Securing Investment returns in the long-run

Academicians from the University of Geneva and professionals from UBS discuss the famous dichotomy between active and passive investing, how to measure and analyze investment performance and the future trends in the investment management industry. We will learn about the absolute and relative performance, risk-adjusted returns and how to decompose investment performance. The focus then shifts to two main categories of investment vehicles, active and passive funds and what they entail in terms of expected performance. Finally, we explore the world of sustainable finance, neuro finance and fintech, the future of the investment management industry.

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1. Module-1

    I. Introduction

        - Common mistakes

        - Mutual funds

        - Closed-end funds vs Open-end funds

    II. Active vs Passive management

2. Module-2

    I. Absolute vs relative performance

        - Choosing the right benchmark (UBS)

        - Shifting from relative to absolute return mandates

    II. Performance measurement

        - Sharpe, Treynor, Sortino ratios

        - Tracking error (UBS)

        - Using asset pricing models to estimate fund performance

    III. Performance analysis and attribution

        - Defining performance analysis (UBS)

        - Performance attribution

3. Module-3

    I. Passive funds

        - Dimensions in ETF selection (UBS)

    II. Active funds

        - Beating the benchmark - Peer group analysis and Screening criteria

        - Information ratio

    III. Searching for alpha

        - Pros and cons of a structured product

        - Searching for hedge fund alpha - Asset pricing model and evidence

        - Do active funds outperform passive funds

        - Active vs passive management (UBS)

4. Module-4

    I. Sustainable finance

        - Corporate sustainability and sustainable investing

        - Sustainable investing: exclusion, impact investing and integration (UBS)

        - Does sustainable investing perform in line with traditional investing - arguments and evidence

        - Climate change and capital markets

    II. Neuro finance

        - What is it

    III. Fintech

        - Can Big Data improve the value-added of TAA

        - Using a Robo-advisor to better shape the TAA