Capstone: Build a Winning Investment Portfolio

Overview

Put your investment and portfolio management knowledge to the test through five weeks of hands-on investment experiences: • Developing and managing your own simulated investment portfolio, resulting in a peer-graded report covering portfolio strategy, analysis, and performance • Advising case study clients on a variety of investment topics, essentially acting as an investment advisor in a simulated environment recommending strategies for and changes in portfolios based on challenges and issues faced by your clients • Using the sophisticated web-based analytical tools of Silicon Cloud Technologies LLC’s Portfolio Visualizer including portfolio mean variance optimization, historical and forecasted efficient frontiers, Fama-French factor models, and many more Your capstone experiences are directly applicable to managing real world investment portfolios and the final report can be shared with family, friends, and potential or current employers. By the end of the capstone project, you will have incorporated concepts from all four courses, including: • Analyzing multiple asset classes • Asset allocation and risk management • Current market trends • Behavioral finance • Investment styles and strategies • Financial market innovation • Investment performance evaluation

Syllabus

Developing Asset Allocation Strategies

In Module 1, Capstone learners will research, develop and implement an asset allocation strategy for a $1 million simulated policy portfolio using a provided list of ETF assets covering US and global equities, fixed income, real estate, and commodities.

Developing a Macro View / Tactical Portfolio Shifts

In this module, we will analyze and develop a view on macroeconomic trends that impact investment portfolios, will forecast near-term returns on simulated portfolio asset classes, and will make any needed tactical shifts to the policy portfolios.

Behavioral Finance

This module, learners will advise case study clients on changes needed in their portfolios and investment behavior which demonstrate behavioral finance biases or puzzles and will also reflect on their own personal biases (either experienced or expected).

Styles of Investing

Learners will advise case study clients on styles of investing, becoming familiar with the use of Fama-French and Carhart factor model.

Performance Evaluation

Learners will evaluate returns and risk on their simulated portfolios and will calculate and evaluate returns and alternative measures of risk to advice case study clients on portfolio selection.

Sim Portfolio Evaluation (Peer Graded)

Learners will give and receive feedback through peer grading of the Sim Portfolio Final Report, which covers all 5 modules of the Sim Portfolio activities.