities (M), Derivatives (M) and Advanced Funds Managenment (M). Research and analysis condusted in the first two courses feeds into to a research project for this course. More details will be provided at a later stage.

CFA Ethical Standards and Practice (5%)This course will have three (3) workshops that will discuss case studies each week (from week 4-6). Students will prepare one case eachweek and will gain participation marks. More details will be provided at a later stage.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

This course has 4 assessment components:

1. Test worth 20% (Week 6)

2. Assignment worth 25% (End of Week 9)

3. CFA case study workshop particpation worth 5% (Weeks 4-6)

4. Final/Replacement Examination worth 50%

Assessment Related Requirements

Students will be expected to use knowledge gained in previous courses.

Students will also be expected to conduct economic environment and asset class related research.

Tests and Final/Replacement examination will be closed book (no reference material allowed).

Assessments from previous semester(s) cannot be redeemed.

Assessment Detail

The assessment components are as follows:

• (20%) Test: 1 hour test. Multiple Choice Format and Short Answers. This is a closed book test

• (25%) Assignment: This is an group assignment related to asset allocation for a client

• (5%) CFA Workshop Participation

• (50%) Final/Replacement Exam: 3 hours exam as per examination schedule. These are closed book examination

Submission

No information currently available.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator