Investment Strategy (Coursera)

Investment Strategy (Coursera)

Discover the basic concepts of needs analysis, investment policy, asset allocation, product selection, portfolio monitoring and re-balancing. We will look at the types of institutional investors - pension funds and insurance companies. You will learn the client management life cycle and dive into portfolio management as a process. You will learn the basic concepts, principles, and the major styles of investing in alternative assets. Finally, we study the impact of digitization on investment strategies.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 4 of 5 in the Financial Markets and Investment Strategy Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Alternate Assets and Hedge funds
After finishing this module, you will be able to understand the difference between various alternate assets. You would also have an overview of the Hedge funds.

WEEK 2
Index Investing
After completing this module, you will be able to understand what index investing means and you will also be able to calculate the value of a passive index. You will be able to define Beta and Alpha and can also find out a better investment among a given set of investments.

WEEK 3
Asset Allocation
After completing this module, you will be able to understand the difference between retail asset allocation and institutional asset allocation. You will also be able to understand the importance of time horizon in defining risk.

WEEK 4
Risk
After completing this module, you will understand the meaning of permanent loss of capital and you will also be able to evaluate the performance of funds. You will also get a clear understanding of distributional approach to investing in assets.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Business English: Finance and Economics (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Business English: Finance and Economics (Coursera)

Do you work in finance or interact with finance professionals? Is it necessary to speak, write or understand English in your career? Follow the authentic characters in this course as they work through common business situations in finance and economics. Learn from your successes and failure, and think critically about your own communication options.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Finance For Everyone: Value (Coursera) Coursera
McMaster University

Finance For Everyone: Value (Coursera)

In Value, you will explore the most powerful generator of value in the world – ideas. Ideas are the engines of productivity, both in the private and public sectors. You will learn about the universal frameworks that determine how ideas and money interact, leading to the allocation of financial resources. We will identify components of cash flow for any project, business or venture as the most essential ingredients of value. We also assess the investment techniques used to give life to some ideas while killing others.

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Fundamentals of Machine Learning in Finance (Coursera) Coursera
New York University Tandon School of Engineering

Fundamentals of Machine Learning in Finance (Coursera)

The course aims at helping students to be able to solve practical ML-amenable problems that they may encounter in real life that include: (1) understanding where the problem one faces lands on a general landscape of available ML methods, (2) understanding which particular ML approach(es) would be most appropriate for resolving the problem, and (3) ability to successfully implement a solution, and assess its performance.

Aug 17th 2026
4 Weeks
Private Equity and Venture Capital (Coursera) Coursera
Università Bocconi

Private Equity and Venture Capital (Coursera)

The course deals with the analysis of the private equity and venture capital business. Over the course, students will be provided with a deep understanding of the mechanism underpinning the creation and/or development of a firm and the financial support it can get from the financial system through venture capital investment. The course tries to discover how special financial intermediaries (called private equity investors) finance through equity companies belonging to different stages of their life-cycle, starting from the very beginning (startup and early stage) to a more mature phase (i.e. expansion, mature age, etc.) or also staying into crises and decline.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors (Coursera)

In this course, you will start by reviewing the fundamentals of investments, including the trading off of return and risk when forming a portfolio, asset pricing models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the 3-Factor Model, and the efficient market hypothesis. You will be introduced to the two components of stock returns – dividends and capital gains – and will learn how each are taxed and the incentives provided to investors from a realization-based capital gains tax.

Aug 3rd 2026
4 Weeks
Forecasting Financial Statements & Valuation for Accountants (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Forecasting Financial Statements & Valuation for Accountants (Coursera)

The objective of this course is to provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to analyze, interpret, understand and use financial information to make informed decisions. We will discuss financial reporting from a user’s perspective, use a variety of tools to break apart financial reports into meaningful units for analysis, forecast financial statements, and value a firm. This course is intended to give you exposure to the issues facing users of financial statements. You will better understand your role in the financial reporting process if you know how the financial statements will ultimately be used.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Finance for Everyone: Debt (Coursera) Coursera
McMaster University

Finance for Everyone: Debt (Coursera)

In Debt, we take on one of the most challenging financial questions that remains unresolved: How much to borrow? We start by demonstrating why using debt has always been and continues to be a great temptation, particularly when borrowing costs are historically low. We identify conditions for selecting the optimal amount of debt for a corporation looking to maximize its value. You’ll become fluent in related concepts like norms and benchmarks.

Aug 17th 2026
4 Weeks
Behavioral Finance (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

Behavioral Finance (Coursera)

We make thousands of decisions every day. Do I cross the road now, or wait for the oncoming truck to pass? Should I eat fries or a salad for lunch? How much should I tip the cab driver? We usually make these decisions with almost no thought, using what psychologists call “heuristics” – rules of thumb that enable us to navigate our lives. Without these mental shortcuts, we would be paralyzed by the multitude of daily choices.

Aug 17th 2026
3 Weeks
Trade & investment: evidence-based policies for development (Coursera) Coursera
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Trade & investment: evidence-based policies for development (Coursera)

This MOOC prepares students that want to analyse trade and investment policies of developing countries and emerging markets. We couch you for the task of giving evidence-based policy. For students interested in policy advise the course brings a sound understanding of what can and what cannot be done with well-established theories and state-of-the-art research. For students interested in research the asset of this course is to learn how to effectively communicate research findings in a policy setting.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Global Financial Markets and Instruments (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

Global Financial Markets and Instruments (Coursera)

Get a running start in the high-stakes world of financial investment! This first course is designed to help you become an informed investor by providing you with the essential concepts for long-term success in managing money. You’ll start by learning the role of financial markets and financial assets in a well-functioning economy. From there, you’ll learn about the wide range of financial instruments available in major asset classes, their features and valuations.

Aug 3rd 2026
4 Weeks