The Work Of A Hotels Front Desk Staff Tourism Essay

The Work Of A Hotels Front Desk Staff Tourism Essay When in a hotel there are jobs for all levels where the front office manager job and responsibilities,assistant managers jobs and responsibilities, the front desk representatives job and responsibilities, the night auditor job and responsibilities, the cashiers jog and responsibilities. If all the job and responsibilities are done correctly the hotel will be successful in the hotel industry. However if a poor job is done the hotel will face failure and bankruptcy there for it is important for the staff to achieve there job and responsibilities to secure a successful business. Front Office Manager The front office manager is in charge of maintaining a high level of efficiency among all the front office staff, to make effective decisions regarding reservations policies and room assignments, and handle guest problems and complaints with courtesy and tact. The manager must also maintain an open communication between all other departments of the hotel. The front office manager must assign duties to all staff members of the front office. He is in charge of preparing weekly work schedules and shift assignments, scheduling regular staff meeting to make sure that staff understand what they have to do and all the hotel policies. The manager must also hire and train all new employers, consistently overview the performance of each the new staff members. The front office manager must also define the reservation policies and set quotas, aiming for maximum room occupancy. The manger must also monitor all arrivals, departures and cancellations. And setting policies for no-shows, early arriva ls, and over booking. Assistant Front Office Manager The assistant front office manager is there to aid the department manager who is responsible for coordinating front desk personnel, monitoring all guests accounts and payments, and authorized checks and credit procedures. Also the assistant manager may assist the front desk staff during high peak periods. Other duties of an assistant manager are to review reservation for the day and preparing daily room occupancy forecasts. For a manager an front office manager may have have a lot of work to do so as a front office assistant manager he is to help the manager with extra work that needs to be done. Along with helping desk staff if the are to many customers wanting lodgeing. There for needing patience. Front Desk Representatives. Front desk representatives are the main for who are always reminded to always show to the personality of the hotel to all the guests, to be a front desk representative you must strong communication skills along with the ability to work with people. Front desk representatives must use diplomacy, courtesy, and warmth in order to successfully make a guest feel welcome. They must also deal with clients problems and complaints. Also to directly work with clients of the hotel. Working at the front desk they have an important role of assigning rooms and maintain maximum occupancy. The front desk is responsible for verifying reservation information, checking credit card identification and authorization, assigning rooms, and dispensing room keys. Other duties are to provide information about facilities and policies, handling special guest requests, such as photocopies, and gift purchases. A front desk representative must always be polite warm and understanding around customers. Giving there f ull attention to customers. A customer does not like to be keept waiting. And also must highlight their experience in the hotel. The night auditor. A night auditor has two jobs to do where first he must do all the jobs as a front office representative. Secondly he or she must prepare a machine balance report. Typically, a night auditors shifts run from 11 pm until 7 am. When the front desk responsibility slackens usually the night auditor starts to audit or trace the posting of the previous days transactions to verify their accuracy. The main point is the night auditor must calculate the total charges owed to the hotel and incurred by guests during the previous day. They must determine the daily balance. To be a night auditor one must be good with numbers along with having all the skills needed to be a front office representatives. A night auditor is one of the most tireing jobs in a hotel. Because work is based at night until early morning. As for most people wont want to work as a night auditor. Cashiers The cashiers are responsible for checking out departing clients, posting charges, verifying the guest check, and handling payments. Cashiers may also be required to assist other members of the front desk staff in the performance of their duties. And vice versa. Cashiers are responsible for verifying payments from customers who are about to check out. Also they must calculate the charges and presenting the guest check. They are considered members of the accounting department who answer to the accounting manager. And finally they have other duties, such as sorting mail, handlingguests communications, and coordinating room status and reports. A cashier is responsible for handeling all the income for a hotel so its necessary that a cashier is knowledgeable about accounting. And also if asked to help the front office staff with their dutys so there for must have good people skills to be able to communicate sucessufly with a customer. Being a cashier one must always respecta customer along with