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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

4.7
stars
925 ratings

About the Course

In this course, we will discuss fundamental principles of trading off risk and return, portfolio optimization, and security pricing. We will study and use risk-return models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and multi-factor models to evaluate the performance of various securities and portfolios. Specifically, we will learn how to interpret and estimate regressions that provide us with both a benchmark to use for a security given its risk (determined by its beta), as well as a risk-adjusted measure of the security’s performance (measured by its alpha). Building upon this framework, market efficiency and its implications for patterns in stock returns and the asset-management industry will be discussed. Finally, the course will conclude by connecting investment finance with corporate finance by examining firm valuation techniques such as the use of market multiples and discounted cash flow analysis. The course emphasizes real-world examples and applications in Excel throughout. This course is the first of two on Investments that I am offering online (“Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors” is the second course). The over-arching goals of this course are to build an understanding of the fundamentals of investment finance and provide an ability to implement key asset-pricing models and firm-valuation techniques in real-world situations. Specifically, upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Explain the tradeoffs between risk and return • Form a portfolio of securities and calculate the expected return and standard deviation of that portfolio • Understand the real-world implications of the Separation Theorem of investments • Use the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and 3-Factor Model to evaluate the performance of an asset (like stocks) through regression analysis • Estimate and interpret the ALPHA (α) and BETA (β) of a security, two statistics commonly reported on financial websites • Describe what is meant by market efficiency and what it implies for patterns in stock returns and for the asset-management industry • Understand market multiples and income approaches to valuing a firm and its stock, as well as the sensitivity of each approach to assumptions made • Conduct specific examples of a market multiples valuation and a discounted cash flow valuation This course was previously entitled “Financial Evaluation and Strategy: Investments” and was part of a previous specialization entitled "Improving Business and Finances Operations", which is now closed to new learner enrollment. “Financial Evaluation and Strategy: Investments” received an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 based on 199 reviews over the period August 2015 through August 2016. You can view a detailed summary of the ratings and reviews for this course in the Course Overview section. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu....

Top reviews

SX

Nov 9, 2018

One of the best courses across platforms- classroom or online that I have taken. Huge real life value addition. Professor Scott has worked incredibly hard in putting this valuable content.

FV

Jul 27, 2017

Normal course work was very good. The Honors content was a bit disappointing in that I finished it before the weeks deadline but never received a grade.

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151 - 175 of 214 Reviews for Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation

By Darshan M D

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Nov 17, 2020

Great Class!

By Yijie R

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Jul 19, 2020

Vert Useful!

By Pham T D

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Apr 19, 2020

Good course!

By Ray S

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Nov 6, 2018

Great Course

By Anuar

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Sep 30, 2018

G

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a

t

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By Chris B

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Jun 7, 2017

Great Course

By amit d

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Jan 22, 2021

good course

By Sachin

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Jun 6, 2020

Best course

By Huy V C

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Dec 21, 2021

good cour

By Mr. A L (

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Jan 4, 2021

Super Hard

By Noah M

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Nov 20, 2018

Well done!

By Ehui E S A

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Jul 6, 2018

Excellent.

By Muhammad W

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Mar 25, 2025

Excellent

By Manuel

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Sep 2, 2023

Excelente

By José E G B

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Feb 26, 2018

Terrific.

By Marcelo K

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Jul 27, 2017

Excellent

By Gustavo Q

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Feb 22, 2017

Excellent

By Chinyere G A

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May 16, 2023

The best

By Gundega T

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Oct 17, 2019

Thanks!

By Y N .

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Jul 2, 2025

good

By NAKKALAKONA M .

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Apr 29, 2025

good

By PUKHRAJ M .

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Apr 25, 2025

nice

By MANULA N K .

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Mar 14, 2025

good

By soumya s

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Jun 25, 2018

BEST

By Amy K

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Dec 17, 2019

Huge amount of content for a coursera course. For the early modules, a stats class pre-req would be very helpful. Several discussions on certain topics before the foundational definitions and explanations were provided. The order of the explanations made the content confusing to me. Once I learned information in later videos, I could understand the earlier videos. But that's just me. The Professor is amazing nonetheless.