Dr Ian Durbach, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Departmental of Statistical Sciences will present a seminar entitled, "Portfolio decision analysis: how to choose a subset of alternatives".

 Abstract: Decision analysis provides a set of tools for structuring decision problems and applying quantitative analytical models to them. This talk focuses on "portfolio" decisions. These aim to choose a subset of alternatives from a larger set of possibilities, so as to best satisfy the preferences of a decision maker. Portfolio decisions require taking account not only of the properties of individual alternatives, but also of how they interact. Some examples include R&D project selection, sports team selection, reintroduction strategies for wildlife conservation, and the selection of financial investments. The talk gives an introduction to portfolio problems and popular methods for supporting them, and describes and evaluates some simple heuristic strategies for making portfolio decisions.