Investment Strategies (Online)

Whether you are a finance professional, a career switcher, or an ambitious investor, success in today’s markets requires more than intuition — it demands rigorous tools and disciplined strategy. For individual and professional investors who want to strengthen their investment decision making, the Investment Strategies (Online) program from Columbia Business School Executive Education builds a rigorous understanding in how markets work — across stocks, bonds, and risk-free assets — and how to apply strategies that improve portfolio performance.

Led by Harry Mamaysky, professor of professional practice and the director of the Program for Financial Studies at Columbia Business School, this program is designed for anyone seeking to transform their approach to portfolio management, from new asset managers to seasoned wealth advisors. Over nine weeks, you will explore how stocks, bonds, and global capital markets interact, learn to measure risk and return, and develop a disciplined approach to diversification.

Through interactive exercises, case studies, and applied assignments using real financial data, you will practice valuation, risk analysis, forecasting, and portfolio construction. By the end, you will understand the behavior of core asset classes and gain the confidence to use professional-grade investment tools in your career or personal portfolio.

The Investment Strategies (Online) program is designed for executives who want to elevate their market knowledge and apply professional-grade tools to real-world investment decisions. It is especially beneficial for:  

• Retail investors and high-net-worth individuals like individual investors, active traders, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and family office managers looking to professionalize their approach, apply disciplined strategies, and avoid costly mistakes in managing personal or family wealth  

• Early-career finance professionals working as finance analysts, associates, consultants in equity research, asset management, risk, and wealth management, banking, or fintech who want to sharpen valuation and portfolio skills while accelerating their careers

• Career switchers into finance such as professionals from fields such as accounting, auditing, corporate law, economics, business development or any related profession who want to build a structured foundation and transition into roles in investment management, equity research, or fintech 

• Global professionals including mid-career practitioners who want to integrate leading global investment strategies into their local practice

The Investment Strategies (Online) program will enable you to:

• Better inform your market opinions with a deeper understanding of capital markets, major investable asset classes, the challenges of leveraging and shorting, and how to use financial and economic databases

• Avoid common investment pitfalls by gaining an understanding of overleveraging and underappreciating

• Make educated stock selections by measuring risk and applying risk management and analytical theory to your choices

• Become an active portfolio manager by analyzing the performance of investment products over time, understanding bond market and yield, and knowing the tools for — and limits of — forecasting

Each module includes assignments that are designed to bridge theory and practice using real data from sources such as FRED, Yahoo Finance, Finviz, and the JST Macrohistory database. You will:

• Test valuation models on companies, including Apple, Tesla, and IBM

• Measure risk with Sharpe ratios and correlation matrices

• Build and evaluate portfolios using diversification techniques

By working hands-on with financial data sets, you will gain the confidence to move from understanding concepts to applying them like a professional. The result is a practical skill set and the confidence to apply professional-grade investing tools to real markets — accelerating careers and sharpening investment decisions.

You’ll have access to a range of hands-on tools and activities that bridge the theoretical and the practical to help make you a more effective investor. Some examples include:

Hedge Fund Case Study: Explore the real-world gains and perils that can occur when aggressively using leverage and risk in the investment process.

Measurement Tools: Examine and apply different approaches for measuring investment performance — including risk exposure — using the Sharpe ratio and the information ratio.

Financial Data Resources: Construct and manage a diversified portfolio and learn to use an invaluable set of online resources that can help you create an investment strategy and wisely implement it, such as Yahoo Finance, Finviz, Macrohistory and FRED.

In just nine weeks, you will sharpen your ability to value securities, assess risk, and construct diversified portfolios — skills you can use immediately in your work or your own investments.

• Value stocks and markets with tools, including the dividend discount model, price–earnings (P/E) ratios, and Shiller’s CAPE

• Earn a Columbia Business School certificate that builds professional credibility

Climb Credit*

We offer financing options with our partner, Climb Credit*. Click here to learn more. *Applicable for US Residents

Flexible Payment Options For All

Flexible payment options allow you to pay the program fee in installments. Click here to see payment schedule.

Didn't find what you were looking for? Write to us at learner.success@emeritus.org or Schedule a call with one of our Program Advisors or call us at +1 315 387 4431 (US) / +44 203 838 0836 (UK) / +65 3138 4449 (SG)