Length: 3,000 words (+/- 10%) Note: executive summary, contents
page, reference list and appendices are excluded from word count. A
penalty of 10% will be applied to all submissions over the
maximum word count. Attempts to deliberately circumvent
wordcount will be penalised.
Style: Report using Harvard system of referencing.
Weighting: 100% of total course assessment
Submission requirements: Completion of Bloomberg Market Concepts
online training, copy of certificate to be submitted. Portfolio maintained
on Bloomberg, soft copy of investment report on Turnitin.
This is an individual exercise, which cannot be marked as an
anonymous assignment, due to the nature of the assignment.

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF
Your assignment requires you to follow the portfolio management
process for the individual whose details are contained within the
investment policy statement attached as Appendix A to this brief.
Assume the individual has been interviewed to determine their needs
and a policy statement provided.
You should complete the following activities, using Bloomberg as a
starting point, and any other resources as you deem necessary.
 Complete your Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) qualification.
This should be completed by week 11 (12th Dec 2019 12:00 noon) at
D. Sparkes ACFI3307 1
Assignment (2019/20)
the latest and is worth 5% of the assignment marks. Submit your
certificate to Turnitin when completed. This will improve your skills for
the remainder of the assignment, in addition to enhancing
employability. A mark of 0% will be given for failure to complete. The
grade achieved on the BMC will not affect your mark. Note: If you
have completed this previously, simply submit the certificate already
awarded.
 Analyse the external environment
 Create an appropriate portfolio of equities, taking the investor’s profile
into account (Appendix A). As you are only required to invest in
equities, you should base the value of the equities invested on a
specified asset allocation strategy. e.g. if you invest only half of the
available investment funds, you should explain what you would have
done with the remaining funds, if further investment options were
available to you.
o Ensure you explain the investment strategy used and provide
reasoning for the investments made. Although an initial strategy
would be good, your final investment strategy is expected to
develop over time as you learn new skills during the module.
o As you are to manage your portfolio for 13 full weeks, it is
recommended that you create your portfolio by the end of
week 9 at the very latest. This would allow you to close your
portfolio during week 22, and give you up to three weeks to
finalise your report. The latest you can possibly open your
portfolio is week 11. This isn’t recommended as it will lead to
a shortness of time to finalise your report and produce a
rushed document.
 Track your portfolio and the market closely for a period of thirteen
weeks exactly, making changes to the portfolio as you gain
knowledge through your lectures and workshops. As a minimum, you should ensure you have a record (screenshot if required) of the portfolio at the start and end date.

 You must make bullet point notes, and take screenshots where
appropriate, for each of your decisions regarding the make-up of
your portfolio, even if you decide to hold or not buy an equity.
These notes and screenshots must be included in the
appendices of your report as evidence of your engagement. The
notes should include the date and week number, equity name,
decision made, reason for decision, e.g. fundamental analysis
suggests equity still undervalued therefore hold position. There is no
requirement to make changes during the Christmas Break, i.e. weeks
12, 13 and 14. However, if there is access to the Trading room then
you can trade as you see fit.

 Review the final performance of the portfolio, including:
o A critical evaluation of relevant measures of portfolio
performance in the context of your portfolio
o An explanation of whether your portfolio achieved the objectives
of your investor.

 Critically evaluate whether any information provided in the module
after the investment start date would have changed the way you
carried out this assignment.

 Write up the entire process in a report format.
WRITTEN REPORT
Write a report explaining the entire process followed, describing the
strategy adopted, and explaining what results were achieved, and
whether these were as expected. You should link your reasoning to
relevant academic theories. You should include key data or additional
screenshots as you feel necessary.
The written report should be 3,000 words in length (+/- 10%).