This course surveys the investment media, concepts and techniques to provide an understanding of the investment process in the economic and financial environment. The course covers the elements of investments, portfolio theory and management, security analysis, valuation of stocks and bonds, and risk-return trade-off. The course entails only the necessary mathematical and technical details which will provide the intuition that may illuminate the gliding path for students as they confront new ideas and challenges in their later lives as investment practitioners.

On the conviction that theories such as the capital asset pricing model and the efficient market hypothesis are intellectually satisfying subjects of scientific research as they are important building blocks for the development of solid grounding in investments, aspects of these theories will be used generously to determine the value of real and financial assets. As the instructor tries to bridge the gap between theory and practice, several real-world examples are presented. The course will consist of lectures and discussions of contemporary investment and finance challenges and developments in Ghana and across the globe. In particular, students will be exposed to trends in socially responsible investing around the globe and what lessons Ghanaian Fund Managers can take.

A good dose of data will be used in the ‘analysis’ part of the course. Students will be required to use Microsoft Excel analytic tools to solve a large part of the problem sets. This is also intended to provide students with a taste of tools they will need to understand and use in their career as investment analysts.