FINS 5541 Advanced Investments and Funds Management
Course Outline Semester 1, 2013
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Table of Contents
PART A: COURSE-SPECIFIC INFORMATION 1 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 3 4 STAFF CONTACT DETAILS COURSE DETAILS Teaching Times and Locations Units of Credit Summary of Course Course Aims and Relationship to Other Courses Student Learning Outcomes LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES ASSESSMENT 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 10 10
3.1 Approach to Learning and Teaching in the Course 4.1 Formal Requirements 4.2 Assessment Details 4.3 Late Submission 5 6 7 1 2 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 4 5 COURSE RESOURCES COURSE EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT COURSE SCHEDULE PROGRAM LEARNING GOALS AND OUTCOMES ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND CONDUCT Workload Attendance General Conduct and Behaviour Occupational Health and Safety Keeping Informed SPECIAL CONSIDERATION AND SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATIONS STUDENT RESOURCES AND SUPPORT
PART B: KEY POLICIES, STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND SUPPORT
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PART A: COURSE-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
1. Staff Contact Details
Coordinator: Office: Telephone: E-mail: Consultation time: Russell Jame Room 317, ASB Building 9385-4278
r.jame@unsw.edu.au Monday 3:00-5:00 pm or by appointment
The preferred communication with the course coordinator is via email.
2. Course Details 2.1 Teaching Times and Locations Monday 6:00 – 9:00 pm; Rupert Myers Theatre (M15) 2.2 Units of Credit This course has six units of credit and three contact hours per week. 2.3 Summary of Course This course is part of the funds management specialisation in the MCOM program. This course develops both theoretical and practical knowledge in the area of funds management focusing on advanced techniques in securities valuation including both fundamental and quantitative analysis. 2.4 Course Aims and Relationship to Other Courses This course builds off the material covered in introductory investments and portfolio selection (FINS 5513). Students should only undertake this course after have taken FINS 5513 or a similar investments course. An understanding of modern investments also requires a fair amount of analytical skill. For example, students should have basic mathematical ability in dealing with algebraic manipulation and some familiarity with calculus, statistics, and regression analysis. Lastly, the participants should be familiar with Excel. Successful portfolio management requires the development of a broad array of quantitative and qualitative skills, involving an analysis of both the investment instruments available in the capital market and the objectives and constraints of the ultimate investor. The purpose of this course is to acquaint the student with conventional and state-of-the-art tools currently employed in the asset management industry. In this sense, the class has similar objectives to FINS 5517 (Applied Portfolio Management) and there may be some overlap in the subject material. However, this class will generally move quickly through common material (e.g. portfolio optimization) and advance to additional topics not covered in FINS 5517. Students may find it helpful to take FINS 5517 concurrently (or prior to) this course.
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2.5 Student Learning Outcomes By the end of this course, students should be able to: a. Develop greater insight info familiar areas (e.g. Portfolio Optimization, CAPM, etc.) b. Apply statistical methodology needed to develop quantitative models i. deeper understanding of statistics and econometrics ii. increased familiarity with statistical software (e.g. SAS) c. Estimate cash flows, growth rates, and terminal values d. Apply different fundamental valuation models to value the equity of the firm e. Build both fundamental and quantitative stock selection models to identify mispriced stocks f. Apply various techniques to better manager fixed income portfolios i. Hedging interest rate risk ii. Cash Flow