COURSE: Postgraduate Diploma/MSC in Property Investment

This course is designed for experienced professionals operating in the property investment field who wish to develop their investment skills.

SUMMARY

Award: RICS Postgraduate Diploma or MSc in Property Investment (PGDipPropInv or MScPropInv)
Time commitment: 15 hours of study a week for 42 weeks of each year
Duration: A minimum of 2 years to PGDip and 3 years to MSc
Apply by: 1 November 2009
Course starts: 1 December 2009

AWARD DETAILS

Once you have successfully completed Part 1 you have two options:

• Complete Part 2 with either CEM or the University of Reading to be awarded the RICS Postgraduate Diploma in Property Investment. This will entitle you to use the designatory letters PGDipPropInv
• Complete Parts 2 and 3 with the University of Reading to be awarded the MSc in Property Investment. You will be entitled to use the designatory letters MScPropInv, or simply MSc.

If you wish to give yourself the option to study for the MSc you must register with the University of Reading at the end of Part 1.

For those who require specific skills, individual modules may be studied and certificates awarded for those successfully completed. This is referred to as the certificated option route.

ACCREDITATION
The MSc in Property Investment is accredited by RICS. Once you have completed the course you will be eligible to apply for the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), which leads
to Membership. If you have studied a related degree (property or construction) prior to commencing the course you may be able to apply for the APC before completing the MSc. If this is relevant to you, please ask us for details.

The Investment Property Forum (IPF) has recognised the programme as providing members of the property investment community with the skills necessary to operate and compete in an ever-changing environment. Diploma and MSc holders are eligible for full membership of the IPF.


ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

You should have at least three years’ relevant professional experience and a degree in any subject (2.2 or above, or equivalent level outside the UK).

Members or Fellows of RICS, with at least three years’ relevant post-qualification experience, are
also eligible.

Those with other qualifications may be admitted subject to the approval of the Course Director and the University of Reading.

COURSE OUTLINE
Part 1

Valuation Fundamentals and the Theory of Investment – principles of property valuation and appraisal for freehold and leasehold investments; investment methods; DCF; investment theories; risk and return; performance measurement; statistical measures; databases; essential mathematics and statistics.

Portfolio Management – nature, process and techniques relating to investment portfolio construction, revision and management; aims and balance of investment in relation to risk and return; factors influencing selection; modern portfolio theory.

Economics – background; microeconomic and macroeconomic issues of real estate and property investment; impact of budgetary policy and capital market behaviour.

Financial and Management Accounting – financial accounting within the overall framework of managerial accounting; fundamentals of financial statements; valuation and control of assets and liabilities; analysis of financial information; property company accounts case studies.

IT Skills and Decision Making – skills and techniques in the use and application of
spreadsheets (principally Excel) to aid decision making for property development and property
investment, covering regression analysis, linear programming, simulation and bespoke packages.

Part 2
Compulsory modules

Investment Techniques and Forecasting – risk portfolio selection and testing procedures; non-technical overview of property forecasting and modelling techniques; hypothesis testing; application of regression analysis; uses and abuses of forecasts.

Portfolio Performance Measurement – current practice and market; rationale of performance appraisal in property investment; quantitative measures and indicators of performance; construction of indices and comparison of main property indices, including IPD.

Integrative Assignment
Module options (choose two)

Indirect Property Investment – indirect methods of property investment; advantages and disadvantages of each; financial principles behind each method.

International Investment – property investment in the UK and overseas, principally in European markets; factors influencing cross-border investment flows; increasing impact of pan-European investors within and outside the EU.
Investment Financing Techniques – current range of property investment vehicles; debt and equity finance; project and corporate finance; importance of legal structures in such vehicles; live case studies.

Part 3
Research Methods
Dissertation
Independent flexible study (certificated option route) Ten modules from Parts 1 and 2 are offered
for independent study or may be used to claim exemption from modules on the full course.
This means that you can:

• Choose specific areas in which you particularly need to update your skills
• Obtain a certificate on successful completion of each module
• Gain exemption from successfully completed modules, if you chose to transfer to the Diploma or MSc course
If you complete modules successfully on the certificated option and you wish to progress to the full course, you must claim any exemptions within two years of completion. It is not possible to defer certificated modules.

For both the certificated and full course routes, Valuation Fundamentals and the Theory of Investment is a prerequisite for the other modules in Part 1 and in Part 2 all the subject modules are co-requisites for the Integrative Assignment module.

Face-to-Face teaching
Two 2-day sessions are held in December and June in Reading each year for Parts 1 and 2. For Part 3, one-day sessions are held in December and June in Reading, with a possible extra one day session in the spring.

Overnight accommodation is not provided.