FINA 6223 Investment Analysis & Portfolio Management
Professor Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, Ph.D.
Office:
Duques Hall, Suite 455
Phone:
202-994-7536
Email:
bajeux@gwu.edu
Office hours: Thursdays, 6-7PM
Required Course Resources

Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Markus, Tenth Edition, 2014 (McGraw-Hill/Irwin Series in
Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate). You may purchase the e-book with Connect + or
the paper version with Connect+. Please make sure that you purchase the connect tool
as we will be using it extensively. If you buy a second-hand book, you can purchase
connect separately.
o
o
Go to http://connect.mheducation.com/class/i_bajeux-besnainou_online to
register to the online platform connect that will allow you to do the homework
and take the exams.
Or follow the following instructions: Sign into your Blackboard.
 Go to your instructor's course.
 Go to the "Tools" menu.
 Click on the "McGraw-Hill Education" link.
 Below "My Connect Section", click Go to My Connect Section.
 Follow the on-screen instructions to register.
Stocktrak: Please follow the following link to register (opens on Sept. 2nd, 2014). Students will
be assigned (randomly using Blackboard) to a group. Depending on the number of students,
you might end up in a group of 2 or 3 students. Registration costs should be shared between
the students in the group. The cost per group is $27.95 for 10 weeks and up to 200 trades.
Please note that you might have a rebate coupon with the purchase of your textbook.
http://www.stocktrak.com/public/members/registrationstudents.aspx?p=FINA6223Onli
neFall14
Course Description
This course will discuss the theory and principles of investments and portfolio management.
The student will first acquire a working knowledge of the financial instruments available to
investors and ways in which markets for these instruments operate then explore more detailed
topics such as portfolio selection, calculation of efficient sets, mean-variance model, asset
pricing models and portfolio performance evaluation. There will also be some introduction to
Dynamic Asset Allocation models, Behavioral Finance ideas and Value at Risk techniques for
portfolio management.
Course Objectives
 Acquire familiarity with the investment environment and the financial instruments.
 Understand the main stock, bond pricing and portfolio management models that are
used in the portfolio management industry.
 Understand the main equilibrium models in capital markets, the notion of market
efficiency and its limit through an introduction to behavioral finance.
 Acquire a basic knowledge of option contracts.
Learning Objectives
 Get real life knowledge of the investment environment and the investment process by
participating in a portfolio simulation and delivering a group presentation.
 Build efficient frontiers and optimal portfolio selection on a spreadsheet.
 Master the technical aspects of stock, bonds pricing models through problem solving
exercises.
 Evaluate portfolio performance and investment policies through problem solving
exercises.
Grading
 Homework (every week, might be several parts if more than 1 chapter of the book is
covered): 20%
 Mid-term exam: 25%
 Final exam: 25%
 Stocktrak performance and presentation: 15%
 Excel spreadsheet assignment: 15%
Course Outline
Session 1: The Investment Environment and Financial Instruments
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapters 1 and 2.
2. Synchronous Session: General introduction to the course. Monday, August 25th, 7PM
EST.
3. Homework Assignment 1 is due Sunday, August 31, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time zone
(note that there are 2 parts to complete for this assignments).
Session 2: How Securities are Traded and Mutual Funds
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapters 3, 4, and part of
5.
2. Synchronous Session: Discussion on the Stocktrak assignment - start trades. Tuesday,
September 2, 6PM EST.
3. Homework Assignment 2 is due Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
Session 3: Risk, Return and the Historical Record; Risk and Risk Aversion
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapters 5 and 6.
2. Homework Assignment 3 is due Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
Session 4: Capital Allocation to Risky Assets and Optimal Risky Portfolios
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 7.
2. Homework Assignment 4 is due Sunday, September 21, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone
Session 5: Index Models
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 8.
2. Synchronous Session: Followup discussion on the Stocktrak assignment – execute more
trades. Introduction of the spreadsheet assignment. Monday, September 22 nd, 7PM EST.
3. Homework Assignment 5 is due Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
Session 6: The Capital Asset Pricing Model
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 9.
2. Homework Assignment 6 is due Sunday, October 5, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time zone.
Session 7: Arbitrage Pricing Theory and the Efficient Market Hypothesis
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapters 10 and 11.
2. Spreadsheet assignment due by Sunday, October 12, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
3. Synchronous Session: Review for the mid-term exam.
4. Homework Assignment 7 is due Sunday, October 12, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
Session 8: Behavioral Finance
1. Mid-term exam to be completed by Saturday, October 18, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your
time zone.
2. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 12.
3. Homework Assignment 8 is due Sunday, October 19, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
Session 9: Bond Prices and Yields
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 14.
2. Homework Assignment 9 is due Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
Session 10: The Term Structure of Interest Rates
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 15.
2. Homework Assignment 10 is due Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
3. Stock track trading ends on October 29th. Start working on your stocktrack presentation
Session 11: Managing Bond Portfolios
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 16.
2. Homework Assignment 11 is due Sunday, November 9, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
3. Synchronous Session: Stocktrack presentations
Session 12: Equity Valuation Models
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 18.
2. Homework Assignment 12 is due Sunday, November16, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
3. Synchronous Session: Stocktrack presentations
Session 13: Options Markets
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 20.
2. Homework Assignment 13 is due Sunday, November 23, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
Session 14: Portfolio Performance Evaluation
1. Reading Assignment: Investments by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Chapter 24.
2. Homework Assignment 14 is due Sunday, November 30, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.
3. Synchronous Session: Review for the final exam
4. Final Exam to be completed by Sunday, December 7th, 2014 at 11:59 pm in your time
zone.