Current Situation

Last update: 6th April 2020

6th April 2020

•    We have prepared slide presentations with accompanying audio commentary by Tatjana Puhan for the first lecture block (up to slide 99 of lecture 3). You can access them via ILIAS (Files --> 02_Lecture --> Videos Lecture X). Please let me know in case something doesn’t work. Due to technical limitations in ILIAS (ILIAS is super slow at the moment…) there was a bit of a trade-off between quality and file size but we hope that you can “enjoy” the lecture.

•    We believe that these commented slides are relatively close to a “real” lecture situation. There might be even some advantages, for instance you can stop at any time or replay certain parts at your convenience. Of course, the major difference is that there is no interaction. Hence, we provide the opportunity to ask questions about the lecture slides on ILIAS. We set up the respective folders on ILIAS to group questions by lecture chapters.

•    You can ask questions on ILIAS about the first lecture block during the next four weeks (i.e. until 4th May). This is to coordinate things a bit and to encourage you to actually go through the slides before the second lecture block. Of course, you can still ask questions about the exercise classes (that might cover topics from the first lecture block) afterwards.

•    We do not know yet how many questions there will be. For this reason, we integrated a “user rating system” (Top Rated Questions, TRAQ) where you can vote for questions and we will only answer the “most popular” ones if there are too many. For instance, we might check the question lists weekly and always answer the new top-rated questions.

•    In order to prevent such situations, you should not post extensive “lists of questions” but rather focus on your most important questions (i.e. if a major aspect of the lecture is not clear despite the fact that you already did some research on your own to figure it out or if you think that there is a significant error in the slides). I never worked with this TRAQ tool before, so let’s see how this works out :-)

•    This is also close to a “real lecture” situation where time for questions is limited as well. We believe that the slides already very accessible and the commentaries show you where to focus. Moreover, during the exercise classes we will further discuss the most important concepts again (also with respect to the exam).

•    We do not know about the situation after the Easter break yet. Nevertheless, we currently plan to do the exercise classes and potentially also the second lecture block via Zoom (digital real-time meetings with some potential interaction, see zoom.us/). I will inform you about this in time. We will try to record and upload these meetings as well (depending on how well this technically works). For this reason, you should currently plan to be available during the regularly scheduled dates of the exercise classes and the second lecture block.

•    General information about the situation can be found at: http://www.uni-mannheim.de/corona.

21st March 2020

As you surely have realized, all teaching activities at the University of Mannheim involving physical presence are cancelled due to the current Corona situation. Hence, also the lectures/exercises for FIN 682 International Asset Management can no longer take place.

•    We are working on finding a solution to provide teaching activities, most likely in a digital format. Our university is facing a very challenging situation as a lot of resources, such as ILIAS have to be scaled up considerably on short notice to enable the digitalization. We will give you more information once we have found a workable and stable solution. Please regularly check your emails for more information in this regard.

•    Please make sure that you have joined the ILIAS group of the course since all important information will be posted there as well as potential digital content. The direct link to join is: ilias.uni-mannheim.de/goto.php

•    It might be that ILIAS is not working for some time because of capacity constraints. In that case we would announce news on our Chair’s homepage / the course homepage. Hence, if ILIAS is not working, please check these pages regularly for updates:

www.bwl.uni-mannheim.de/en/ruenzi/
www.bwl.uni-mannheim.de/en/ruenzi/teaching/master-courses/fin-682-international-asset-management/

•    Since the first lecture block was originally scheduled for the 3rd/4th April and the first exercise class for the 21st April, there is still sufficient time left which allows us to prepare a good solution for everybody. Hence, you do not have to worry that there won’t be enough time for studying the content since we are still on schedule.

•    Nevertheless, we have already uploaded the slide decks for the first lecture block on ILIAS as well as some relevant papers. Hence, you can already start to prepare for the first lecture block. As in previous years, we will also upload the full solutions to all upcoming exercise classes.

