FINM 3008/6016 Applied Portfolio Construction
Applied Portfolio Construction
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FINM 3008/6016 Applied Portfolio Construction
Semester 2, 2023
Mid-Semester Exam – Guidance
Outline of Mid-Semester Exam
• Date and Time – Monday 28/08/2023 at 11:00am to 1:00pm (Canberra time).
• Venue – online through Wattle. If you have trouble finding or accessing the exam,
please email me immediately at the beginning of the
exam. Before the exam starts, you can practice taking exams on Wattle by clicking
on the “Quiz (optional)” link
• Format – 15 multiple choice questions (total: 30 marks); plus 4 short-answer
questions (total: 40 marks); total 70 marks. Short-answer Questions may be
multi-part. The mid-semester exam accounts for 20% of your total grade in
this course, but it is redeemable. Short-answer questions test your
understanding of course concepts. Short-answer questions can be qualitative or
quantitative. For example:
- Explain the limitations of mean-variance portfolio optimizer
- Describe the costs and benefits of including more asset classes in a portfolio
optimizer
- Provide examples to illustrate that risk is unobservable
- Explain the objectives of different institutional investors
- Calculate important quantities (e.g., average return, standard deviation,
Sharpe ratio, tracking error) given some inputs
• Permitted materials – Because you are sitting the exam away from campus and
because the exam is not invigilated, this exam is open book. HOWEVER, it is not
permitted to contact and collaborate with other students or persons during the
exam. You will be required to declare that your answers are original and reflect
your own thinking. Your answers should not be copied or plagiarized from other
sources.
• Time allocation – The exam is 120 minutes. It is suggested that you spend 40 to 60
minutes on the multiple choice and 15 to 20 minutes on each written answer question.
Save some time at the end to review your final answers and submit them. When the
time runs out, your answers will be automatic submitted.
• Coverage – Mid-semester exam covers materials up to and including week 5 (including
lectures, workshops, tutorials, and examinable readings)
• Technical difficulties – It has happened in the past that Wattle didn’t save all the
answers at the end of the exam, because the student lost internet connection or
the student’s web browser crashed during the exam. When you encounter such
technical difficulties, it is important that you keep evidence of your work (for
example, by taking snapshots of your answers) and email me
your answers at the end of the exam. Delayed answers
will not be accepted.