GRA 6534 Investments
GRA 6534 Investments
In this course you will be introduced to major issues currently of concern to all investors. It will give you the skills to conduct a sophisticated assessment of current issues debates covererd by both the popular media as well as more specialized finance journals.
Provide students with a fundamental understanding of the investment process.
Review the different financial assets available to the portfolio manager, the markets in which they trade, their risk return characteristics and how they are priced. Discusses the basic techniques of portfolio management, risk control and performance evaluation. Briefly introduces the international dimension of the investment process.
- Identify key strategic investments issues in the contemporary market environment.
- Make short-term and long-term investments decisions under conditions of uncertainty.
- Apply analytical skills to undertake investments decisions.
- Critical reflection and thinking, developing deep insights regarding the financial markets dynamics.
- Appreciation for the complexity of investments decisions and business in general.
- Presentation of ideas and solutions in a clear and concise manner.
The course will be organized as follows:
- Asset classes: markets, pricing and historical record
- Equity markets and historical record
- Fixed Income Securities: pricing, markets and historical record
- Alternative investments: real estate, commodities, venture, etc
- Fixed Income
- Bond pricing
- The term structure of interest rate
- Bond portfolio management
- Equity valuation
- The price to earnings ratio
- Macroeconomic and industry analysis
- The portfolio management process
- Mean-Variance theory and the CAPM
- Efficient markets and portfolio management
- Active portfolio management strategies
- Optimal portfolio rebalancing
- Measuring portfolio performance
- Hedge funds, mutual funds and exchange traded funds
- Investment policy and the framework of the CFA institute
The instruction consists primarily of presentations and discussions of the readings assigned to the topics listed above. Students are expected to have read the material before each class meeting
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course start.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
Honour Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honour code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honour code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed. The expected behaviour and honour code is outlined here: https://at.bi.no/EN/Pages/programme-information/2016-2017/ProEXE_-Expect...
Any violation of the honour code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honour code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honour code, please ask.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Class participation Weight: 5 Grouping: Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Class participation is considered actually talking in class. The following are considered class participation: answering a question asked by the lecturer during class, asking the lecturer a question during class, or raising a point for discussion in class. Exam code: GRA65343 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 20 Grouping: Group Duration: 1 Month(s) Comment: Two computer assignments where the weight of each is 10%, Exam code: GRA65343 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 75 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Comment: Written examination under supervision. Exam code: GRA65343 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.