You have a hypothetical £100,000 to invest in shares quoted on the London Stock Exchange. You are to construct an investment portfolio of 10 companies. The companies can be any 10 listed on the London Stock Exchange (including the Alternative Investment Market). The companies may be non-UK but must have London as the primary listing, ie not Google, Apple, SONY etc. They should not operate in the following sectors: · financial services (including banks and insurance) · investment in capital markets (eg in shares, bonds etc) · real estate The detailed components of your assignment are as follows: 1) Produce a spreadsheet showing: the investments you have chosen; the closing share price on Thursday 12th March (ie the price reported in the morning press on 13th March); the number of shares you have acquired; the beta of each company; and the value of your investment. Your spreadsheet should show the weighted average beta of your portfolio, accurately calculated. You must cut and paste the spreadsheet into the submitted document as the portal will not accept a spreadsheet in Excel format. You will be marked to reflect your understanding of the task and the accuracy of the data. (20 marks) 2) Explain your reasons for choosing each investment. This should include: a brief explanation of what the company does and a discussion of why you think its share price will perform well in the short to medium term. Your work should be supported by commentary and analysis by industry professionals in financial institutions and the financial press. You are not expected to carry out a financial analysis of the company. You will be marked on your understanding of the task, the relevance of the material presented, the insight of your analysis and the quality and breadth of the sources used. (c. 1,500 words) (50 marks) 3) Many investment managers invest by buying shares to reflect the FTSE 100 index. Explain how the FTSE 100 index is calculated and how this behaviour by investment managers affects the market, particularly for smaller companies' shares. You will be marked on your understanding of the task and the insight of your analysis. (c.500 words) (20 marks) Your assignment should be in report format and the spreadsheet and supporting commentary should be presented in a clearly set out, professional manner. Clarity and quality of presentation and referencing will be a factor in the marks awarded. (10 marks)