ICM340: Investment Portfolio Management

Module code: ICM340

Module provider: ICMA Centre; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: 7

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Dimitrios Gkamas, email: d.gkamas@icmacentre.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s): IN THE SAME YEAR AS TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE ICM401 AND ( TAKE ICM402 OR TAKE ICM403 ) (Compulsory)

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 19 November 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The investment portfolio management module covers key topics and techniques in relation to constructing and maintaining an optimal investment portfolio. The teaching approaches all topics from both academic and market, practical perspectives. 

The module builds on the investment management foundation that has been introduced in the ICM401 Investments module. The module aims to provide students with the ability: 

• To explain the issues facing the investment management industry, 
• To recognise the challenges, investment managers face, when constructing and maintaining an optimal investment portfolio, 
• To describe the importance of portfolio diversification, performance evaluation, risk management and portfolio rebalancing. 

The module will also introduce students to the world of alternative investments, the hedge fund industry, in particular. 

The module is ideal for students that want to pursue a career in investment management as on top of rigorous academic teaching it provides practical individual and group projects where students will gain hands-on experience in constructing and managing a realistic investment portfolio. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

• Describe the various stages of the investment portfolio management process, 
• Explain the various investment styles i.e., active, passive, smart beta, and the rationale for them, 
• Allocate funds between assets, taking into account the investor’s risk-return preferences, 
• Evaluate portfolio performance, compute and understand standard measures of portfolio risk-adjusted performance. 

Module content

Topic 1:   The Investment Management Environment, 

Topic 2:   Portfolio Management Process, 

Topic 3:   Selection Stages, 

Topic 4:   Active Investing, 

Topic 5:   Passive Investing, 

Topic 6:   Smart Beta and Responsible Investing, 

Topic 7:   Diversification (Practical Perspective), 

Topic 8:   Optimisation and Implementation, 

Topic 9:   Monitoring, Risk Management and Rebalancing, 

Topic 10: Hedge Funds and Other Alternative Investments. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

• Formal lectures, in which students are strongly encouraged to ask questions, 
• Workshops, guiding students in solving a practical investment portfolio management task as a team, 
• Seminars, in which students are encouraged to develop their analytical skills, 
• Face-to-face/Online availability for student consultation. 

Study hours

At least 34 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

50% weighted average mark of individual (essay) and group assignments. 

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Ongoing feedback throughout all lectures, seminars and workshops 

Reassessment

Additional costs