International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans: Investment Courses

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Program Experience

Highlights and Key Outcomes

Through the IFEBP-Wharton programs, you will:

Learn the core concepts and tools needed for effective portfolio oversight
Obtain a solid grounding in the principles of modern portfolio theory
Enhance your ability to assess the strategic impact of your competitors' moves and how to maintain competitive advantage
Learn the intricacies of alternate investment strategies, from real estate and hedge funds to private equity

Experience & Impact

Wharton faculty — led by Associate Professor Jeffrey Jaffe, an expert on corporate finance, investments, and money management — will apply their field-based research and the latest strategic insights to give you a strong foundation, theory, and practical application of investment management.

Each program is an independent unit that may be completed in any sequence, although we strongly encourage individuals with little experience with investment programs to complete the Portfolio Concepts and Management program as a foundation prior, to attending others.

Advanced Investments Management

This program is for those who have a solid grasp of investment management fundamentals and seek to learn more, or have taken the Portfolio Concepts and Management program and are looking for the “next step.” It is assumed participants will already understand the basic principles of portfolio theory, performance evaluation, and risk/return.

Overall, you will:

Engage in a thorough and rigorous program that builds on participants’ existing knowledge base and experience
Learn the latest trends in performance analysis and management
Discuss advanced asset-allocation topics
Apply what you have learned in an interactive case study

International and Emerging Market Investing

This 2½-day specialty program is designed to provide insight into the global marketplace to those who already have a solid grasp on basic investment topics. Discover investment opportunities and risks of international and emerging countries and how to navigate these risks.

Overall, you will:

Obtain a solid understanding of the opportunities and risks surrounding international investing
Discuss the impact of the global economy on your investment portfolio
Learn what you should consider when investing in emerging markets
Hear what strategies your peers are using

Who Should Attend

International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans: Investment Courses is designed for International Foundation member trustees and other benefit professionals with varying levels of knowledge and experience, including administrators and staff, human resources and benefits professionals, corporate officers and executives, and finance personnel and investment managers. The courses also attract investment professionals and multiemployer and public plan trustees in both the U.S. and Canada.

Participants leave the program with an expanded peer network, plus specific tools and frameworks they can use to be more effective administrators and investment managers. They also gain new insight into the global marketplace and how it impacts their funds’ investment strategy.

Fluency in English, written and spoken, is required for participation in Wharton Executive Education programs unless otherwise indicated.

Plan Your Stay

This program is held at the Steinberg Conference Center located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. Meals and accommodations are included in the program fees. Learn more about planning your stay at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus.

Faculty

Jeffrey Jaffe, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Academic Director

Associate Professor of Finance, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Corporate finance, investments, money management, and the effects of information on the behavior of security prices

A. Craig MacKinlay, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Joseph P. Wargrove Professor of Finance, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Asset pricing models, behavior of futures prices, econometric modeling, stock market behavior

Christopher Geczy, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Adjunct Professor of Finance; Academic Director, Wharton Wealth Management Initiative; Academic Director, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research, The Wharton School

Todd Sinai, PhDSee Faculty Bio

David B. Ford Professor; Professor of Real Estate and Business Economics and Public Policy; Chairperson, Real Estate Department, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Commercial real estate and real estate investment trusts, real estate and public economics, risk and pricing in housing markets, taxation of real estate and capital gains

Testimonials

The Foundation and Wharton continue to provide a stellar investment program. The curriculum and faculty present real-world information that I can take home and apply immediately. There is no doubt I will be a better trustee because of it.”

Michael BrownBoard Chairman, Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan

An incredibly deep dive into emerging markets that broadened not only my understanding of the markets but my fiduciary responsibilities.”

James Rossler Jr.Trustee, Ohio School Employees Retirement System

Thought-provoking, mind-expanding yet understandable teaching from these professors who are very knowledgeable and experts in their fields. I will continue onward in the Wharton pathway of education for the board trustees.”

Barbara M. PhillipsSchool Bus Driver, Ashland City Schools and Board Trustee, Ohio’s School Employee Retirement System

International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans: Investment Courses

Program Overview

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