Portfolio Management Suite

The Portfolio Management Suite is a challenging, but rewarding, eight-day experience: a three-day module on fixed income (Fixed Income Portfolio Management); a three-day module on capital markets overview and equities (Equity Portfolio Management); and a two-day module specifically on portfolio management (Portfolio Management - Theory & Practice). Taken in sequence or individually, these modules blend traditional lectures and case studies.

18-Jun-2008 -- 27-Jun-2008New YorkUSD$7175
NY Institute of Finance - Midtown9:00am - 4:30pm Instructional Method:
Group-Live
Instructor(s): [ Various Instructors; ] Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Level: Basic
CPE Credits: 57.0

12-Nov-2008 -- 21-Nov-2008New YorkUSD$7175
NY Institute of Finance - Midtown9:00am - 4:30pm Instructional Method:
Group-Live
Instructor(s): [ Various Instructors; ] Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Level: Basic
CPE Credits: 57.0

Junior portfolio managers, money managers, research analysts, client services staff, consultants, individual and institutional investors, private bankers and financial advisors, research staff members of pension boards and plan sponsors.
No advance preparation required.
Students will be able to:
  • Understand the analytics necessary to manage a portfolio
  • Correctly implement an assortment of fixed income strategies
  • Correctly implement an assortment of equity strategies
  • Understand the interrelationships between strategies
Financial calculator is required.
  • Global Trader Simulation - 4 Day
  • Securities Analysis - Day
    • Day 1. Introduction: Overview of the Fixed Income Marketplace

    The Capital Markets: The Big Five

    • Stocks and Bonds: How They Differ
    • A Brief History of Bonds
    • Size and Complexity of the World Bond Market

    Bond Math

    • The Concept of Present Value
    • The Bond Price Equation
    • Three Types of Yield: Coupon, Current & Yield To Maturity (YTM)

    How Safe Are Bonds?

    • Risks In Fixed Income Investing
    • Credit
    • Interest Rate
    • Reinvestment
    • Liquidity
    • Call
    • Are Treasury Securities risk-free?

    A Dealer Market

    • Auction vs. Dealer Markets
    • How Bonds Are Traded
    • Primary & Secondary Markets
    • Issues of Transparency

    Case: The Viaticus Fund

      Reading: Bonds: Risky, Arcane, But Essential

    Day 2. The Participants: Issuers & Instruments

    Treasuries

    • The Benchmark
    • Bills, Notes, Bonds
    • Their Purpose
    • How Issued

    Corporates

    • Capital Structure: Equity vs. Debt
    • Conventional Debt
    • High Yield Securities:
    • Michael Millken and Drexel
    • Hybrids: Convertibles, Warrants, Debentures
    • Reading: Burgers & Bonds

    Municipals

    • Why They Exist
    • Revenue & General Obligation
    • Tax Exempt Features
    • Video: The Concept of Public Good

    Fixed Income Mutual Funds

    • Reading: The City of Skokie
    • Case: Using Bonds in a 401k
    • Film: The Trillion Dollar Bet

    Securitized Products

    • Mortgage Backed Securities
    • Collateralized Mortgage Obligations
    • Asset Backed Securities

    Day 3. The Investors: Institutions and Individuals

    Constructing a Fixed Income Portfolio

    • Advantages for Individuals: Bonds vs. Bond Funds
    • Advantages for Institutions: Active vs. Passive Strategies

    The Yield Curve

    • Why is it Important?
    • Its Shape
    • Theories
    • How Is It Used?