getting all your taskes fulfilled. Reservationist The reservationist is responsible for handling advance room requests, determining availability, quoting rates, and documenting reservations. Reservation systems range from simple forms that are organized like desk calendars to computer-based systems. A reservationist must have good knowledge of the rooms, rates, and hotel policies. In addition, arithmetic and computer skills may be required. A reservationist is responsible for reciving all reservations and dealing with the accordanly. But mst make sure that all reservations are below 70% because that is the limit that a hotel and reserve for customers. Because if a hotel reserves 100% of the hotel and most the guests dont come they will lose customers and income. A reservationist must know how to deal with a customer, say when when you can and know how to reject a customer if the hotel has already reserved 70% of rooms in the hotel. Telephone Operator A telephone operator is responsible for coordinating the use of the telephone system of a large hotel. An operator answers all incoming telephone calls and directs the callers to the appropriate guest room, department, or staff member. In addition, operators may be required to direct house calls placed from inside the hotel. Operators must have an up to date directory of the guests room assignments. This position requires oral communication skills, an efficient telephone technique, and attention to detail. A telephone is required to know how to transfer calls to all rooms in the hotel and know how to make house bound calls from within the hotel. A telephone operator must answer the phone with a smile talk with a gental tone to all guests. It is important that a telephone operatormust have full knowledge on how to do his job. CONCLUSION The Work of a hotels front desk staff is important they are responsible of first impressions and must always treat guests like royalty. To do so they must always meet their jobs critiera where a front office manager is responsible for looking out on staff giving a weekly work schedule, high level of efficiency infront of all staff, be able to make decisions, and must always have communications with all deparments of the hotel. A assistant front office manager is to help the manager with tasks needed. Coordanating front desks opperations the assistant front desk manager has the responsibility to train all new employees. The front desk representative are the one who serve guests, they must always be polite and carry a smile at all times. Being a front desk representative you need be to able to communicate with customers successfully. The night auditor is responsible of 2 jobs first he is a front dest representative then when customers stop coming normaly around 1 he must calculate all income from the day. cashiers are the ones who deal with the money that guest pay before check out. The also can assists the front office representative with their work. They are considered as members of the accounting department.working under the supervision of the accounting manager. Reservationist are basicly the ones who deal with reservations from customers. Determining availability, quoting rates and documenting reservations. The telephone operator is in charge of handeling all calls, and directing the calls to guests rooms, staff members or department. The also may have to direct house calls placed from within the hotel. QUESTION 2 Front office staffs must have certain skills to attract guests during the first impression. Write about Front Office staff skill in guest relations. INTRODUCTION Front office staffs must have certain skills to attract guests during the first impression. Write about Front Office staff skill in guest relations. When working in a hotel as a front office representative you must have special skills to attract customers. From being able to have a good first impression, giving a smile to customers. Good interpersonal and communication with customers. being able handle stress properly. Having knowledge of phone lines, having knowledge of computers. Being polite and always showing warmth to all customers. Being polite, being courteous, having patience with all troubleing customers. Being helpful to all the customers. When having learned all these skills it will be easy to attract customers to the hotel. Being polite and warm to all customers. When all of these skills are used correctly for sure that all Customers will feel wanted and important by the hotel. Then wanting to come again on holiday. Resulting in a successful hotel. All this is needed for a front office staff. When working in a hotel customers will want to feel like they are wanted by the hotel. Since customers are paying for their stay they will want the perfect service where all customers want to be able to stay their holiday in peace. To do so the staff must always show that they are wanted. A good first impression, A good first impression can go a long way. The way you dress, the way your hair is tied for girls, your hair style for guys, how u say hello to a customer. The way you present your self is important because a customer does not want to be served by someone who looks unpresentable. So dressing correctly and having a decent hairstyle is important to attact customers. Therefor staff members must always have a correct uniform on and is presentable to all customers. First impressions can also be seen from how you greet a customer. A simple hello and a smile would