CORPFIN 7019NA - Portfolio Theory & Management (M)

Ngee Ann Academy - Trimester 1 - 2015

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 7019NA
Course	Portfolio Theory & Management (M)
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Business School
Term	Trimester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	Ngee Ann Academy
Units	3
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Prerequisites	CORPFIN 7005NA & CORPFIN 7039NA & CORPFIN 7040NA
Assessment	Exam/assignments/tests/tutorial work as prescribed at first lecture

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Ivan Obaydin

Course Timetable

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

Course Learning Outcomes

This course has two objectives. The first is to fulfil the portfolio and funds management component and of the CFA body of knowledge. Second is to bridge the gap between portfolio theory and the delegated funds management industry.

This course will draw upon your previous knowledge gained from courses such as PoF, EVA, FIS, and QM. The aspects of theory covered is the modern portfolio theory, including Markowitz Efficient frontier, CAPM and APT, active and passive portfolio formulation and management techniques, and benchmarking/performance evaluation techniques. This course also considers various asset classes such as Domestic and International Equities, Fixed Income Securities, Real Estate, Commodities, and Hedge Funds. Fund manager specific aspects are also investigated such as Capacity Issues and AUM considerations, Career Concerns, Ethical Issues.

Graduates from this course have been 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 the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification

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)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	Fulfil the aspects specific to the portfolio component in the CFA body of knowledge.
The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner.	Assimilation of knowledge from earlier subjects and the finance industry to formulate investment strategies.

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Investments by Bodie, Kane and Marcus, 9th or 10th Edition, published by McGraw-Hill.

Other readings from academic, semi-professional and professional sources are provided in the reader.

Recommended Resources

Students are encouraged to stay abreast of global financial issues, especially in the Australian context. Australian Financial Review, certain finance commentary on ABC, industry magazines such as Money Manager should be referred to on a regular basis. The internet resources are also abundantly populated with all aspects of this course, and should be used as well.

Learning & Teaching Modes

The approach in this course is to first establish the theoretical foundations and then build upon them to understand the real-world issues. This will be done through lectures, test, assignment, and tutorials. Most of the tutorials will be applied in nature and will reflect the real world constructs.

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.

Learning Activities Summary

Intensive 1
Topic	Chapters
1	Chapter 1 BKM Chapter 4 BKM Chapter 6 BKM Chapter 7 BKM Chapter 11 BKM	Fundamental concepts - Funds - Portfolio - Mean Variance Efficient Frontier - Fund Strategies (Active vs. Passive) Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - The Investment Environment - Mutual Funds and other Investment Companies - “Asset Allocation” by William F. Sharpe Review of Previous Material: - Risk Aversion and Capital Allocation to Risky Assets - Optimal Risky Portfolio - The Efficient Market Hypothesis
2	Chapter 4 BKM Chapter 24 BKM	- Overview of the Financial Market - Basic Performance Evaluation Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Mutual Funds and other Investment Companies - Portfolio Performance Evaluation
3	Chapter 28 BKM Chapter 8 BKM Chapter 9 BKM Chapter 13 BKM	Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and the Asset Allocation Decision Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Investment Policy and the Framework of the CFA Institute - Maginn, J. L., D. L. Tuttle, D. W. McLeavey, and J. E. Pinto, “The Portfolio Management Process and the Investment Policy Statement”. Review of Previous Material: - Index Models - The Capital Asset Pricing Model - Empirical Evidence on Security Returns
4	Chapter 10 BKM Chapter 27 BKM	Active Equity Portfolio Management Strategies Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Arbitrage Pricing Theory and Multifactor Models of Risk and Return - The Theory of Active Portfolio Management - Jon A. Christopherson and C. Nola Williams, 1997, “Equity Style: What It Is and Why It Matters”, Ch.1, the Handbook of Equity Style Management, 2nd Edition.
5	Chapter 16 BKM	Bonds Portfolio Management Strategies Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Managing Bond Portfolios
6	Chapter 25 BKM	Real Estate, International Investments, and Emerging Markets Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - International Diversification
Intensive 2
7	Chapter 7 BKM Chapter 8 BKM	Passive Equity Portfolio Management Strategies Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Optimal Risky Portfolios - Index Models - Hsu, J.C., and C. Campollo, “An Examination of Fundamental Indexation”. - George U. Sauter, 1998, “Medium and Small Capitalization Indexing”, Ch.3, pp. 44-49, Selected Topics in Equity Portfolio Management. - John S. Loftus, 1998, “Enhanced Equity Indexing”, Ch.4, Selected Topics in Equity Portfolio Management.
8		Issues in Portfolio Management Strategies Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Perold, A. and W. Sharpe, 1998, “Dynamic Strategies for Asset Allocation”, Financial Analyst Journal (AIMR, Jan/Feb 1998). - Wayne H. Wagner and Mark Edwards, 1998, “Implementing Investment Strategies: The Art and Science of Investing”, Ch. 17, Handbook of Portfolio Management. - Frino, A. and D. R. Gallagher, 2000, “The Problem of being Passive”, JASSA, Issue 2, winter, pp.28-32. - Gallagher, D.R. , 2000, “Do Active Funds Deliver?”, JASSA, Issue 1, autumn, pp.2-5. - Sinclair, N., 1999, “Index or Active?”, JASSA, Issue 1, autumn, pp.2-8.
9	Chapter 26 BKM	Book Chapter Readings: - Hedge Funds Journal Articles Readings: TBA
10	Chapter 12 BKM	Behavioural Finance Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Behavioural Finance and Technical Analysis - M. Statman, “Behavioural Finance: Past Battles and Future Engagements”.
11	Chapter 24 BKM	Performance Evaluation – Theory, Evidence and Issues Journal Articles and Book Chapter Readings: - Evaluation of Portfolio Performance - William F. Sharpe, Asset Allocation: Management Style and Performance Measurement

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

The assessment components are as follows:

• (20%) Individual Assignment: Handed out at the end of first intensive. The report is due prior to the commencement of second intensive.

• (25%) Test: Beginning of 2nd Intensive (based on all content covered in Intensive 1)

• (55%) Final Exam: 3 hours exam as per examination schedule. The final examination will be closed book (i.e. allows no reference material during the examination) and will cover all topics.

Assessment Related Requirements

Statutory obligations in Singapore are such that attendance in person is a compulsory condition of passing a course. Our specific requirements are that students must attend at least 80% of class sessions to be graded for that course. For these purposes each intensive weekend is defined as comprising 5 sessions with 1 on Friday evening and 2 on each of Saturday and Sunday.

Each course in total comprises 10 sessions; Students must attend a minimum of 8 sessions to be eligible to be given a grade for the course. Students failing to meet these requirements will be automatically graded 0% Fail (F) on their transcripts.

Students have to score at least 50% in the overall assessment to pass this course.

Assessment Detail

No information currently available.

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.

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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.
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Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator