THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Common Courses (Management School)

Postgraduate Course: Financial Markets and Investment (CMSE11170)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits15 ECTS Credits7.5
SummaryThe course provides an introduction to the structure and functioning of equity, bond markets and derivative markets. It also focuses on specific topics that include: modern portfolio theory, asset pricing factor models, behavioural finance, fixed income valuation, the term structure of interest rates and risk management using derivative securities.
Course description Students are expected to get acquainted with the structure of equity, bond and derivative markets and the main instruments traded in these markets. This will be achieved by a mix of lectures on the related theory and discussion of published research in the area.

Syllabus

Portfolio Management: Mutual Funds & Hedge Funds
Fixed Income Markets
Portfolio Optimisation
Asset Pricing Factor Models
The Efficient Markets Hypothesis
Behavioural Finance
Introduction to Derivatives
The Financial Crisis

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 2020/21, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 150 ( Lecture Hours 20, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 115 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) Pre-recorded lecs and assigned readings: 40, Weekly seminars: 10, Seminar preparation/revision: 20
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Exam (60%)
Group Project (40%)
Each assessment component assesses all Learning Outcomes.
Feedback Formative feedback is provided through weekly seminars and discussion board. Students are strongly encouraged to ask questions and participate in group discussions. There will be personalised feedback for coursework and general feedback on the overall exam performance.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Financial Markets and Investment2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand and critically discuss the role of the financial system in an economy
  2. Understand and critically discuss how markets for equities, bonds and derivatives function and how these instruments are traded
  3. Understand and critically discuss the role of capital markets in raising finance for firms and the role of derivative markets in risk management
  4. Critically evaluate issues related to portfolio construction, valuation and risk management
  5. Analyse and critically evaluate the empirical literature relating to topics covered on the course
Reading List
Investments by Bodie, Z., Kane, E., and Marcus, A.J., Eleventh Edition
ISBN: 978-1-260-08339-2

Research Papers and Articles

The course also relies heavily on research papers and articles both by academics and practitioners on financial markets and portfolio management. Some of these articles provide a review of the topic while others are more specialised. You will have to read these in your own time. The suggested articles will often contain econometric and statistical analysis, it is not intended that you should be conversant with this material and much of this will be outside of the purview of this course. Your reading of these articles should therefore be focused on the descriptive aspects such as the details of the institutional and regulatory features, the main hypotheses tested and the managerial and policy conclusions reached. These articles for the course can be accessed as electronic (pdf) copies via the electronic collection maintained by the Library and available to students via the MyBiz portal while others have to be obtained by individual search using web and other resources. These papers are an essential part of the module and the assessed work is based on reading and understanding in a critical way the content of the suggested references.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Cognitive Skills:
The course will develop:
* skills of reasoning and numerical analysis
* decision-making skills in an investment context
* familiarity with financial concepts and techniques
* intuition to aid financial decision making

Subject Specific Skills:
After completing this course, students should be able to:
* Acquire knowledge of the basic concepts of the structure and function of financial markets.
* Break down the characteristics of investments in equity, fixed income and derivative securities
* Present in an organised manner academic and clinical research studies related to operation of financial markets and the investment decisions faced by market participants.
* Find and analyse relevant literature on issues related the role of capital markets in providing capital for firms and contributing to economic growth.
KeywordsfinFinancialMarketsandInvestments
Contacts
Course organiserDr Ronan Gallagher
Tel: (0131 6)50 8075
Email: Ronan.Gallagher@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Rhiannon Pilkington
Tel: (0131 6)50 8072
Email: Rhiannon.Pilkington@ed.ac.uk
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