BE313-5-AP-KS:
Portfolio Analysis
2020/21
Essex Business School
Kaplan Singapore
Autumn & Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 08 October 2020
Friday 26 March 2021
15
29 January 2020
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BE314, BE331, BE332, BE335, BE630, BE631, BE633, BE937
This course focuses on the theoretical and empirical underpinning of trading strategies adopted by fund managers. The course shall outline the main theories of risk and return and explore the implications of these theories for investors' decisions.
In doing so the course shall address questions such as: What is the appropriate measure of risk for a particular security? How might investors decide on the weightings of different assets in their portfolios? How can we identify mispriced stocks? Should you invest your savings in an actively managed fund or in a passive fund?
The course shall begin with an overview of how investors measure a security's risk and return and then, using Markowitz's mean-variance criteria, shall illustrate how efficient portfolios can be constructed. The main difficulty with Markowitz style optimisers is how fund managers predict future risk and returns of individual securities. In this course we shall introduce some of the approaches used to make those predictions.
Bonds are often regarded as a relatively low risk asset class. Alternative measures of bond risk are evaluated, and a portfolio strategy that claims to remove all risk is outlined and critically evaluated.
The main aims of the course are:
1. to give students an appreciation of different approaches to portfolio management
2. to examine how investors may fully exploit the benefits of diversification
3. to provide students with an understanding of the models that are relevant to the management of bond portfolios
4. to introduce students to the main asset pricing models
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Understand what is meant by an efficient portfolio and how to identify efficient portfolio;
2. Explain how investors may fully exploit the benefits of diversification
3. Understand the importance of the CAPM and APT;
4. Evaluate competing measures of bond risk.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills).
Upon successful completion of the module, students should be able to:
1. Develop quantitative skills from assessing risk and returns across different asset classes such as stocks and bonds.
2. Identify and implement investment strategies in determining the optimal mix of risk-return investment portfolios.
3. Critically evaluate portfolio performance and adjust portfolios to meet the investment objectives.
4. Evaluate financial information and make investment management decisions.
No additional information available.
2 hours of lectures per week
Weekly seminars from Week 3 to Week 11.
Work will be given in advance (see Moodle web page) for you to attempt before the class.
- Levy, Haim; Post, Thierry. (2005) Investments, Harlow: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course. The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students. Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Nikolaos Vlastakis, email: nvlast@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Nikolaos Vlastakis, Dr Senyu Wang
E: ebsugcol@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
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