    Bond Math II

    • Realized Compound Yield
    • Duration: What and Why?
    • Convexity: What Is It?
    • Dissecting a Zero Coupon Bond: Pricing Off the Curve

    Some Strategies

    • Buy and Hold
    • Bullets and Barbells
    • Butterflies
    • Ladders
    • Immunization
    • Hedging

    Types of Diversification

    • By Sector
    • By Quality
    • By Maturity or Duration

    Bringing It All Together

    • The Portfolio Manager's Art
    • Importance of Asset Allocation
    • Funding Liabilities: Pension Fund Assumptions
    • Asset Liability Management (ALM)
    • The Balanced Fund Approach
    • Case: A Look at an Institutional Portfolio

    Day 4. Equity Portfolio Management

    Overview of the Capital Markets

    • Prominence of the US

    The Roles of the Exchanges

      Auction vs. Dealer Markets

        Valuation Techniques

        • Importance of Earnings
        • The Quality of Earnings: A Closer Look
        • Financial Shenanigans: Playing Games with Numbers
        • Getting Behind the Numbers

        Free Cash Flow

          Dividend Discount Models

            Gordon Growth Model

              Psychology of the Market

              • Film: The Crash of 1929

    Day 5. Stock Selection: Finding Value Behind the Numbers

    A Look at the Financials

    • Balance Sheet
    • Income Statement
    • Cash Flows
    • Footnotes (often tell the story)

    The Search for Hidden Assets

      The P/E Ratio and Beyond

        The Firm's Capital Structure

        • The Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) 5.5

        Some Numbers to Know

        • Debt/Equity Ratio
        • Return on Equity
        • Return on Assets
        • Inventory Assumptions

        Role of the Analyst: Gatekeeper or Cheerleader

        • The Earnings Estimate
        • The Consensus
        • Conflicts of Interest

        The IPO

        • Timing is Everything
        • Film: Dot.con (When the Internet Bubble Burst)

    Day 6. Equity Strategies: From Stock Picking to Portfolio Management

    Mergers and Acquisitions

    • Role of the Investment Bank

    Structuring an Equity Portfolio

      Use of Indexes

        Translating Information Into Investment Ideas

          Hedging with Options

            Short Selling

              Growth Strategies

                Value Strategies

                  Blended Strategies

                    Issues of Corportate Governance

                    • Board Composition
                    • Independent Directors
                    • Proxy Voting
                    • Socially Responsive Investing

                    A Closer Look at Beta: Adjusting for Risk

                    • Derivation
                    • Systematic vs. Unsystematic Risk
                    • Diversification
                    • Film: Contemporary Investor Attitudes

    Day 7. Balancing Risk and Reward

    Measuring Risk and Return

    • Review of the Securities Market Line
    • Some Useful Statistics: Standard Deviation; R Squared; Correlation; Covariance

    Modern Portfolio Theory: Advocates and Critics

    • History
    • Key Assumptions
    • Diversification vs.
    • Beta: Its Derivation and Limitations

    The Capital Asset Pricing Model

    • An Application of Beta
    • A Nobel Prize Winner

    Efficient Markets

    • The Theories
    • The Evidence

    Efficient Frontiers

    • Balancing Risk and Reward

    The Role of Hedge Funds

    • Speculators: Those who seek risk
    • Hedgers: Those who avoid risk

    Day 8. Evaluating Performance

    Measuring Performance

    • Concept of Risk Adjusted Performance
    • Sharpe Ratio
    • Treynor Ratio
    • Jensen Ratio

    Style Management

    • Importance of Alpha
    • Manager's Style and Risk
    • Use of Indicies as Benchmarks
    • Style and Performance

    Indexing

    • Strengths and Weaknesses

    Evaluating Your Portfolio Manager

    • Appropriate Benchmarks
    • Peer Group Comparisons
    • Quantitative Measures

    An In Depth Look at an Institutional Portfolio

    • Where the Rubber Meets the Road
    • Film: An Interview with Warren Buffett

    Clients who register for this course will receive a complimentary 6 month subscription to the Financial Times and FT.com. The Financial Times is the world's most respected financial newspaper, providing a broad assessment on finance, business and the industrial sector. Subscriptions will start within 6-8 weeks of the application process and are limited to one per client. For questions about your subscriptions call 800-628-8088 or email uscirculation@ft.com. US and Canada enrollees only.

    Lunch included for all students taking day classes.