be enough. And must also remember regular customers by name. It makes them feel as if they are all wanted and remembered by the hotel. So making sure that all staff are dressed correctly and know how to greet a customer properly. Good interpersonal and communication with customers. Again all staff must be able to communicate with customers well. Making sure that the customers fully enjoy their stay. Being interpersonal and having good communication with all customers is important to have in a hotel to make it successful. Being able handle stress properly. Every staff member of a hotels front office must always remember that they must not show their personal problems inside the hotel. If in a bad mood or if angry when a customer comes they must not show their emotions towards them. As for a argument might escalate. However if one has a personal problem that is hard to control tell your supervisor to let u have a break or the day of. As for personal problems are part of life and cant be helped. But if a small matter they wont. And you will have to hide your emotions inorder to satisfy the customer. And if a troubleing customer comes that might be rude or disrespectful one must always ignore what he/she says just to please the customer. Hold your emotions. Until later when can release them freely. So having control over stress and emotons is important for front office staffs. To ensure that customers are treated correctly and avoid any problems. Being polite and always showing warmth to all customers. When working in a hotel as a front office staff it is important to always be polite to all customers, politeness is one of the main things to remember when serving a customer. Being rude will show that the hotel does not care about the customers. Even when the customer is wrong the staff must always respect the customer and remember that the customer is always right. When outside ad out of uniform you can say what you want. But when inside of the hotel or wearing the uniform you must respect all customers and always be polite to all the customers. Showing warmth to customers is important being able to show the customer that they are wanted. Try void body contact a customers would not think well some some one they dont know hugging them. A simple thank you or a smile would be enough to show a customer that they are wanted in the hotel. Being courteous. Courtsy is a form of politeness saying that you for your stay will show your customer that their business is appreciated in a hotel. Always remember that inside a hotel staff must always show courtsy to all customers even if a customer is rude or abnoixous but they are all customers of the hotel and for a hotel to be a success the hotel must have customers so being courteous is important for a hotel. Every hotel must remember to make sure that their front office staff are show courtsy to all customers. Having patience with all troubleing customers. Patience is important for every employee in a hotel. If its being patient with your boss or more importantly being patient around a troubling customer. A customer way be annoying, rude, disrespectful or just an overall pain. But its the job of a front desk employee to make sure that the customer enjoys their stay. Patience is the key for success as they say. Every employee must be able to handle a customer, have patience with troubling customers and know how to treat all customers correctly. This having being said every front office manager must always remember to train all staff in ways to communicate with customers to successfully gain their business. Every employee shold be kind to all customers, talk in a soft tone to each and every customer And always make sure that the customer is pleased when checking into room and checking out. Make sure that their stay is a plesent one. CONCLUSION Every employee must have a special set of skills to make sure that a customers stay is plesent. So a manager must always make sure that the acting supervisor is coorectly training staff to handle customers correctly. By making sure that the employees all know how to communicate with a customer correctly and efficiently. Making sure that all employees are warm and kind hearted to all current and future customers, enable to sustain current customers and attract potential customers to the hotel. Making sure that customers have no complaints with employees attitude, A good first impression goes along way where all employees know how to dress correctly and look presentable to all customers for the hotel. Being presentable means having the correct uniform and a decent hairstyle nothing to crazy. Being able to handle stress is important to for all employees where they must not show their unhappy mood to customers. Customers dont want to see your attitude. Being courteous to all customers is something every employee must remember. A customer is the income for a hotel. And the reason you work there. So always show customer courtsy. Being able to handle troubleing customers is important. Some time customers can be un-understanding, a employee need to be able to handel a troubling customer easily. Bibliogaphy http://www.ehow.com/facts_5538984_hotel-office-manager-job-description.html http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_Duties_and_responsibilities_of_front_office_manager_in_hotel http://www.paycheck.in/main/work-and-pay/women-paycheck/job-outlook-2/front-office-staff-receptionist-in-hotels-1 http://www.wowjobs.co.za/job/Oops.aspx

