COURSE NUMBER: MBA 292T.1
COURSE TITLE: Investment Management: Hands-on Value and Values Investing
UNITS OF CREDIT: 1
INSTRUCTOR: Jerry Dodson
E-MAIL ADDRESSES: TBD
CO-REREQUISITE(S): Asset Management
REQUIRED READINGS: For the
course, each student will have to purchase two books: The Intelligent Investor
by Benjamin Graham and Elements of Style by Strunk & White. The
former will give students good insight into the value method of
investing. Strunk & White will give the student a recipe for clear,
effective writing. The quality of writing in the written reports will be
an important element of the final grade. All the other reading
assignments will be on-line.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
Learning Objective: To gain knowledge of how to achieve excellent
investment performance by investing in undervalued companies with superior
environmental, social and governance qualities (ESG). Students will
engage in interactive discussions with the instructor, Jerome Dodson, and
will analyze companies for investment potential, based on his highly successful
combination of values and value criteria. Some 20% of investments
today are using ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) filters. This
course will help students to develop cutting edge skills in a growing field.
COURSE STRUCTURE:
Following three weeks of instruction, including introductions to value
investing and qualitative factors in investing, and a four-week break
(including spring break) for company research, each student will be expected to
prepare and deliver both a written and an oral report on a company selected for
investment. The oral report will be delivered first to the class, then
the student will compose the written report based on feedback from the
instructor and the class. The oral presentation should be no more than 20
minutes followed by a discussion of no more than 10 minutes. Financial
statements should be written and handed out in class. Other visual information
can be shown on a screen in the class. In preparing the reports, students
should use the following source material:
1. Annual Reports including financial statements
2. 10-K’s
3. News articles in the business and general press
4. Discussions with management
5. Talks with employees if possible
6. Visit to a company site if possible
7. Reviews of product or service
8. Social Profile of the company (Instructor will provide students with access to two reports from Sustainalytics)
For the presentation, students should discuss the company’s business, its history, its financials, management and other related factors. The student should make a recommendation on the company including at what price to buy. Students should calculate the company’s intrinsic value either by a ratio analysis or a discounted cash flow model or both.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Jerome L. Dodson, Founder and Chairman of Parnassus Investments, the largest mutual fund firm dedicated exclusively to ESG investing with five mutual funds with $25 billion in assets. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and of the Harvard Business School, Mr. Dodson has managed four of the five Parnassus Funds and currently manages the Parnassus Endeavor Fund. According to Barron’s, 80% of actively-managed mutual funds earned less than the S&P 500 over the last ten years, while according to Lipper, the Parnassus Endeavor Fund has averaged a return of five percentage points abovethe S&P 500 over the ten years ended June 30, 2018 (14.34% per year vs. 9.14% per year). This performance makes the Endeavor Fund #1 of the 403 multi-cap core funds followed by Lipper for that time period.