Investment Basics
The environment of investing is rapidly changing. Having a solid understanding of investing is essential for avoiding costly mistakes and long-term issues. This course serves as an opportunity to efficiently build the simple investment framework required to help better understand and follow best practices and suitable investment structures. The content of this course will be beneficial for various backgrounds and levels of experience to revisit the basic investment framework with the goal of creating a better investment experience for participants and those they interact with. Gather with your peers and experts for two days of investment learning and networking to learn what is working and how others find success, giving you takeaways to implement at your own organization.
Topics Covered
- Investment overview
- Investing within the employee benefit and retirement plans environment
- Basics of investing
- Understanding and assessing risk
- Measures of return
- Investment characteristics
- Time value of money basics
- Basics of cash and cash equivalents
- Basics of bond investing
- Basics of stock investing
- Alternative investments
- Basics of mutual fund investing
- Commonsense investment principles
- Sources of investing information
- Portfolio management and asset allocation
- Investment policy considerations
- Tax aspects of retirement plan investment
- Case study
Course Outline
Day 1
- Investment Overview
- The language of investment basics
- Investment acronyms
- Time Value of Money Basics
- Pay yourself first
- Savings vs investing
- Time value of money
- Compound growth
- Present value, future value
- Rule of 72
- Rate of return, number of years
- Basics of Investing
- Benefits of long-term investing
- Investing made easy
- 401k savings example
- Investing fears
- Risk/reward tradeoff
- Investment characteristics
- Sources of return
- Fixed vs. variable investments
- Understanding and assessing risk
- Building blocks of return/risk
- Additional areas of risk
- Measures of Return
- Corrections, bear and bull markets
- S&P 500 returns
- Return and risk ranking activity
- Investment Types or Asset Classes
- Cash
- Bonds
- Stock (equities)
- Risk and rewards of asset classes
- Basics of Cash and Cash Equivalents
- Safety and stability of principal
- Liquid
- Stable value/ GICs
- CDs
- Basics of Bond Investing
- Bond overview
- Characteristics of bonds
- Credit quality
- Maturity length
- Yield curve
- Treasury vs corporate
- Rates in the news
- Basics of Stock Investing
- Stocks overview
- Characteristics of stocks
- Market capitalization
- Small-, mid-, large-cap
- Investment Style
- Domestic vs international
- Sectors
- Single issue risk
- Dow Jones (DJIA)
- NASDAQ
- Basics of Mutual Fund Investing
- Characteristics of mutual funds
- Types of mutual funds
- Passive vs. active
- Stock Market Volatility
- Short-term sharp drops
- Short-term sharp recoveries
- Long-term performance
Day 2
- Behavioral Economics
- Behavioral finance/psychology of investing
- Emotional investing curve
- DALBAR study
- Reacting can hurt performance
- Timing interest rates is difficult
- Fidelity study
- Patient long-term investing
- Folly of market timing
- Diversification role in behavior finance
- Diversification within different parts of stock market
- Diversification globally
- Alternative Investments
- Characteristics
- Commodities
- Real estate
- Hedge funds
- Private equity
- Sources of Investment Information
- What to look for in financial websites for investing information
- Learning activity
- Portfolio Management and Asset Allocation
- Investment policy statements
- Modern portfolio theory (MPT)
- Asset allocation
- Determinants of successful portfolios
- Market kaleidoscope
- The benefits of diversification
- Diversification and volatility
- Diversification and average investor
- Diversification - 60/40 portfolio
- Levels of diversification
- Individual investor behavior
- Institutional investor behavior
- Expected return targets
- Portfolio management metrics
- Portfolio considerations
- Investment Policy Considerations
- Portfolio objective, design and benchmarks
- Evaluating and choosing money managers
- Tracking, monitoring and rebalancing
- New York State pension example
- CalPERS pension example
- Case Study
In this case study, attendees will be asked to compare myriad investment alternatives. Tasks will include distinguishing investment characteristics, identifying risk, ranking investment options according to objectives and analyzing an investment portfolio. Attendees will then be asked to set an investment policy in line with objectives, construct a suitable investment portfolio and support all investment selections. The group will also discuss relevant investment issues.
Course Applies To
Pricing
October 10 - 11, 2025
Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
Through August 25, 2025
US$1,400.00
Member
US$1,620.00
Nonmember
After August 25, 2025
US$1,700.00
Member
US$1,920.00
Nonmember
Pricing
April 27 - 28, 2026
Scottsdale, AZ
Through March 16, 2026
US$1,495.00
Member
US$1,715.00
Nonmember
After March 16, 2026
US$1,795.00
Member
US$2,015.00
Nonmember
Pricing
October 2 - 3, 2026
Caribe Royale Orlando, Orlando, FL
Through August 17, 2026
US$1,495.00
Member
US$1,715.00
Nonmember
After August 17, 2026
US$1,795.00
Member
US$2,015.00
Nonmember
Continuing Education
Educational sessions at this program can qualify for CEBS Compliance credit. Visit www.cebs.org/compliance for more information.
Agenda
Friday, October 10 - Saturday, October 11, 2025
Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Monday, April 27 - Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Scottsdale, AZ
The selected event has no sessions.
Friday, October 2 - Saturday, October 3, 2026
Caribe Royale Orlando, Orlando, FL
The selected event has no sessions.