Instructor: Course Website: Class Time: UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA I. H. ASPER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE FIN 3410 - INVESTMENTS FALL 2017 Sections A01 and A02 Dr. Usha R. Mittoo https://universityofmanitoba.desire2learn.com Mondays and Wednesdays A01: 11:30am 12:45 pm A02: 1:00 pm 2:15 pm 537 Drake Centre 660 Drake Centre Fridays 12 pm - 1 pm, OR by appointment Class Room: Office: Office Hours: Telephone: (204) 474-8969 E-mail: Usha.Mittoo@.umanitoba.ca E-MAIL It is university policy that e-mail communication between students and faculty is conducted solely with University of Manitoba e-mail accounts. Students must use their University of Manitoba e-mail account in all correspondence with me and include full name and student number in every e-mail. COURSE OBJECTIVES The objective of this course is to provide an understanding of the theory and practice of investments. The course will begin with an overview of capital markets and cover market efficiency, capital asset pricing models, portfolio theory and management, options and futures, international investments and market efficiency. The students will learn financial concepts, tools and techniques, and their application to investment decisions. PREREQUISITES The course prerequisite is FIN 2200 (C+). The course assignments will require Excel spreadsheet analysis and the students are expected to have a good knowledge of Excel. PEDAGOGY A combination of lectures, practical examples and spreadsheet problems will be used. The lectures will focus on the theoretical concepts and tools. The assignments and class presentations will focus on the application of financial concepts and tools to investment issues and problems. Recent developments in investment theory and practice in financial markets will be emphasized through assigned readings and class discussions. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK Bodie, Kane, Marcus, Perrakis, Ryan and Switzer, Investments: Eighth Canadian Edition, McGraw- Hill Ryerson, Inc., Toronto, 2015. 1
OTHER RESOURCES Class notes, End-of-Chapter Solutions and additional readings will be available through UMLearn(D2L). Students should read the assigned material prior to its coverage in class. The End-of-Chapter questions and problems from the textbook and other reading materials will be assigned weekly. Students are strongly advised to work on these assignments independently and to correct their own solutions with the text-book solutions. Students will also be required to use Bloomberg and internet sources for articles and data collection for their assignments and presentations. McGraw-Hill Ryerson s Online Learning Centre (OLC): McGraw-Hill Ryerson has an excellent Online Learning Centre for the 7th edition of the required text. For every chapter in the book, this site includes a chapter overview, YouTube Videos, multiple-choice quizzes, and web links. Please take advantage of this useful site. The URL of the Online Learning Centre is: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0070071705/student_view0/index.html The ETF Global Portfolio Challenge: All students will participate in the ETF Global Portfolio Challenge, a web-based simulated investment challenge designed to serve as a fun and educational tool intended to help educate students about investing in Exchange-Traded-Funds (ETFs). Through this website, investors will construct a portfolio utilizing between four and ten ETPs using a virtual endorsement of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). Players will attempt to pick the top-performing portfolios of ETFs. Each participant will compete on the investment performance of their respective virtual portfolio. The sign-up and game navigation instructions can be found under the "How It Works" section of the contest website - www.etfportfoliochallenge.com For doing research on ETFs, students may register for their free trials to Etfg s research platform using the promo code ETFGPCF2016 - https://www.etfg.com/signup and use the video tutorials - http://www.etfg.com/tutorials - to learn how to leverage the various features of the website for research purposes. The students will be required to write a written report and make a class presentation (10%) based on their investment strategy and lessons learnt from the ETF Global Portfolio Challenge on a group basis. While each student will register in the game individually, students should work together in groups of two to three students for preparing the report and presentation. Important note: The registration for the challenge ends on September 22, 2017. The challenge runs from Sept.25 to Dec.8, 2017. Students who are placed in the top 25 performers will get up to 5 bonus marks based on their individual relative rankings in the challenge. 2
