Investment Course Contents

1. Financial Markets

• The stock exchange
• Main functions of the Australian share market
• International share markets
• Futures exchange markets
• Over the counter markets
• Indices

2.  Financial Market Regulators & Supervisory Bodies

• Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)
• Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)
• Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)

3.  Investment Risks

• Investment risks in financial markets
• Diversification – how to mitigate investment risk

4. Risk Profiles

• Risk factors that affect an investment strategy
• Risk profiles

5. Asset Allocations

• Why asset allocation is important

6. Introduction to Financial Products

• Debt v’s equity
• Risks associated with debt securities
• Risks associated with equity securities

7. Investments in Cash

• Cash management accounts & cash management trusts
• Benefits of cash investments
• Governments bank guarantee

8. Equity Securities

• Equity financing & shares
• Advantages of shares
• Bonus shares, rights issues & preference shares
• Company options

9. Debt Securities

• Bonds in general
• Treasury bonds
• Corporate bonds
• Fixed & variable rate bonds
• Debentures
• Unsecured notes – convertible notes & floating rate notes
• Collateralised Debt Obligation (CDO)

10. Hybrid Securities

• Preference shares
• Convertible preference shares
• Redeemable preference shares
• Convertible notes

11. Listed Investment Companies (LICs)

• Listed investment companies v’s managed funds
• Main features of listed investment companies

12. Property Investments

• Property trusts
• Advantages of property trusts
• Risks associated with property trusts

13. Infrastructure Investments

• Infrastructure investments
• Risks associated with infrastructure investments

14. International Share Investments

• International managed share funds
• Index funds, index huggers & non-benchmark aware funds
• How to invest in international shares

15. Derivative Instruments

• Options
• The options contract
• Options trading
• How do options work?
• Warrants
• Futures

16. Portfolio Management

• Managing your investment portfolio
• Rebalancing your portfolio
• Record keeping
• Measuring the effectiveness of an investment 

17. Fundamental Analysis

• Fundamental analysis v’s technical analysis
• Fundamental analysis
• Balance sheet & ratio analysis
• Economic factors
• The risk of too much reliance on fundamental analysis

18. Technical Analysis

• History of technical analysis
• Charting & chart types
• Trend analysis
• Chart patterns

19. Cycle Analysis

• Share market cycles
• Cycle analysis
• Elliott wave theory & GANN analysis

20. Dow Theory for Direct Equities

• Your method of investing in direct equity investments
• Dow Theory – accumulation, progression & distribution

21. Forecasting

• Forecasting price moves & time frames in a bull market
• Measuring time frames & price ranges
• Forecasting minor share market moves
• Forecasting major share market moves
• Anniversary dates

22. The Art of On-line Investing

• Choosing the right broker – full service & discount brokers
• Using an on-line broker
• The trading process & seats phases
• Placing trades
• When to sell & short selling

Investment Glossary

Investment Course Updates