Investors tend to be their own worst enemies. In this third course, you will learn how to capitalize on understanding behavioral biases and irrational behavior in financial markets. You will start by learning about the various behavioral biases – mistakes that investors make and understand their reasons. You will learn how to recognize your own mistakes as well as others’ and understand how these mistakes can affect investment decisions and financial markets. You will also explore how different preferences and investment horizons impact the optimal asset allocation choice.
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Biases and Portfolio Selection
This course is part of Investment and Portfolio Management Specialization
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Instructor: Arzu Ozoguz
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(275 reviews)
(275 reviews)
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Details to know
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There are 4 modules in this course
This module introduces the third course in the Investment and Portfolio Management Specialization. In this module, we first present the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) – another pillar idea of modern finance. You will learn about its rationale as well as the empirical evidence that supports and challenges the predictions of the EMH such as anomalies. Finally, we will consider why smart money may sometimes fail to exploit away anomalies in financial markets.
What's included
9 videos12 readings3 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt
In this module, we review the behavioral critique of market rationality. In contrast to the presumption that investors are rational, behavioral finance starts with the assumption that they are not. We will examine some of the information-processing and behavioral biases uncovered by psychologists in several contexts. In addition, we will consider alternative, more realistic ways of describing investor preferences.
What's included
12 videos10 readings2 assignments
In this module, we review a number of puzzles related to the aggregate stock market and the cross-section of average stock returns that have been documented in the literature. We examine how the behavioral biases and tendencies discussed in the previous module might result in some of these puzzles observed in financial markets.
What's included
9 videos2 readings2 assignments2 peer reviews
In this last brief module, we turn our attention to the behavior of individual investors and review the empirical evidence on how behavioral biases and tendencies we discussed in the previous modules affect individual investor portfolio choice and trading decisions.
What's included
6 videos3 readings2 assignments
Instructor

Offered by
Recommended if you're interested in Finance
Rice University
University of Geneva
Rice University
University of Geneva
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Reviewed on Sep 25, 2019
An excellent course combining psychology and behavioral biases with finance. An eye-opener for students and managers relying exclusively on quantitative techniques to solve finance problems.
Reviewed on Apr 12, 2021
It really was a good course, which helped me clear a lot of my doubts!
Reviewed on Aug 30, 2023
Thanks doctor o and Coursera for this opportunity ❤🙏
New to Finance? Start here.
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Frequently asked questions
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
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When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
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