Time I Learned a Lesson

While living in a state as hot as Arizona, not only do the football players have to drink a lot of water, but everyone else as well. The day I didn't taught me a lesson: Actions, good or bad, are followed with consequences. I thought my body would be perfectly fine without some water for the day but boy was I wrong. Just minutes before the incident, the only Item on my mind was how fun the rap concert would be the following night. Little did I know, I would not be attending.A late night trip to Albertson Isn't rare for my family as we forget things tie easily (and when I say we I mean I). I entered Albertson with a mental list of Ethylene, snacks, and Storage. Yet, I still made my way to the ice cream aisle as I seem to always be gravitated towards it. Him, what flavor sounds good? Ben and Jerry Peach Cobbler gets me every time! I reach out to grab that perfect concoction and smack! My body now lays lifeless on the floor as I blackout. Seconds, minutes, maybe hours later I become con scious. I make an effort to move my limbs but there's no use.My heavy eyelids have a arid time opening, I force them open and find myself in a hospital bed wearing one of those dresses I promised myself I'd never wear. My eyes find their way to the side of my bed where my motherly sits, pale skinned, and mouthing my name. Her voice finally registers Into my head as it translates from terrified to joyful. My very own nurse rushes In once I'm awake. She tries her hardest to talk slowly and uses hand gestures to explain why I'm here, why I'm lifeless, and why I'm wasn't eating my ice cream in the comfort of my own home.I had blacked out for several hours. Well that was an unexpected nap, I thought to myself. My nurse says the word dehydrated and it clicks my mental grocery list. There was Ethylene for my headache, snacks for nauseates, and Storage for extreme thirst. How could I be so stupid? The next day my life carried on normally: I woke up, ate, went to school, ate, napped, ate, di d my homework, ate, and slept. Of course there was a lot more water in my system compared to the day before, but drinking more water wasn't the lesson learned.I could have been testing and driving, or not completing a homework assignment but the point was the same; there were consequences to my every move. I could've been In a car accident or simply slotting In SAD with a bunch of kids I TLD know. It's your own choices that make you or break you In this life, what will you choose? And will you be prepared for the consequences that follow? BY excellencies English II- Period 3 A typical sight in the halls of Hamilton High School are the tall and built young men of was I wrong.Just minutes before the incident, the only item on my mind was how fun attending. A late night trip to Albertson isn't rare for my family as we forget things quite easily (and when I say we I mean l). I entered Albertson with a mental list of finally registers into my head as it translates from terrified to Joyfu l. My very own nurse rushes in once I'm awake. She tries her hardest to talk slowly and uses hand I could've been in a car accident or simply sitting in SAD with a bunch of kids I didn't know. It's your own choices that make you or break you in this life, what will you

Ionization Energy of the Elements

The ionization energy, or ionization potential, is the energy required to completely remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion. The closer and more tightly bound an electron is to the nucleus, the more difficult it will be to remove, and the higher its ionization energy will be. Key Takeaways: Ionization Energy Ionization energy is the amount of energy needed to completely remove an electron from a gaseous atom.Generally, the first ionization energy is lower than that required to remove subsequent electrons. There are exceptions.Ionization energy exhibits a trend on the periodic table. Ionization energy generally increases moving from left to right across a period or row and decreases moving top to bottom down an element group or column. Units for Ionization Energy Ionization energy is measured in electronvolts (eV). Sometimes the molar ionization energy is expressed, in J/mol. First vs Subsequent Ionization Energies The first ionization energy is the energy required to remove one electron from the parent atom. The second ionization energy is the energy required to remove a second valence electron from the univalent ion to form the divalent ion, and so on. Successive ionization energies increase. The second ionization energy is (almost) always greater than the first ionization energy. There are a couple of exceptions. The first ionization energy of boron is smaller than that of beryllium. The first ionization energy of oxygen is greater than that of nitrogen. The reason for the exceptions has to do with their electron configurations. In beryllium, the first electron comes from a 2s orbital, which can hold two electrons as is stable with one. In boron, the first electron is removed from a 2p orbital, which is stable when it holds three or six electrons. Both of the electrons removed to ionize oxygen and nitrogen come from the 2p orbital, but a nitrogen atom has three electrons in its p orbital (stable), while an oxygen atom has 4 electrons in the 2p orbital (less stable). Ionization Energy Trends in the Periodic Table Ionization energies increase moving from left to right across a period (decreasing atomic radius). Ionization energy decreases moving