Your topic is:
“Emerging Markets Investments in Portfolio Management”
You are employed by a leading funds manager who is invested on behalf of many Australian investors in a range of traditional assets in Australia, viz., cash, fixed interest, equities and property, as well as in some of these asset classes in the USA, the UK, continental Western Europe and Japan.
Your boss believes that there are further opportunities to be gained by investing in a range of other rapidly growing countries, widely known as emerging economies. He asks you to research and develop this strategy.
You are required to select two emerging economies and analyse the investment opportunities they present. In particular, you should:
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with the aid of the literature, outline your selected countries’ recent (over at least the last 3 to 5 years) economic and political histories –making special reference to the political, etc. stability of each nation and their economic performance, with reference to real GDP growth, interest rates, exchange rates, employment and unemployment levels, key industries and the external current account accounts, whether in surplus or in deficit ;
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research and report on the recent investment performance of their major asset classes, viz., cash; fixed interest; equities and property, along with any other portfolio investments peculiar to each country;
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consider the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a country fund of investments offered by your selected economy/ies, to be available to Australian investors, to include in their portfolios as a separate investment, or to include as part of a balanced fund; and
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based on your research and analysis, formulate your conclusions and state your recommendations, along with reasons, for your firm’s portfolio managers to follow in the future in respect of their overall strategy and your emerging economy’s available investments.
Further details of the Assignment requirements and penalties for late lodgment are in the Subject Outline, which you should read carefully.
You are required to complete this essay individually (not as a Group).
You should follow the following typing conventions:
Times New Roman font (at minimum , 12 pitch)
A4 paper - 1.5 line spacing; and
Top, bottom, left and right margins to be at least 2.5 cms from the edge of the page.
Word length – 2,500 words + / - 10%.
Research and Referencing
Further details of what is required and the marking rubric are set out in the Subject Outline, pages 9 to 12.
You will need to discover at least 6 references apart from the text-book. This should include at least one other text-book and one journal article.