B3MIN1009 Alternative Investments

24-8-2023 9:50

© [2023] Erasmus University Rotterdam​

This study material is protected by copyright under Dutch copyright laws. It is provided in the context of your study programme and is destined solely for your personal use. You are thus permitted to create a personal copy. You are not permitted to reproduce, distribute or otherwise make available to third parties any part(s) of this study material without prior written consent of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. 

Details

Contact information and availability

Email: mszymanowska@rsm.nl,

phone: +31 10 408 9607,

Room: Mandeville T8-37,

url: www.rsm.nl/mszymanowska

Entry requirements/required background knowledge

You may register for this Minor if you have taken a basic finance and statistics courses as part of your bachelor programme. Prior experience with Excel might be helpful. It might be hard(er) to pass the minor or to pass the minor with a good grade without any prior knowledge on finance and statistics, and when engaging in other activities (e.g. other courses, jobs, internships, being a 2^nd year student, etc.) during the minor.

For RSM students: You may only register for a Minor if you have obtained at least 60 EC from the RSM bachelor programme at the time of registration (in May). Students who register for a minor, but do not meet this requirement, will automatically be deregistered by the EUR Minor Coordination.

Course overview

For creating a well-diversified portfolio that could sustain financial turmoil, it is important to have knowledge not only about investments in traditional markets (stocks and bonds) but also in markets of other asset classes (i.e. the pros and cons of alternative investment categories such as hedge funds, commodities, private equity and real estate) to have a successful career in finance.

The aim of this course is to deepen students’ knowledge of investments possibilities outside the traditional markets for stocks and bonds. The course is set up to be academically rigorous while practical insights from investment professionals ensure the critical link with the investment world.

 The course begins with an overview of the knowledge related to investments in financial markets, e.g. the return and risk characteristics of investment strategies, the Efficient Market Hypothesis, and asset pricing models (e.g. the CAPM model). Second, we will discuss several alternative investments e.g. hedge funds, real estate, commodities, and private equity.

Learning goals

• B3MIN1009 Goal 1 - Understand and explain the theories underlying traditional investments (in stocks and bonds) and a range of alternative investments (e.g. hedge funds, real estate, commodities, and private equity)
• B3MIN1009 Goal 2 - Understand and determine the return and risk characteristics and the trade-off of traditional investments and a range of alternative investments
• B3MIN1009 Goal 3 - Create portfolios consisting of traditional and/or alternative investments and to determine their performance
• B3MIN1009 Goal 4 - Determine whether and which (traditional and/or alternative) investments add value to an existing portfolio
• B3MIN1009 Goal 5 - Use Excel to construct, calculate and evaluate the performance of portfolios consisting of traditional and/or alternative investments
• B3MIN1009 Goal 6 - Understand and summarize academic articles published in top finance journals.

Workload

Total of 420 hours

Contact hours: The course consists of up to 19 (guest) lectures, 1 workshop, and 8 group discussions. Each student attends all lectures and workshops and 2 out of the 8 group discussions.

Self-study hours: On average 36 hours per week.

Course activities

Weekly lectures and workshops/Group discussion

Attendance rules

All RSM minors have mandatory attendance. Attendance will be checked. For this minor students are allowed to miss two compulsory sessions (with or without reason). Missing three or more sessions will result in failing the course.

If you miss mandatory course components due to short-term personal circumstances (Covid, funeral, wedding, student associations activities, holidays, work etc.), please contact the course coordinator. If you experience long-term personal circumstances which affect your study for a longer period (chronic illness, serious first-degree family circumstances, top sport status, etc.), please contact the student adviser to discuss your study planning & progress. For the availability and contact information of the Study Advisers, go to this contact page.

Registrations

Students need to self-register in groups of 4 students (no more and no less than 4 students) on Canvas for each of the five group assignments. Hence, there will be five moments for group registrations and students can switch groups per assignment if they please to do so.

Students also need to register for the group discussion sessions. Students need to choose two out of eight sessions.

Session overview

Examination

Integrity statement
Students are expected to take individual tests to the best of their own ability, without seeking or accepting the help of others or use resources that are not explicitly allowed nor to help others. In teamwork, students are not allowed to collaborate outside their own group. Sharing solutions with other teams is also considered a fraudulent action. 

Examination schedule
The dates of written exams are available via timetables.eur.nl.

Examination registration
Registration for the course in Osiris means that you will automatically be registered for the regular written tests and non-written tests. Course registration will be done by Programme Management for all students who have not yet followed or passed this course (based on studying in or beyond nominal time).

Students who have not passed the course after the regular written test will be automatically registered for the re-sit by Programme Management. If you have already passed the course but would like to take the re-sit of the written test to improve your grade, then you must register yourself in Osiris Student. Registration for the re-sit will be possible via Osiris 26 to 5 working days before the date of the written test. Specific registration dates per course can be found via courses.eur.nl (see test enrolment). Please make sure you register before the deadline and to check whether you have received a confirmation e-mail upon your re-sit registration. Registration after the deadline is not possible. 

For RSM minors: If you have already passed the minor but would like to take the re-sit of the written test to improve your grade, send an email to BSc Programme Management (bsc.pm@rsm.nl) to register for the re-sit. Registration for the re-sit will be possible 26 to 5 working days before the date of the written test. Please make sure you register before the deadline. Registration after the deadline is not possible.

Examination perusal
The date and time of perusal will be announced once the examination results are published. 

Retaking the course
Students retaking the course must complete each assessment part based on the material as required for the current academic year. Students retaking the course are not allowed to carry over their partial grades from previous academic years. In addition, the examination for re-takers is based on the content and conditions that apply to the current academic year.   

Validity of grades
Partial grades are only valid during the current academic year. 

Assessment plan

Study materials

Compulsory literature

o   Selected chapters from Chambers R.R, Anson M.J.P., Black K.H. and Kazemi H.B., Alternative Investments: CAIA Level I (4th Edition), Wiley, 2020.

o   Selected journal articles announced via the course website.

Optional literature (not necessary to buy):

o   Malkiel, B.G., A Random Walk Down Wall Street (12th Edition), Norton & Company, NY, 2019.

o   Berk, J., and DeMarzo, P., 2007, “Corporate finance”, Pearson Education.

All study materials such as readers, (online) classes, web-lectures, assignments and exams published on Canvas (“content”) or otherwise made available to you for your studies are protected by copyright under Dutch copyright laws. The copyright is owned by the Erasmus University Rotterdam or the party credited in the publication. ​

​The content is provided solely for your personal use and study. You are allowed to create a copy for your personal use. You are not allowed to make the content or parts thereof available to others or reproduce it without prior written permission of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. ​

​This means that you cannot:​

• publish, copy or distribute the content in any form, by any means;​

• upload the content to external websites or databases such as online platforms that allow students to share study materials;​

• provide or sell the content to tutoring organizations. ​

Failing to comply with the above may result in appropriate measures being taken.​

Reflection on UN Sustainable Development Goals 

This course reflect upon the following UN SDGs: 

• Goal 2: Zero hunger
• Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
• Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
• Goal 13: Climate action