Day1:
Introduction to Investment Funds
- What is an investment fund?
- History of investment funds
- Development of fund markets
- Size of fund markets today
- Advantages of funds
How Investment Fund are created
- The fund management process (designing a new fund, establishing investor objectives)
- Principles of portfolio construction (asset selection, portfolio risk)
- Portfolio evaluation (CAPM, alpha, beta, tracking error, R2, benchmarks)
- Investment strategies ("long only" funds (growth, income, geographical, sectors) vs. hedge funds (directional vs. non-directional, global macro, long/short, fixed income arbitrage)
- Risk in investment funds (market risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, operational risk)
Characteristics of Investment Funds
- Fund structures (incorporated vs. unincorporated; open-end vs. closed end)
- Fund domicile (domestic funds, international funds)
- Asset types (equities, bonds, derivatives, real estate, private equity, money-market funds, balanced funds)
- Legal structures (UCITS funds, alternative funds)
- Fund types (umbrella funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds)
Day 2:
How do Funds Work?
- Players in fund markets (investors, fund managers, portfolio managers, distributors, fund accountants, transfer agents, custodian/depositaries)
- Fund operations (NAV calculation, subscriptions, redemptions, switches, shareholder services, dividends, fund liquidations)
Investing in Funds
- Reading fund documentation (prospectus, KIID, fact sheet)
- Judging fund performance
- Selecting a fund (investor's risk appetite, fund manager, currency, investment strategy)
- Fund regulations and investor protection (UCITS, AIFMD, MiFID)
The Future of Investment Fund Markets
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