COURSE NO: MBA 236B.1
COURSE TITLE: Investment
Strategies and Styles
INSTRUCTOR: Robert G.
O'Donnell
EMAIL: rgo1@comcast.net
Office hours: Monday
3:15-4:00 and by appointment. I am also available by
phone at 415-393-7120 (preferably afternoon)
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION:
Catalyst
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Monday,
4:00-6:00 PM
PREREQUISITE(S): MBA 203
REQUIRED
Thaler, Richard, "The Winner's Curse,"
In addition, it is assumed
that students are regular readers of the Wall
Street Journal and a quality
general circulation newspaper such as the NY
Times.
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: term
paper, case, and class participation.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT
AND OBJECTIVES:
Overview
My premise in leading this
seminar is that it is possible for some
individual managers and institutions to consistently outperform
the market
over long periods of time. To state this is not to
minimize its
difficulty. Further, just as litigation attorneys as a
group can only win
50% of their cases, so money
managers in the aggregate should not be
expected to outperform the market. Taken as a whole, they are,
after all,
"the
market.
In this course, we will study
various investment strategies and asset
classes. Significant use will be made of guest speakers from
different
areas of the investment business. Lectures and cases will
address the
challenges of institutional and individual money management.
Since the
first rule of enhancing wealth is not to lose it, risk
management will be
addressed. We will discuss quantitative methods of controlling
risk as well
as attempting to understand what is meant by
"risk" in the first place.
Some time will also be spent
discussing manias, financial disasters, and
ethical considerations. It is expected that the seminar
will be of
interest to students considering a career in the investment
business as
well as those who wish a more complete understanding of
how finance theory
is applied in practice.
BIOGRAPHY:
Bob O'Donnell is a Senior
Vice President and Director of Capital Research
and Management, which manages the American Funds.
He is a portfolio
manager with responsibility for approximately $18 Billion of
mutual fund
assets. Bob has been in the investment business for 32
years and is a CPA
and a CFA. He holds an undergraduate degree and an
MBA for the University
of