Portfolio Management

Course Overview

Investment managers face an extremely complex set of inter-related challenges in designing and managing their clients’ asset portfolios, particularly in the light of the contemporary “VUCA” world but also due to the broad range of investment opportunities available for allocation which extends far beyond the traditional ambit of public equities and government bonds.

Notwithstanding this complexity, a disciplined and structured approach remains critical in order to enable investment managers to take advantage of investment opportunities and properly manage risk in the context of each client’s overall objectives and investment horizon. Consequently, modelling of expected asset returns and risk metrics as well as robust diversification techniques remain essential to delivering sustainable investment returns.

Whilst the debate regarding active versus passive investment continues within the investment management industry, the potential for dynamic portfolio management to deliver alpha – i.e. consistent above index / benchmark returns – remains. However, asset managers face a daunting array of challenges in designing, building and managing clients’ portfolios across an extended set of potential investment opportunities encompassing both traditional and alternative asset classes.

Heavily founded in practical application and using Excel-based exercises to deepen analytical skills throughout, the programme is based around two modules – Introduction to Portfolio Management and Dynamic Portfolio Management.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the critical role of macroeconomic analysis and forecasting in portfolio management, especially in light of recent global economic changes, and learn to distinguish “signal” from “noise” to inform portfolio strategy decisions.
• Gain insights into modern portfolio theory, including Markowitz-efficient portfolios and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), as well as the Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH) and its implications for active and dynamic portfolio management.
• Explore the characteristics and risk-return profiles of principal mainstream and alternative asset classes to assess potential sources of alpha generation within asset class sub-portfolios and via asset allocation strategies.
• Develop skills in assessing clients’ current situations, objectives, and time horizons to design tailored portfolio management strategies, incorporating Strategic Asset Allocation and Tactical Asset Allocation frameworks to meet long-term objectives.
• Delve into dynamic portfolio management and alpha generation, understanding the case for active versus passive management approaches and the potential for alpha in different financial markets and across asset classes.
• Master the practical implementation of dynamic portfolio management, including portfolio construction and adjustment in response to economic and market conditions, with an emphasis on sustainability, ESG factors, and the contemporary “VUCA” investment environment.