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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2014/2015
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Common Courses (Management School)

Postgraduate Course: Foundations of Finance Theory (CMSE11081)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits15 ECTS Credits7.5
SummaryThe focus of this course is on the financial theory and empirical evidence that are useful for investment decisions. The topics covered in this course can be broadly categorized into thre groups:
¿ Corporate Finance and Financial Theories
This includes cost of capital, capital structure, equity issuance and valuation, dividend policy, portfolio theory, the capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory, all of which have become an integrated part of the decision-making in investments.
¿ Empirical Evidence in the Equity and Equity Options Markets
This includes patterns in cross-sections of stock returns, the time-series behavior of stock returns time-varying expected returns, and further empirical evidence from the equity options market.
¿ Introduction to Fixed-Income and Derivative Instruments
This includes bonds, derivatives, fixed-income derivatives such as swaps.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements For Business School PG students only, or by special permission of the School. Please contact the course secretary.
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 150 ( Lecture Hours 24, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 4, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 2, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 115 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) There is one group assignment which counts for 30% of the total mark (written report) and a final two hour exam which counts for 70% of the total mark.
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Foundations of Finance Theory2:00
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Skills: On completing the module, students should

¿ Understand the concepts of risk and return in financial markets;
¿ Be able to construct portfolios that are efficient in the sense that they maximise expected return for a given level of risk, or equivalently, minimise risk for a given expected return;
¿ Have a detailed knowledge of asset pricing models, including the capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory; be aware of the empirical research that attempts to evaluate the validity of these models;
¿ Be able to determine the equilibrium expected return of an investment.
¿ Understand the principles of market efficiency; be aware of the empirical evidence on market efficiency.
¿ Be able to compute the price off bonds, futures and options.
¿ understand arguments and debates concerning the topics covered in the corporate finance area
¿ have developed their understanding of certain methods of research in finance, for example analysis of numerical data
¿ have a knowledge of theoretical and empirical academic research in corporate finance


Core Academic Skills: This module will develop in students the ability to

¿ Rigorously analyse quantitative problems in finance;
¿ Interpret financial data in the light of established theories;
¿ Access a wide body of empirical research literature and to critically appraise it.


Personal and Key skills: This module will develop in students the ability to

¿ Analyse and evaluate quantitative problems;
¿ Implement solutions to these problems using a spreadsheet;
¿ Work independently and as part of a group.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Keywordsfin-FFT
Contacts
Course organiserDr Maria Michou
Tel: (0131 6)50 8341
Email: Maria.Michou@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Rachel Allan
Tel: (0131 6)51 3757
Email: Rachel.Allan@ed.ac.uk
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