A substantial portion of this course will be quantitative in nature and therefore requires you to use Microsoft Excel (or equivalent) and to be familiar with basic statistical concepts such as mean, variance, standard deviation and correlation.

This course provides an in-depth discussion of fundamental principles related to corporate finance. The main objectives of this class include understanding a) value a project, b) how securities are priced c) how to finance a project.

Though we consider the viewpoint of corporate investment professionals, the primary focus in this course centres on personal financial decisions. Therefore, as we move through the material in this course, it is a good idea to ask yourself, "How would the material covered in this class affect my real-world investment decisions?"

The Investments Analysis and Financial Risk Management  course is evaluated through one comprehensive exam (i.e a total of 12 credits/CFU).

Topics

·      Topic 1 Introduction to Corporate Finance

·      Topic 2 Net present Value and Other Investment Criteria/Making Investment Decisions with the NPV rule

·      Topic 3 Valuing Bonds

·      Topic 4 Valuing Common Stocks

·      Topic 5 Risk and Return/Capital Asset Pricing Model

·      Topic 6 Corporate Financing/How much should a corporation borrow?

    ADOPTED RECOMMENDED/BOOKS (A=ADOPTED - C=RECOMMENDED)

(A) Principles of Corporate Finance, Brealey, Mayers and Allen, 12th or 13th Edition, McGrawHill/Irwin. Chapters 1-6, 7.4, 8.2, 8.3 & 18.

ISBN10: 1260013901 | ISBN13: 9781260013900

The slides of the course will be made available on the professor's web page.

Additional material (eg. discussion papers) will be also made available on the professor's web page.

• Lectures, practical exercises and case studies

• Students have the flexibility to undertake this assessment as a whole (i.e Module A and Module B) or to take the modules separately based on their preference. Students must pass Mod. A in order to undertake Mod. B. 

  The final grade is calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of the grades achieved in the individual modules.

  The final score pf Mod. A (Investments Analysis)  will be calculated as follows:

   

   

   

  1) In class and take-home assignments (20%)

  2) Final project (30%)

  3) Final written exam (50%)

  The Final Exam will be a combination of multiple choice questions, short answer questions and numerical problems. In-class examples and the problems from the homework assignments should serve as good exam preparation tools.

  Group Project (up to 3 students)

  You need to select a company and make a presentation on the last day of class which will include the main topics of the course:

  o Business description and background history

   

  o Corporate governance and remuneration policy

   

  o Shareholder's composition

   

  o Firm investments

   

  o Financial analyst opinions

   

  o Fundamental analysis

   

  . Expected return - capital asset pricing model (CAPM)

  . Dividend Discount Model

  . Discount cash flows Model

  . Comparison Analysis with market multiples

  o Capital structure, Credit Rating and dividend policy

English