Course Content
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW
This topic is covered in study session 18 of the material provided by the Institute. After reading this chapter, a student shall be able to: a. describe the portfolio approach to investing; b. describe the steps in the portfolio management process; c. describe types of investors and distinctive characteristics and needs of each; d. describe defined contribution and defined benefit pension plans; e. describe aspects of the asset management industry; f. describe mutual funds and compare them with other pooled investment products.
0/6
PORTFOLIO RISK AND RETURN: PART I
This topic is covered in study session 18 of the material provided by the institute. After reading this chapter, a student shall be able to: a. calculate and interpret major return measures and describe their appropriate uses; b. compare the money-weighted and time-weighted rates of return and evaluate the performance of portfolios based on these measures; c. describe characteristics of the major asset classes that investors consider in forming portfolios; d. calculate and interpret the mean, variance, and covariance (or correlation) of asset returns based on historical data; e. explain risk aversion and its implications for portfolio selection; f. calculate and interpret portfolio standard deviation; g. describe the effect on a portfolio’s risk of investing in assets that are less than perfectly correlated; h. describe and interpret the minimum-variance and efficient frontiers of risky assets and the global minimum-variance portfolio; i. explain the selection of an optimal portfolio, given an investor’s utility (or risk aversion) and the capital allocation line.
0/6
PORTFOLIO RISK AND RETURN: PART II
This topic is covered in study session 18 of the material provided by the institute. After reading this chapter, a student shall be able to: a. describe the implications of combining a risk-free asset with a portfolio of risky assets; b. explain the capital allocation line (CAL) and the capital market line (CML); c. explain systematic and nonsystematic risk, including why an investor should not expect to receive an additional return for bearing nonsystematic risk; d. explain return-generating models (including the market model) and their uses; e. calculate and interpret beta; f. explain the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), including its assumptions, and the security market line (SML); g. calculate and interpret the expected return of an asset using the CAPM; h. describe and demonstrate applications of the CAPM and the SML. i. calculate and interpret the Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, M2, and Jensen’s alpha.
0/7
BASICS OF PORTFOLIO PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION
This topic is covered in study session 19 of the material provided by the institute. After reading this chapter, a student shall be able to: a. describe the reasons for a written investment policy statement (IPS); b. describe the major components of an IPS; c. describe risk and return objectives and how they may be developed for a client; d. distinguish between the willingness and the ability (capacity) to take risk in analyzing an investor’s financial risk tolerance; e. describe the investment constraints of liquidity, time horizon, tax concerns, legal and regulatory factors, and unique circumstances and their implications for the choice of portfolio assets; f. explain the specification of asset classes in relation to asset allocation; g. describe the principles of portfolio construction and the role of asset allocation in relation to the IPS. h. describe how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations may be integrated into portfolio planning and construction.
0/5
INTRODUCTION TO RISK MANAGEMENT
This topic is covered in study session 19 of the material provided by the institute. After reading this chapter, a student shall be able to: a. define risk management; b. describe features of a risk management framework; c. define risk governance and describe elements of effective risk governance; d. explain how risk tolerance affects risk management; e. describe risk budgeting and its role in risk governance; f. identify financial and non-financial sources of risk and describe how they may interact; g. describe methods for measuring and modifying risk exposures and factors to consider in choosing among the methods.
0/7
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
This topic is covered in study session 19 of the material provided by the institute. After reading this chapter, a student shall be able to: a. explain principles of technical analysis, its applications, and its underlying assumptions; b. describe the construction of different types of technical analysis charts and interpret them; c. explain uses of trend, support, resistance lines, and change in polarity; d. describe common chart patterns; e. describe common technical analysis indicators (price-based, momentum oscillators, sentiment, and flow of funds); f. explain how technical analysts use cycles; g. describe the key tenets of Elliott Wave Theory and the importance of Fibonacci numbers; h. describe intermarket analysis as it relates to technical analysis and asset allocation.
0/7
Portfolio Management
About Lesson

LOS E requires us to:

describe the investment constraints of liquidity, time horizon, tax concerns, legal and regulatory factors, and unique circumstances and their implications for the choice of portfolio assets

 

Some of the constraints to the amount and type of investments are:

a.  Liquidity: This basically deals with the redemption and withdrawal requirements. It depends upon the need to have the readily convertible investments to cash at a price close to fair value.

b.  Time Horizon: The time horizon defines the ability to overcome losses and take risks. The shorter the time horizon, the more difficult it is to overcome the losses.

c.  Tax Concerns. There are two types of investment accounts for the investors, i.e. registered accounts and non-registered accounts. The investors put their money in the non-registered accounts when their investible money exceeds the amounts that can be invested in the registered accounts.

For the amounts invested in registered accounts, the taxes are not much of a concern.

However, for the investments in the non-registered accounts, due consideration is required as to the nature of the investment, whether the income from the investment is in nature of interest, dividends, or capital gains. Within the capital gains also, whether they are short-term or long-term. Different types of incomes have different tax implications.

d.  Legal and Regulatory Matters: There are legal and regulatory restrictions such as self-investment limits for the pension plans concerning the sponsor.

e.  Unique Considerations: There are unique considerations, which may differ from client to client also. For example, there may be restrictions on investment in certain assets; there may be holding requirements, or concentration restrictions, etc.