COURSE NUMBER: MBA236B.1

COURSE TITLE: Investment Strategies and Styles

NUMBER of UNITS: 2

INSTRUCTORS: Ted Janus & Robert G. O’Donnell.

EMAIL: tedjanus@gmail.com, rgo1@comcast.net

PREREQUISITE: MBA 203 or equivalent. SY only (FY, with instructor permission)

REQUIRED READINGS: Course Reader containing selections of articles by various investors. Sections from Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and The Winner’s Curse by Richard Thaler.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Papers, Case Study, and Class Discussion.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:  There are as many investment strategies as there are investors. This course will be conducted primarily as a seminar to understand and critique the strategies of several prominent investors including Warren Buffett, George Soros, Ray Dalio, David Swensen, and several others. The premise of the course is that while the perfect investment strategy does not exist, one can nevertheless improve their investment success by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different strategies. While the course will focus primarily on the challenges of investing large pools of institutional assets, there is considerable application to individual investing. The course will examine public equity, fixed income, private equity, and hedge funds. Guest speakers from several investment firms will discuss their approaches. Students will prepare a case study of the endowment of Yale University. They will also form groups to construct both a fixed income and equity sector portfolio. Risk mitigation will be addressed including an attempt to understand what we mean when we use the term “risk.” The seminar should be of interest to students considering a career in the investment field, but is also designed to appeal to those interested in the nexus between investment theory and practice.

CAREER FIELD: Finance and Investment Management.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Ted Janus, principal at J Capital, invests in private and public equities in both the financial services and consumer sectors. He also invests in private equity funds and hedge funds. Ted is a CFA and holds a BA in Political Science and an MBA from UC Berkeley.  

Bob recently retired after 39 years as a portfolio manager with Capital Group (American Funds), where he managed $20 billion of mutual fund assets. He is a CPA and a CFA and holds a BS and MBA from UC Berkeley and an MLA from Stanford University.

Both Ted and Bob are on the Haas School of Business Board of Advisors.