| Semester 3, 2020 Online | |
| Short Description: | Portfolio Management |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts |
| School or Department : | School of Commerce |
| Student contribution band : | Band 3 |
| ASCED code : | 081105 - Investment and Securities |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
Staffing
Examiner:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: FIN1101 and FIN1103 and STA2300
Other requisites
Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .
Rationale
Increasingly, workers are responsible for their own saving and investing, usually through a superannuation fund. More generally, funds management is a large and growing part of the financial services sector. This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the concepts and tools of modern portfolio management that are applied in this sector and may be applied by individuals taking responsibility for the management of their own savings. The course assumes some knowledge of finance and statistics.
Synopsis
The current trend in the funds management industry is away from security analysis (stock picking) and towards asset allocation (managing the balance of equities, bonds, cash etc). The latter, typically called portfolio management, is now more important than the former, typically called investment management. Portfolio management is important to both individuals who manage their own personal assets and managers who manage the assets of others. This course aims to cover the most crucial aspects of portfolio management. Coverage includes these topics: the construction of the portfolio, investment objectives and policies; the management of the portfolio including the selection of assets, the utilisation of modern portfolio methods and the revision of the portfolio; and the protection of the portfolio using derivatives. The course emphasises the analytical aspects of portfolio management and the decision making process to enable students to apply the established theories and models in the financial world.
Objectives
On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
- explicate the process of portfolio construction, management and protection;
- interpret and analyse data with professional literacy skills including numeracy;
- apply knowledge of how investments such as international securities, real assets and derivatives fit into a well-diversified portfolio;
- synthesise theory and practice to solve problems, to make ethical decisions and to think critically in the context of portfolio management;
- use initiative, creativity and judgement to construct, manage and protect a portfolio of financial investments;
- evaluate the performance of a portfolio.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ethics in finance | 10.00 |
| 2. | Portfolio objectives and investment policy | 5.00 |
| 3. | Portfolio diversification | 20.00 |
| 4. | International diversification | 10.00 |
| 5. | Equities | 10.00 |
| 6. | Bonds | 10.00 |
| 7. | Real assets | 5.00 |
| 8. | Revising and rebalancing the equity and bond portfolios | 10.00 |
| 9. | Using derivatives in the portfolio | 10.00 |
| 10. | Performance evaluation | 5.00 |
| 11. | Issues in modern portfolio management | 5.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=03&subject1=FIN2105)
Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)
Reference materials
Student workload expectations
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Directed 精东传媒app | 36.00 |
| Independent 精东传媒app | 129.00 |
Assessment details
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QUIZ 1 | 20 | 20 | 10 Dec 2020 | (see note 1) |
| QUIZ 2 | 20 | 20 | 14 Jan 2021 | (see note 2) |
| ONLINE EXAM | 60 | 60 | End S3 | (see note 3) |
Notes
- The online computer-marked answer quiz, available through 精东传媒appDesk, will comprise multiple choice questions on a set of textbook chapters.
- The quiz, available through 精东传媒appDesk, will comprise multiple choice questions on a set of textbook chapters and may include one or more supplementary questions requiring a short answer. Supplementary questions will be posted at 精东传媒appDesk prior to the commencement of the quiz.
- This will be an online exam. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their course examiner via 精东传媒appDesk.
Important assessment information
-
Attendance requirements:
Online: There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
On-campus: It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. -
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S3 2020 are:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.
Requirements after S1 2021:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.) -
Penalties for late submission of required work:
Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4) -
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S3 2020 are:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Requirements after S1 2021:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the end of semester examination by achieving at least 40% of the weighted marks available for that assessment item.
Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.
To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per the Assessment Procedure (point 4.4.2). -
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course. -
Examination information:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S3 2020 are:
An Open Examination is one in which candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination.
Requirements after S1 2021:
This will be an open examination. Candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination. -
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S3 2020 are:
The details regarding deferred/supplementary examinations will be communicated at a later date.
Requirements after S1 2021:
Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period. -
精东传媒app Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions that might contravene 精东传媒app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .
Assessment notes
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Referencing in assignments:
Harvard (AGPS) is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use Harvard (AGPS) style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (AGPS) style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at .