GRADING AND EXAMINATIONS Final grades are based on the student s weighted mark and performance relative to other students. EVALUATION Class Participation 5% Mid-term Examination 30% Assignments 10% Class Presentation (The ETF Portfolio Challenge) 10% Final Examination 45% Total 100% ATTENDANCE POLICY Class attendance is required. Students can miss up to two classes during the term without penalty. All further absences over this limit will reduce the student s participation grade. Habitual lateness and leaving class early will be noted as evidence of low course commitment and penalized. CLASS PARTICIPATION/CONTRIBUTION Attendance and class participation will be extremely beneficial towards understanding the course material, while earning points towards your grade. To earn the marks for participation, show your name plate on the table in every class and try to answer the questions asked by the professor. It is important that you be an active contributor to class discussion. Class participation grade will depend on both the quantity and quality of your class contributions. ASSIGNMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS Assignments and presentations will be done on a group basis with two to three students in a group. ASSIGNMENTS The main objectives of the assignments are to learn the application of Excel in estimating risk and return, selecting optimal portfolios, and regression analysis using real market data. Only one assignment per group should be submitted. LAB SESSIONS This course will incorporate one or two in-class computer lab sessions that are designed to teach application of the portfolio theory and single index models using Microsoft Excel. The Lab sessions would be very helpful in doing assignments and presentations. The outline lists the tentative dates for these sessions. Important: The attendance in Lab sessions is mandatory. Students are responsible to sign the lab attendance sheets. For the lab session, students are required to bring a laptop computer ready with Microsoft Excel. 3
CLASS PRSENTATION The presentation is based on the students experience in the ETF Global Portfolio Challenge on a group basis. The presentation is group work and members of each group should work together on the presentation. The main objective of the presentation is to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of investment concepts, knowledge and tools learned in the class using real market data and analysis. The students are encouraged to experiment with different investment strategies to enhance their learning from the portfolio challenge. The students will be required to write a written report and make a class presentation (10%) based on their investment strategy and lessons learnt from the ETF Global Portfolio Challenge on a group basis. While each student will register and compete in the game individually, students should work together in groups of two to three students in a group for preparing the report and presentation. The group presentation will be about 8-10 minutes. The presenting group must email the professor their PowerPoint presentation slides and the summary report that provides a brief description of their strategy, information sources, and data analysis used in the presentation one day prior to their scheduled presentation. Important: All students are required to be present in the class for all presentations. The professor will schedule the dates of presentations for each group. EXAMINATION The midterm exam will take place on Monday, October 30, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm (Room 343 Drake). There will be no make-up mid-term examination. Students who miss the mid-term exam and have a valid medical excuse will have the weight of the mid-term added to the final examination. Students with valid medical excuses must obtain a doctor's certificate that the student's condition is severe enough to prevent the student from taking the examination. Students who miss the midterm exam without a valid medical excuse will receive a grade of zero on the mid-term examination. Both mid-term and final exams will be closed book except as follows: a one-sided 8.5" x 11" sheet with anything hand written on it can be taken into the mid-term and a two-sided 8.5" x 11" sheet can be taken into the final. Formula sheets must be hand written. No word-processed or photocopied material is allowed on your formula sheet. Improper formula sheets will be confiscated. The use of laptops and mobile phones is not permitted during the exams. You can bring a financial calculator, but in the event that your calculator is programmable you may not enter any text, formulae, or data. Note: the final exam is cumulative. 4
