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

4.7
stars
894 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

DH

Nov 11, 2016

This was a fantastic course, with a realistically attainable amount of material, and a humble, knowledgable professor whose teaching style makes a normally difficult topic very easy to understand.

KL

Dec 6, 2017

Professor Weisbenner is fabulous! He is able to make anyone understand complex investment topics through his delivery and curriculum design. You are missing out not taking Investments from him!

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201 - 207 of 207 Reviews for Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation

By Manohar A

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Dec 2, 2018

I did not like the course. I am a visual learner and learn by reading and seeing. Most of the times important material (like formula, conclusions etc.) were left out from the course material. Formulas are given without explanations of individual components. It means that you have to go back to lectures and listen really hard to understand. Maybe the teachers should have given a text book instead.

I don't understand the concept of peer graded assignments - seems to me an absolute waste of everyones time

By Victoria F

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Nov 16, 2020

Will never use this information again, wish it was created so that no matter your background and job it would help you understand the market. The use of excel to calculate numbers I will never be able to find on a company does not help my career in anyway.

By Jason D

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Feb 5, 2019

Instructor know's his stuff, but there are sooooo many "ahh" and "umm". It is impossible to follow. I expect better from U of I. Really ashamed. I counted it up and on average in one video he says it about every 10-12 seconds.

By S N

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Jul 21, 2020

Poorly taught and overcomplicated, I have been in finance for 6 years and this stuff is much more simple in real life. If you just want to stick to academia, this is a perfect course.

By Tarek B

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Jul 30, 2017

Professor goes off-topic very often and is not concise. Poor quality in general.

By Natalie C

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Oct 30, 2018

This course is a shameful mess.

By Reynaldo R R

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Nov 4, 2021

Too much info for each week