down a group (increasing atomic radius). Group I elements have low ionization energies because the loss of an electron forms a stable octet. It becomes harder to remove an electron as the atomic radius decreases because the electrons are generally closer to the nucleus, which is also more positively charged. The highest ionization energy value in a period is that of its noble gas. Terms Related to Ionization Energy The phrase ionization energy is used when discussing atoms or molecules in the gas phase. There are analogous terms for other systems. Work Function - The work function is the minimum energy needed to remove an electron from the surface of a solid. Electron Binding Energy - The electron binding energy is a more generic term for ionization energy of any chemical species. Its often used to compare energy values needed to remove electrons from neutral atoms, atomic ions, and polyatomic ions. Ionization Energy Versus Electron Affinity Another trend seen in the periodic table is electron affinity. Electron affinity is a measure of the energy released when a neutral atom in the gas phase gains an electron and forms a negatively charged ion (anion). While ionization energies may be measured with great precision, electron affinities are not as easy to measure. The trend to gain an electron increases moving from left to right across a period in the periodic table and decreases moving from top to bottom down an element group. The reasons electron affinity typically becomes smaller moving down the table is because each new period adds a new electron orbital. The valence electron spends more time further from the nucleus. Also, as you move down the periodic table, an atom has more electrons. Repulsion between the electrons makes it easier to remove an electron or harder to add one. Electron affinities are smaller values than ionization energies. This puts the trend in electron affinity moving across a period into perspective. Rather than a net release of energy when an electron is gain, a stable atom like helium actually requires energy to force ionization. A halogen, like fluorine, readily accepts another electron.

Do Emerging Markets Still Offer Diversification Benefits - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2167 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? One of the most significant contributions to the investment community has been Markowitzs modern portfolio theory (MPT) and its foundations in risk return trade-offs and international asset diversification. The growing dependency of Emerging market countries on the US for its stable currency and export sales among other factors has increased their dependence on US markets for their GDP and market growth. This has caused a reduction in the diversification benefits in the Emerging markets. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Do Emerging Markets Still Offer Diversification Benefits?" essay for you Create order This paper will examine the various empirical evidence on emerging markets diversification and will also construct a portfolio to assess whether investment in these markets still provide benefits. MPT is based on two key principles of investing, namely that an investor will seek to maximise expected return whilst also minimising risk. Its risk is measured by its standard deviations of returns around expected values. By considering â€Å"the expected return of each investment in relation to the impact that it has on the risk of the overall portfolio,† (Litterman (2004) p. 12) An investor can prevent weaknesses in one asset class from reducing the portfolios overall return. Therefore a portfolio that is invested in a range of industries or asset classes is more diversified against risks that may affect only one asset class. (Crescenzi (2008) p. 141) The implication is that portfolios are constructed with a rate of return equal to the weighted average rate of return of the hol dings and yet its risk will be less than the weighted average return of the portfolio. (Litterman (Ibid) p.14) Recent developments in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and mutual funds have allowed investors to be invested across a range of markets and countries without being exposed to the potentially large risks of any one internationally traded company. (Crescenzi (Ibid) p.141) More specifically, Index ETF, such as those of iShares, which are designed to closely follow their relevant indices whilst being internationally invested. (Barclays (Ibid) p. 2) MPT also demands investment in asset classes that correlate as little as possible with each other, as measured by their covariance. In fact, the covariance should be less than one in order to reduce the risk in the portfolio. Asset returns that have covariance equalling one are highly dependent on each other and a covariance of zero means they are independent of each other. Covariance is calculated by multiplying the correlations by the variances of their returns. (Litterman (Ibid) p. 12) A portfolios overall risk in relation to its benchmark is measured by its beta. A portfolio with a beta of 1 is has a volatility that is equal to that of its index, whereas a beta greater than one will have greater volatility than the index and is likely to achieve returns greater than the index. It is calculated by dividing a portfolios covariance with the index by the indexs variance. (MacKay Shields (2003) p.2) Mean variance approach MPTs mean variance approach demonstrates efficient combinations