•    Currently, we plan to record all lectures/exercise classes as slide presentations with accompanying audio commentary. All lecture/exercise-videos would be uploaded on ILIAS. We plan to upload the first lecture block soon after the 3rd/4th April. We think that this would be the most convenient/flexible solution for everybody. To allow for interaction, we will most likely provide the opportunity to ask questions on ILIAS after the lectures/exercise classes. Please note that this is still subject to change.

•    Unfortunately, we do not know yet how the final exam will look like. We will keep you updated once we receive new information from the examination office. We are aware of the fact that especially some internationals are currently “locked-out” of the country. Right now we are not (yet) allowed to offer any alternative ways of examination on our own. Hence, we have to wait for instructions of the examination office.

Please stay safe and healthy and support the measures take to slow down the spread of the virus to protect all members of our society. General information about the situation can be found at: www.uni-mannheim.de/corona

Allgemeine Informationen

Der Kurs International Asset Management wird im FSS 2020 in leicht veränderter Form angeboten. Die Daten, Zeiten und Raumbelegungen können im Portal² nachgelesen werden. Bitte treten Sie unbedingt auch der dazugehörigen ILIAS Gruppe des aktuellen Semesters bei, da sämtliche Kurs­unterlagen ausschließlich auf ILIAS verfügbar sind und wichtige Ankündigungen über diese Gruppe erfolgen. Weitere Informationen finden Sie in diesem Dokument (Stand FSS 2020). Bitte beachten Sie: die Informationen sind vorläufig, bitte überprüfen Sie deshalb regelmäßig ob es Neuerungen gibt.

Struktur des Kurses

Kapitel 1

Einführung

Im ersten Kapitel gibt Dr. Puhan einen Überblick über den Kurs. Darüber hinaus wird in der Einführung die Aufstellung und die historische Entwicklung der Asset Management Industrie in wichtigen Märkten diskutiert. Desweiteren wird die vorhandene Produktbandbreite in der Industrie erläutert.

Kapitel 2

Aufsetzen eines Fonds

In diesem Kapitel stellt Dr. Puhan die Definition des Delegated Asset Managements sowie die wichtigsten Produkte wie Investment- oder Hedgefonds vor. Relevante Regulatorien, Fondscharakteristika, die Preisbildung, die Verteilung sowie der Verkaufsprozess eines Fonds werden behandelt. Weiter werden auch einige aktuelle Beispiele diskutiert. 

Kapitel 3

Investmentprozess

In diesem Kapitel werden die verschiedenen Formen der Markt­effizienz behandelt. Basierend auf diesen Er­kenntnissen wird die Debatte über aktives vs. passives Fonds­management beleuchtet und auch die daraus resultierenden Herausforderungen für die Fondsindustrie erarbeitet. Im nächsten Schritt werden verschiedene taktische Asset Allocation- und Security-Selection-Strategien sowie Schlüsselthemen aus dem Bereich der strategischen Asset Allocation hergeleitet. Mithilfe dieses Kapitels wird klar, warum Risiko­management als wichtige Grundlage für erfolgreiches Asset Management gesehen werden kann.  

Kapitel 4

Performance: Messung, Treiber und Prognosen

In diesem Kapitel liegt der Schwerpunkt auf der externen und internen Performance-Bewertung, Faktoren auf die die Performance zurückzuführen ist sowie das Halten einer nachhaltigen Performance. Auch werden wichtige Ratings und Rankings behandelt. Im nächsten Schritt werden die Herausforderungen der verschiedenen Arten der Performance-Messung diskutiert. 

Kapitel 5

Investorenverhalten & Leistungs­anreize

In diesem Kapitel werden Themen des Verhaltens und der Inzentivierung von Investoren und Asset Managern behandelt. Hierbei werden aktuelle Er­kenntnisse der empirischen Forschung sowie aktuelle „real-world cases“ herangezogen.

Kapitel 6

Ausblick

Im letzten Kapitel werden aktuelle Trends im Asset Management, zum Beispiel „Social Responsible Investing“ (SRI), diskutiert. Abschließend werden die Chancen im aktuellen Job­markt der Asset Management Industrie beleuchtet. 

Bitte beachten Sie: Aufgrund der Beiträge verschiedener Gastsprecher kann sich der Inhalt einiger Kapitel leicht verändern.