Course Introduction

Stagnant stock market and changes in the interest rates are having a dramatic impact on pension fund performance and their ability to fund future liabilities. To ensure sufficient resources are available for retirements involve a complex set of decisions and assumptions on asset returns, interest rates, inflation rates and future salary growth.

Since inflation is potentially expected to rise in many economies, pension funds are increasingly searching to invest across different asset classes including real estate to hedge against the threat of rising prices. This Oxford Management Centre Pension Fund Investment Strategy online training course focuses on pension fund investment style, asset allocation, performance of their portfolios with particular emphasis on private equity firms. It aims to address many of the current pension issues from both the asset and liability perspectives to give you a holistic appreciation of the complex issues involved. Participants will learn how portfolio theory can be applied to replicate pension fund investment strategy.

This Pension Fund Investment Strategy online training course will highlight:

• The role and purpose of pension funds
• Pension funding policies
• Pension fund investment strategies
• Pension fund asset allocation
• Performance of their portfolio companies

Objectives

By the end of this Oxford Management Centre online training course, participants will be able to:

• Understand how pension funds operates
• Pension fund investors
• Performance of their portfolio company
• Differences between pension funds and other funds including private equity
• Replicating pension fund investment strategies

Training Methodology

This online training course will utilize a variety of proven online learning techniques to ensure maximum understanding, comprehension, retention of the information presented. The training course is conducted online via an Advanced Virtual Learning Platform in the comfort of any location of your choice

Organisational Impact

• Understanding the performance of pension funds
• Asset allocations that can be applied to other asset classes
• Improved risk and return analysis of pension funds
• Knowledge of how pension funds operate
• Pension fund performance relative to other funds
• How pension fund portfolio companies operate

Personal Impact

Participants on this online training course will:

• Have a good understanding of the pension funds.
• How to measure the risk and returns of pension funds
• Replicating pension fund investment strategy
• Relationship between pension fund and private equity funds
• Performance of private equity relative to pension funds
• Update themselves on current issues related to pension funds performance

Who Should Attend?

This Oxford Management Centre Pension Fund Investment Strategy online training course is suitable to a wide range of profession but will greatly benefit:

• Managers
• Actuaries
• Investment Managers
• Human Resource Professionals
• Employee Benefit Consultants
• Risk Consultants
• Project Leaders and Programme Directors
• Remuneration Consultants
• Lawyers involved in pensions wanting to understand the “bigger picture”

Course Outline

DAY 1

Overview of Pension Funds 

• What is a pension fund?
• Types of pensions
• Main investors of pension funds
• Asset allocation strategy
• Investment risk
• Creating value in pension funds
• Private equity versus pension funds
  

DAY 2

Portfolio Theory 

• The Markowitz model of portfolio risk
• The Capital Asset Pricing Model
• A practical application of the CAPM to a range of companies
• Long-Term Sources of Finance
• Types of Equity Capital
• Calculating WACC and CAPM
• Short-Term Sources of Finance
• Replicating pension fund investments
  

DAY 3

Portfolio Management 

• Passive Equity Portfolio Management Strategies
• Active Equity Portfolio Management Strategies
• Strategic Asset Allocation
• Tactical Asset Allocation
• Style Investing
• Value versus Growth
• Pension fund and Private equity portfolio companies
  

DAY 4

Markov Models  

• Introduction to Markov Models
• Constructing the Markov Model
• Analyzing the Model
• Sensitivity Analysis
• Introduction to Scenario Analysis.
• Introduction to Monte Carlo Simulation
• How to apply Markov model to pension fund investments
  

DAY 5

Analyzing the Annual Report and Account 

• Using Ratio and Other Analyses of the Annual Report and Accounts to Assess Financial Position and Financial Performance
• Profitability and Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) Analysis
• Liquidity and the Short-term Solvency
• Investment and Growth
• Financial Structure and Long-term Solvency
• Ratio Analysis using Excel
• Excel Trend Analysis using Common-size Horizontal Analysis and Vertical Analysis for Comparability
• Assessing the performance of Pension fund portfolio companies