When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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There are 4 modules in this course
In this course, you will dive into the concepts of rationality and irrationality and understand how they impact our investment decisions and what the consequences can be at the market level.
You will first explore the different biases that we, as humans, are subjected to when facing investment decisions and how they may impact the outcomes of these decisions. Moreover, you will see how emotions and ethical concerns such as honesty and trust influence market participants. When they are considered as a group rather than individually, you will discover how rationality and irrationality can drive asset prices to and away from their fair value. Finally, you will be presented with different portfolio construction methodologies and investment styles that make up the landscape of today's portfolio management industry.
At key points throughout the course, you will benefit from the practical knowledge of experts from our corporate partner, UBS, in how to build and manage clients' portfolios.
In this introductory week, we will start by illustrating how emotions can hinder sensible investment decisions. You will then have the opportunity to check if you master the concepts of the first course that are important for this second course. Finally, we will lay the ground for next week’s content by looking at rational decision making.
An example: buying is easy, but when is it a good time to sell? - Buying•8 minutes
An example: buying is easy, but when is it a good time to sell? - Holding•3 minutes
An example: buying is easy, but when is it a good time to sell? - Selling•10 minutes
The key things you need to know to define your investment profile - UBS guest speaker•4 minutes
What you will learn in this Module•1 minute
Rational decision making•7 minutes
2 readings•Total 15 minutes
Course syllabus•5 minutes
Glossary•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 22 minutes
Graded quiz on the content of Week 1•10 minutes
Practice quiz on the relevant content of Course 1 (Understanding Financial Markets)•10 minutes
Guess 2/3 of the average•2 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
What about you?•10 minutes
How Individuals Make Financial Decisions
Module 2•2 hours to complete
Module details
The focus of this second week is on you, the investor: what are the reasons you participate in financial markets? How do you make investment decisions? What can go wrong in your decision process and what are the consequences? What can you do about it? To answer these questions, we will talk about cognitive biases, emotions and moral values and their respective link with investment decisions.
How our brain may misinterpret information•5 minutes
The basic steps in investment•2 minutes
Biases when choosing which assets to look at•3 minutes
Biases when processing financial information•5 minutes
Biases when rebalancing you portfolio•5 minutes
Biases when evaluating performance•3 minutes
Wrap up•3 minutes
How our emotions impact our investment decisions•5 minutes
Why we trade•6 minutes
What can we learn from this?•10 minutes
The role of media in financial markets•11 minutes
Honesty and trust in investment decision making - Study design•10 minutes
Honesty and trust in investment decision making - Study results•6 minutes
Impact Investing - UBS guest speaker•5 minutes
Are emotions always a bad thing in investing?•5 minutes
1 assignment•Total 10 minutes
Graded quiz on the content of Week 2•10 minutes
1 peer review•Total 40 minutes
Cognitive biases•40 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
How would you enforce trust?•10 minutes
Market Efficiency, Bubbles & Crises
Module 3•3 hours to complete
Module details
In this third week, we will have a look at investors’ behavior as a group. How does it impact asset prices? How do these prices reflect available information? What does it imply for the profitability of some trading strategies? What can go wrong in this price formation process and how can (and did) it cause financial bubbles and crises? This week also features as special guest: Prof. Jean-Pierre Danthine, former vice-chairman of the Swiss National Bank, who will offer insights into some of these issues.
What's included
18 videos2 assignments1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
18 videos•Total 138 minutes
What you will learn in this Module•1 minute
Defining market efficiency•6 minutes
Testing for the efficient market hypothesis: Weak form•7 minutes
Testing for the efficient market hypothesis: Semi strong form•6 minutes
Testing for the efficient market hypothesis: Strong form•4 minutes
Overview of different origins of financial crises•4 minutes
A first example for the development and fallout of a real crisis: the VW scandal•5 minutes
A second example for the development and fallout of a real crisis: oil shocks - 1970s•8 minutes
A second example for the development and fallout of a real crisis: oil shocks - 2000s•6 minutes
A first example of an anticipation crisis: 1987 - The "Fed Model"•9 minutes
A first example of an anticipation crisis: 1987 - The crash•9 minutes
A second example of an anticipation crisis: 2000•10 minutes
The perfect storm: the global financial crisis - Global imbalances•10 minutes
The perfect storm: the global financial crisis - Policy errors•9 minutes
The perfect storm: the global financial crisis - Lax regulation•7 minutes
How do central banks deal with the issue of financial (in)stability? - Course 1 recap•11 minutes
How do central banks deal with the issue of financial (in)stability? - Asset prices•9 minutes
An interview with Prof. Jean-Pierre Danthine•16 minutes
2 assignments•Total 20 minutes
Graded quiz on market efficiency•10 minutes
Graded quiz on the origins of financial bubbles and crises•10 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Do you think markets are efficient?•10 minutes
Portfolio Construction and Investment Styles
Module 4•2 hours to complete
Module details
In this final week, we will look at two main portfolio construction methodologies: top-down and bottom-up. We will see how they differ but also how they can be combined. In the second lesson, we will review some important investment styles that are commonly used in the portfolio management industry. In this final lesson, you will also be given the opportunity to experiment with different trading strategies and compare your results with fellow learners.
What's included
11 videos2 assignments2 discussion prompts
Show info about module content
11 videos•Total 87 minutes
What you will learn in this Module•5 minutes
Building a portfolio the top-down way – Definition•9 minutes
Building a portfolio the top-down way – Use•8 minutes
Building a portfolio the top-down way – Importance•6 minutes
Portfolio construction via bottom-up - UBS guest speaker•8 minutes
Value versus growth•13 minutes
Fundamental or quantitative driven style? - UBS guest speaker•4 minutes
Contrarian versus momentum - Momentum•11 minutes
Contrarian versus momentum - Contrarian•8 minutes
Core & satellite•12 minutes
Thematic investing - UBS guest speaker•3 minutes
2 assignments•Total 20 minutes
Graded quiz on portfolio construction•10 minutes
Graded quiz on investment styles•10 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 25 minutes
Give it a try: Momentum•15 minutes
Give it a try: Contrarian•10 minutes
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Learner reviews
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NB
5·
Reviewed on Apr 6, 2016
Great course! I like how it explained basic ideas of setting up an investment portfolio. And how it went into detail, such as thematic investing.
S
SX
5·
Reviewed on Mar 4, 2019
Excellent coverage of topics. Personal favorite was the behavioral aspects in investing- the biases. Great practical industry insights from the UBS team as well. Highly recommended course.
L
LW
4·
Reviewed on Mar 7, 2019
My only complaint was the assignment requiring evaluation by other students as this made the asynchronous nature of the course more synchronous and dependent on others.
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.