TENTATIVE COUSE OUTLINE DATE TOPIC CHAPTER September 11-13 Enrollment in ETF Portfolio Challenge 1. The Recent History of Investing and the Investment Objective 2. Financial Markets and Instruments 1, 2 September 18-20 September 22 - Deadline for ETF Portfolio Challenge registration Sept. 25- Oct. 4 October 2 3. How Securities are Traded 4. Risk and Return 3 4 5. Capital Allocation to Risky Assets, Optimal Risky Portfolios LAB I: Estimating the Markowitz Frontier and the Capital Market Line (CML) 5, 6 Term break-oct 5,6 Thanksgiving-Oct 9 Monday- no class October 11-16 October 16 October 18 October 11(Lab I) Assignment 1- Due 7. The Capital Asset Pricing Model 8. Index Models LAB II: Estimating the Single Index Model October 23 (Lab II) Assignment 2 Due 9. Factor Models and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory 10. Empirical Evidence on Security Returns 7 8 9 11 October 23-25 11. Managed Funds 23 October 30 No class Office hours: 12:00-1:30 pm November 1-8 No Class- Nov. 11 Remembrance day November 13-22 November 27-29 MID-TERM EXAM (30%) Drake Centre: Room 343 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm 11. Futures and Forward Markets 12. International Investing 13. Options and other Derivatives Option Strategies and Payoffs Option Pricing Models Class Presentations 20 24 18 19 December 5-7 14. Market Efficiency 9 5
AACSB Assurance of Learning Goals and Objectives. The Asper School of Business is proudly accredited by AACSB. Accreditation requires a process of continuous improvement of the School and our students. Part of student improvement is ensuring that students graduate with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their careers. To do so, the Asper School has set the learning goals and objectives listed below for the Undergraduate Program. The checked goal(s) and objective(s) will be addressed in this course and done so by means of the items listed next to the checkmark. Goals and Objective in the Undergraduate Program 1 Quantitative Reasoning A. Determine which quantitative analysis technique is appropriate for solving a specific problem. B. Use the appropriate quantitative method in a technically correct way to solve a business problem. Goals and Objectives Addressed in this Course Course Item(s) Relevant to these Goals and Objectives Entire course Entire course C. Analyze quantitative output and arrive at a conclusion. Assignments 2 Written Communication A. Use correct English grammar and mechanics in their written work. B. Communicate in a coherent and logical manner Written assignments C. Present ideas in a clear and organized fashion. Class presentation 3 Ethical Thinking A. Identify ethical issues in a problem or case situation Chapter 1 B. Identify the stakeholders in the situation. Chapter 1 C. Analyze the consequences of alternatives from an ethical standpoint. D. Discuss the ethical implications of the decision. 4 Core Business Knowledge Entire course 6
Academic Integrity It is critical to the reputation of the Asper School of Business and of our degrees that everyone associated with our faculty behave with the highest academic integrity. As the faculty that helps create business and government leaders, we have a special obligation to ensure that our ethical standards are beyond reproach. Any dishonesty in our academic transactions violates this trust. The University of Manitoba General Calendar addresses the issue of academic dishonesty under the heading "Plagiarism and Cheating". Specifically, acts of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to: - using the exact words of a published or unpublished author without quotation marks and without referencing the source of these words - duplicating a table, graph or diagram, in whole or in part, without referencing the source - paraphrasing the conceptual framework, research design, interpretation, or any other ideas of another person, whether written or verbal (e.g., personal communications, ideas from a verbal presentation) without referencing the source - copying the answers of another student in any test, examination, or take-home assignment - providing answers to another student in any test, examination, or take-home assignment - taking any unauthorized materials into an examination or term test (crib notes) - impersonating another student or allowing another person to impersonate oneself for the purpose of submitting academic work or writing any test or examination - stealing or mutilating library materials - accessing tests prior to the time and date of the sitting - changing name or answer(s) on a test after that test has been graded and returned - submitting the same paper or portions thereof for more than one assignment, without discussions with the instructors involved. Group Projects and Group Work Many courses in the Asper School of Business require group projects. Students should be aware that group projects are subject to the same rules regarding academic dishonesty. Because of the unique nature of group projects, all group members should exercise special care to insure that the group project does not violate the policy on Academic Integrity. Should a violation occur, group members are jointly accountable unless the violation can be attributed to a specific individual(s). Some courses, while not requiring group projects, encourage students to work together in groups (or at least do not prohibit it) before submitting individual assignments. Students are encouraged to discuss this issue as it relates to academic integrity with their instructor to avoid violating this policy. In the Asper School of Business all suspected cases of academic dishonesty are passed to the Dean's office in order to ensure consistency of treatment. 7