FIN 310 – Portfolio Project
1
You are to create a $100,000 hypothetical portfolio comprised of ETFs and individual stocks (10 investment choices total with a minimum of 3 of each (stocks & ETFs), with one of two goals:
Outperform the S&P 500 or
Build a diversified portfolio appropriate for long term growth
Note: This is the portfolio that you will track with no additional trading
Part 1: Choose your Investments
Your ETF choices may include any publically traded ETFs (See www.etfdb.com for a comprehensive list of available ETFs and screening tool). Also, see resources on the next page.
Some ETF options may include:
US Equity (Index, Mid-cap, Small-cap, Growth, Value)
Global Equity (Index, Specific Countries or Regions)
Sectors and Subsectors
Income Generating (Bonds, Preferred Stock, Dividends, etc.)
Commodities
Emerging and/or Frontier Markets
Part 2: Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA)
Determine the weights for each of your investment choices. You may equally weight or you may choose to place greater weights on certain assets – make sure your weights sum to 100 percent. Simulate buying the number of shares you wish to invest the $100,000 (there may be a cash residual).
Part 3: Enter the information for your portfolio into an Excel spreadsheet that you create (see example posted on Blackboard).
Once a week update your asset prices and track your overall return.
Requirements (Deliverables) – two parts – See Blackboard for due dates
1. Initial Submission – Create and upload your initial Excel Spreadsheet with formulas included
2. Final Submission – Once a week update your asset prices and your overall return on your Excel spreadsheet. Analyze your results and provide a one page summary (maximum) reviewing:
How you performed in relation to your stated goal
What you learned from the exercise
How the exercise could be improved
FIN 310 – Portfolio Project
2
Helpful Links
Morningstar via ESearch through the UT Library
http://www.morningstar.com/
Vanguard
Fidelity – Guide to Diversification
https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/guide-to-diversification
Fidelity Investments – Sectors and Industry Overview: https://eresearch.fidelity.com/eresearch/markets_sectors/sectors/si_business_cycle.jhtml?tab=sibusiness explains the way the sectors of the S&P 500 perform during various stages of the business cycle.
Investopedia
https://www.investopedia.com/investing/importance-diversification/
ETF Database: http://etfdb.com/screener/#asset-class=Equity&leveraged=false
This is a great comprehensive list of ETFs by asset class. You can also sort by performance etc.
Seeking Alpha: http://seekingalpha.com/ when you enter a ticker you will find mini reports on current events relating to that ETF. If you create a custom portfolio, you may elect to receive daily emails with any new alerts or articles of analysis relating to your holdings.
