Meeting Investors' Goals

This course is part of Investment Management Specialization

Instructors: Tony Berrada +6 more

45,066 already enrolled

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,826 reviews

9 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

94%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,826 reviews

9 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

94%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Category: Portfolio Management
Category: Wealth Management
Category: Investments
Category: Investment Management
Category: Risk Management
Category: Behavioral Economics
Category: Market Dynamics
Category: Economics
Category: Financial Market
Category: Ethical Standards And Conduct
Category: Finance
Category: General Finance
Category: Business Ethics
Category: Decision Making
Category: Asset Management
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Portfolio Risk

Details to know

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Assessments

8 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Investment Management Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

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.

What's included

7 videos2 readings3 assignments1 discussion prompt

7 videosTotal 36 minutes

Why you should choose this course2 minutes
An example: buying is easy, but when is it a good time to sell? - Buying8 minutes
An example: buying is easy, but when is it a good time to sell? - Holding3 minutes
An example: buying is easy, but when is it a good time to sell? - Selling10 minutes
The key things you need to know to define your investment profile - UBS guest speaker4 minutes
What you will learn in this Module1 minute
Rational decision making7 minutes

2 readingsTotal 15 minutes

Course syllabus5 minutes
Glossary10 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 22 minutes

Practice quiz on the relevant content of Course 1 (Understanding Financial Markets)10 minutes
Guess 2/3 of the average2 minutes
Graded quiz on the content of Week 110 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

What about you?10 minutes

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.

What's included

15 videos1 assignment1 peer review1 discussion prompt

15 videosTotal 83 minutes

How our brain may misinterpret information5 minutes
The basic steps in investment2 minutes
Biases when choosing which assets to look at3 minutes
Biases when processing financial information5 minutes
Biases when rebalancing you portfolio5 minutes
Biases when evaluating performance3 minutes
Wrap up3 minutes
How our emotions impact our investment decisions5 minutes
Why we trade6 minutes
What can we learn from this?10 minutes
The role of media in financial markets11 minutes
Honesty and trust in investment decision making - Study design10 minutes
Honesty and trust in investment decision making - Study results6 minutes
Impact Investing - UBS guest speaker5 minutes
Are emotions always a bad thing in investing?5 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 10 minutes

Graded quiz on the content of Week 210 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 40 minutes

Cognitive biases40 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

How would you enforce trust?10 minutes

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

18 videosTotal 138 minutes

What you will learn in this Module1 minute
Defining market efficiency6 minutes
Testing for the efficient market hypothesis: Weak form7 minutes
Testing for the efficient market hypothesis: Semi strong form6 minutes
Testing for the efficient market hypothesis: Strong form4 minutes
Overview of different origins of financial crises4 minutes
A first example for the development and fallout of a real crisis: the VW scandal5 minutes
A second example for the development and fallout of a real crisis: oil shocks - 1970s8 minutes
A second example for the development and fallout of a real crisis: oil shocks - 2000s6 minutes
A first example of an anticipation crisis: 1987 - The "Fed Model"9 minutes
A first example of an anticipation crisis: 1987 - The crash9 minutes
A second example of an anticipation crisis: 200010 minutes
The perfect storm: the global financial crisis - Global imbalances10 minutes
The perfect storm: the global financial crisis - Policy errors9 minutes
The perfect storm: the global financial crisis - Lax regulation7 minutes
How do central banks deal with the issue of financial (in)stability? - Course 1 recap11 minutes
How do central banks deal with the issue of financial (in)stability? - Asset prices9 minutes
An interview with Prof. Jean-Pierre Danthine16 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 20 minutes

Graded quiz on market efficiency10 minutes
Graded quiz on the origins of financial bubbles and crises10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Do you think markets are efficient?10 minutes

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

11 videosTotal 87 minutes

What you will learn in this Module5 minutes
Building a portfolio the top-down way – Definition9 minutes
Building a portfolio the top-down way – Use8 minutes
Building a portfolio the top-down way – Importance6 minutes
Portfolio construction via bottom-up - UBS guest speaker8 minutes
Value versus growth13 minutes
Fundamental or quantitative driven style? - UBS guest speaker4 minutes
Contrarian versus momentum - Momentum11 minutes
Contrarian versus momentum - Contrarian8 minutes
Core & satellite12 minutes
Thematic investing - UBS guest speaker3 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 20 minutes

Graded quiz on portfolio construction10 minutes
Graded quiz on investment styles10 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 25 minutes

Give it a try: Momentum15 minutes
Give it a try: Contrarian10 minutes

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Instructors

Instructor ratings

(174 ratings)

Tony Berrada

University of Geneva

4 Courses255,732 learners

Offered by

University of Geneva

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Reviewed on Jun 7, 2021

Excellent course! The quiz questions were hard. Not because of the concept but because of the way they were worded. Maybe it was intentional.

Reviewed on Jun 6, 2022

This course is excellent both in the teaching materials and the way of teaching.The professors and the guest speakers are very experienced in their subject matter.

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.

Frequently asked questions

To access course materials, assignments, and earn a Certificate, you'll need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. Eligible learners may also have the option to start with a Free Trial. Some courses may also offer a Full Course, No Certificate option. This lets you access course materials, submit required assessments, and receive a final grade, but you won't be able to earn or purchase a Certificate.

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.

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.

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