Objectives

The course provides students with a clear understanding of the fundamental principles of financial investments and of how modern financial markets work.
The course focuses on the role that finance plays for personal and business investment decisions.
By the end of this course, students should be able to critically use finance theories, techniques and concepts, and apply them to real world situations.
The course also provides foundations to undertake more specialized finance courses.

Contents

The course focuses on the following modules:

-Elements of investments
-Portfolio theory
-Debt securities
-Derivative markets

Exercise sessions will illustrate the main concepts.
The teaching language is English.

References

Lecture slides will be posted on the course website before each session.
The recommended textbook for the course is:

-Zvi Bodie, Alex Kane, and Alan J. Marcus, Essentials of Investments, 12th Edition, McGraw-Hill.

Alternative textbooks include:

-Jonathan Berk, and Peter DeMarzo, Corporate Finance, 5th Edition, Pearson

-Anthony Saunders, Marcia Millon Cornett, and Otgontsetseg (Otgo) Erhemjamts, Financial Markets and Institutions, 8th Edition, McGraw-Hill

Pre-requisites

Students must be familiar with the basics of probability and statistics and with the use of electronic spreadsheets (that is, Excel).

Evaluation

First attempt

Exam:

Written 2 hours

Documentation:

Not allowed

Calculator:

Allowed

Evaluation:

There will be only a final exam.
The final grade will be the one of the final exam.
The final exam will be based on the material of the entire class.
You will need a calculator.
Only scientific calculators are authorized.

[Scientific calculator according to HEC directive]

Retake

Exam:

Written 2 hours

Documentation:

Not allowed

Calculator:

Allowed

Evaluation:

The grade of the retake exam will be solely based on the grade of the retake exam.
You will need a calculator.
Only scientific calculators are authorized.

[Scientific calculator according to HEC directive]