Introductory description

This module complements the third-year electives IB359 Derivatives and Financial Risk Management and IB394 International Financial Management.

The module aims:

To deepen your understanding of the design of investment strategies and the management of portfolios of financial assets
To enhance your ability to develop your own investment strategies and to critique the ideas of others
To familiarize you with current trends and practices in asset management, and help prepare you to manage assets in practice.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Financial instruments
Primary and secondary markets
Market mechanisms and microstructure
Market efficiency
Security analysis
Use of derivatives for risk management
Portfolio management, diversification and asset allocation

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a good basic understanding and appreciation of the current issues across a broad range of financial subjects which include financial markets and the investment management process.
• Apply the latest thinking and techniques in finance.

Indicative reading list

Z Bodie, A Kane and AJ Marcus, Investments, (10th edition), McGraw Hill/Irwin. S Lofthouse, Readings in Investments, Wiley.

Chincarini, Ludwig, and Daehwan Kim, 2006. Quantitative Equity Portfolio Management, McGraw-Hill

Subject specific skills

Construct optimal equity portfolios, manage interest rate risk using modern tools in bond markets, and hedge risk using derivatives. Additionally, learn to read and use academic research papers in the real world.

Transferable skills

Problem solving using mathematics, interpreting numbers from published research and extracting value from publicly available information