of high expected returns with a specific level of risk. Any portfolios that exist below the frontier are considered inefficient because they are earning lower returns for the same amount of risk in comparison to those on the frontier. Unfortunately, this is difficult to apply in reality because it requires the use of an optimiser which is based on the calculation of expected returns to arrive at weights. The resulting weights are often considered extreme and inappropriate and the actual calculation of expected returns is also considered difficult to obtain, with the closest and most widely available data being historical returns. Additionally, the approach requires investment in the entire universe of stocks however oftentimes fund managers seek to create portfolios which are invested in a small universe, to attract local investors. (Zimmerman (Ibid) p. 282-262) Another concern is the models static nature which requ ires action once the initial allocation of wealth to the securities is made, until the investment horizon is reached. The dynamic nature of stock markets and the wide ranging risks that underline them can greatly impact asset returns, making it crucial for the profitability of an investor to continually rebalance their portfolio according to changes in them. (Korn (1997) p. 12) Empirical Evidence of Emerging Markets Diversification There is extensive empirical evidence to support Markowitzs theory that investment across the globe reduces portfolio risk levels. Cumby and Glen ((1990) cited in Aiello and Chieffe (1999) p. 29) find superior returns are gained by internationally diversified investment funds. Divecha, Drach, and Stefek ((1992) cited in Aiello (Ibid) p. 29) show more specifically that investment in the Emerging markets is likely to reduce a portfolios total risk. Moreover, Masters ((1998) cited in Aiello (Ibid) p. 29) recommend allocate of at least 6 percent in the Emerging markets, to benefit from the rapid economic growth in the region. Speidell and Sappenfield ((1992) Aiello (Ibid) p. 29) maintain that developed countries, unlike emerging markets, move in close tandem with each other and therefore provide less diversification. A study by Aiello and Chieffe also finds that diversification in the Americas Free Index provides the lowest standard deviation of returns. However, Aiello also notes t hat the Emerging markets are characterised by high volatility due to asset and sector concentrations, small markets, insider trading and poor information. (Aiello (Ibid) p. 34) Constructing the Portfolio Initially a portfolio comprised of solely developed countries will be constructed using index ETFs. iShares Morgan Stanley Country Indices (MSCI) will be used for the purposes of this paper. Initially an assessment of the regional ETF index risk and returns will be made from which individual countries will be selected for investment. A portfolio of developed countries will first be selected followed by a selection of Emerging market countries to assess their impact on the portfolios overall risk and return. The period of investment which will be used for the construction of this portfolio will be 2nd January 2009 to 13 March 2009. Unfortunately, access to iShares MSCI data is limited to between 2008 and 2009 for the majority of countries which is insufficient given the significant downturn in the global economy. A time horizon of one year would not highlight the potential benefits, if any, of investing in the Emerging markets. Ideally a two or three year time horizon would be more appropriate. The above table shows the various Index ETFs by global regions and their corresponding returns, standard deviations, variances and covariance. In comparing the returns it can be seen that the Emerging markets (-8.20%) and Latin America (-3.30%) had the best returns in comparison to Europe (-24.9%) and USA (-18.9%). However, these are also accompanied by high variances relative to developed countries. Covariances between the U.S. and other regions are all under unity and therefore have low dependency in their relationships. The Latin American and Emerging Markets regions proved to have the greatest covariances with the U.S. and therefore have the greatest dependency on American markets for their own performances. This is likely to due to their currencies being pegged to the US dollar and their strong dependency on export sales to the US. Despite the higher risks associated with investment in the Emerging markets their returns are worthy of investment to diversify a global portfolio. Therefore investment in the Emerging markets will be added to the portfolio. Given the high dependency of Latin American markets on the US, this market will not be included in the portfolio. Of the developed countries, those with covariances with the US, greater than 0.0007, such as Australia and France will not be included. The remaining countries: US, Canada, UK, Japan and Germany remain for consideration. The choice of weights invested in the portfolio will depend on their individual risks and returns. The portfolio weights will reflect the risk averse nature of the investor. As can be seen from the table above, Japan and the US have the lowest risk levels but their returns vary greatly being -18.6% and -26.3% respectively. Additionally, the US and UK have similar returns and yet the former has a much lower variance and will not therefore be included in the portfolio. Similarly Germany has a slightly greater risk compared to Canada