Alternative Investments

Catalog description

This is a demanding course that offers a comprehensive and hands-on introduction to alternative investments and fintech. It covers the investment landscape that confronts large institutional investors, key alternative asset classes and fund structures (such as hedge funds, private equity, and real and digital assets), and major players in the alternative space. The course centers on crucial concepts such as alternative risk premium, diversification, and illiquidity. The ultimate objective is to gain insight into how alternative assets operate, the various asset classes available to investors, how to conduct due diligence and monitor investment managers, and how to incorporate alternative assets into conventional investment portfolios. The course simulates the role of a limited partner (such as a pension fund or university endowment) with scarce resources to allocate to alternative assets. Graded on A-F basis only. Credit Hour s : 3 Prerequisites: FINANC 4020 Recommended: Basic understanding of risk and return, diversification, statistical analysis, and investments (i.e., stock and bonds). Basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel