Please refer to Ngee Ann-Adelaide Education Centre Schedule.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 assignment will be completed individually. The assignment requires the students to formulate an investment plan for an individual/entity using passive index funds and/or active mutual funds. Expectations regarding asset classes need to be conducted and the use of the Solver (a macro in Excel) and regression analysis will be required. No redemptions will be allowed from previous semesters.

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.

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.

Details of the assignment submission will be provided at a later date on MyUni.

Presentation of Assignments
• Please must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.
• Please email (syed.ali@adelaide.edu.au) an ‘Assignment Cover Sheet’. Your email will assume you have signed the cover sheet which includes acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism.

Assignment Guidelines including Referencing Details
A copy of the Postgraduate Programs: Communication Skills Guide will have been given to you at the beginning of your program. This guide will assist you structure your assignments. A copy of the guide can also be downloaded from:
www.business.adelaide.edu.au/documents/CSG_business_Web_final.pdf 

This publication also provides guidelines on a range of other important communication skills including writing essays and management reports, making oral presentations etc.
In preparing any written piece of assessment for your postgraduate studies it is important to draw on the relevant ‘literature’ to support critical analysis. Also essential is to reference the literature used. Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present, and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. (Further information on plagiarism is provided later in this course outline.)
The Harvard system is widely used in the Business School. Guidelines for the use of this style of referencing can be found in the Communication Skills Guide.

Further assistance with referencing is available from the Faculty’s Learning Support Advisors. The contact details are provided on page 6 of the Communication Skills Guide.

Late Assignment Submission
Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons, and all application for extensions must be submitted to the Student HUB before the due date. Each request will be assessed on its merits. A late assignment (without prior arrangement) will be penalised by a 1% (of the total course) mark reduction for each working day that it is late.

Return of Assignments
It is our aim to mark and provide feedback on the assignments to students within two (2) teaching weeks of the due date. Feedback will be provided by way of a rubric and marks for each aspect of the rubric will be provided through GradeCenter on MyUni.