but with half the retur n, there is therefore no reason to invest in Germany. The US and Canada have the highest returns with the US having the lowest standard deviation. It will therefore have a 50 percent weight in the fund leaving Canada 40 percent weight. Whilst Japan has the lowest return it also has the worst return of the three and therefore will have the smallest weight of 10 percent. Since the portfolio is made up of mostly the US index and is not greatly diversified internationally the most appropriate benchmark will be the SP 500. The portfolio return for the year to date comes to -16.7%, calculated by summing the weights of each country index multiplied by their returns, thereby outperforming the index by less than 3%. The portfolio beta is 1.01, calculated by dividing the portfolio covariance with the index, by the variance of the SP500. The portfolio beta being marginally greater than unity implies it is slightly more volatile in comparison to the index, due in large part to the Japanes e weighting. Investing in the Emerging Markets Given that the Emerging markets have been shown empirically to provide greater diversification benefits and are recommended by the MPT this region will also be considered for investment. Choosing a set of Emerging market index ETFs will begin by taking out those with the highest covariances with the SP 500, namely South Korea and South Africa. Taiwan has the strongest return with a risk level, as measured by its variance and standard deviation, close to that of Hong Kong and Singapore. It will therefore have a high weight in the Emerging Markets portion of the fund. Singapores returns is the lowest with an almost equal risk level to the other countries, therefore it will not be considered for investment. Malaysia whilst it has a slightly lower return does have the lowest risk level. This is likely to be due to its much more developed stock market and more stable political environment and will help to diversify the regions risk level in the portfolio. The remaining countries are Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. In considering weight allocations countries with low standard deviations, such as Malaysia (50%) will be given greatest weight. Taiwan and Hong Kong have only slightly differing variances but very different returns and therefore their weights, 10% and 40% respectively, will reflect Taiwans greater return. The combined return of these three countries is -6.8% which against the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, outperformed by 1.4%. Their combined beta is 0.60, half the volatility of the index. Moreover, its covariance with the SP 500 is only 0.00051, making it very independent of the US market. Given the positive returns, low risk and low dependency on the US market, the Emerging markets will be given a weight of 30% in the original developed countries portfolio. This improves the original portfolio return from -17% to -2% which against the SP 500 benchmark, outperforms by over 16%, during one of the most tumultuous market downturns in recent history. Although the standard deviation of the new internationally diversified portfolio is the same, its beta is 0.90 and covariance is 0.0006 making it very independent of the US market. Ongoingly investors must assess the risk and return of any of the country index ETFs that he or she is invested in, rebalancing the portfolio accordingly. Factors such as political unrest, financial fraud, poor macroeconomic management and manufacturing can all greatly increase country risks and reduce their returns. Conclusion This paper set out to assess whether the Emerging markets still have diversification benefits on a portfolios return and risk levels. The various empirical literature examined in the paper conclude that the Emerging markets do still add to portfolio diversification. The portfolio that was constructed also demonstrates the added benefits of investing in these markets to its performance. Some of the limitations of this paper include the relatively short time frame chosen for the model portfolio. A period of two to three years would have been more ideal. Middle Eastern ETF representations were limited to only Israel and Turkey and therefore did not provide a reasonable representation of Emerging markets in the Middle East. Bibliography Aiello, S. and Chieffe, N. (1999) International index funds and the investment portfolio Financial Services Review 8, p. 27–35 Barclays Global Investors (2009) An Introduction to iShares: Exchange Traded Funds, www.ishares.com Barclays Global Investors, (March 2009) iShares Products   https://us.ishares.com/content/stream.jsp?url=/content/repository/material/product_expense_ratio_report.pdfmimeType=application/pdf Crescenzi, A. (2008) Investing From the Top Down: A Macro Approach to Capital Markets, McGraw-Hill Professional Korn, R. (1997) Optimal portfolios: stochastic models for optimal investment and risk management in continuous time, World Scientific Litterman, B. (2004) Modern Investment Management: An Equilibrium Approach, Quantitative Resources Group, John Wiley and Sons MacKay Shields (2003) Managed Accounts: Modern PortfolioTheory, MacKay Shields Investment Management LLC Zimmermann, H., Drobetz, W. and Oertmann, P. (2003) Global Asset Allocation: New Methods and Applications, John Wiley and Sons iShare ticker symbols and index information sourced from iShares.com Historical prices from which data was calculated was sourced from yahoo.com/finance