Meeting Investors' Goals

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Meeting Investors' Goals

This course is part of Investment Management Specialization

Instructors: Tony Berrada

43,890 already enrolled

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,821 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.

1,821 reviews

9 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

94%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

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Assessments

8 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Investment Management 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.

What's included

7 videos2 readings3 assignments1 discussion prompt

7 videos Total 36 minutes

Why you should choose this course 2 minutes
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

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

1 discussion prompt Total 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 videos Total 83 minutes

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

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 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

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 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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Instructors

Instructor ratings

(172 ratings)

Tony Berrada

University of Geneva

4 Courses 249,706 learners

Offered by

University of Geneva

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Reviewed on May 31, 2020

Perfect course for building the basics. Was expecting a bit more depth. But, this is the best course to cover the breadth and basics of the field.

Reviewed on Jul 15, 2017

this is a very good course. I couldn't have learnt much anywhere else. The practical examples and assignment help you get a grip on how to apply your skills to the real world.

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.

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Frequently asked questions

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.

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