In this course, students learn about the principles of investments and their application to financial planning. The topics covered in this course include an overview of securities laws and market structure, asset classifications, the taxation of investments, risk and return, portfolio theory, investment decisions and attributions analysis, market efficiency and behavioral finance, fixed income security analysis, equity security analysis and valuation, alternative investments, investment companies, and derivative securities.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the institutional framework surrounding investments, categorize investments by asset class, and evaluate the impact of taxation
- Measure investment returns using various methodologies and quantify risk within a statistical framework
- Apply the modern portfolio theory framework to the task of assembling portfolios and evaluating their performance
- Evaluate portfolio performance using attribution and ratio analysis, and identify cognitive and emotional biases exhibited by investors along with their consequences
- Understand how fixed income securities function and explain their role in structuring a well-diversified investment portfolio
- Compare and contrast the various types of equity securities and the different ways to invest in these securities
- Evaluate the factors that can affect the performance expectations of equity securities
- Identify the features of valuing securities using absolute and relative valuation models, and identify different types of alternative investments, including the risks and benefits associated with this asset class
- Identify the features of investment companies and evaluate fund selection techniques
- Compare and contrast the features of derivative securities including forwards, futures, and options contracts