1. Core Curriculum
Advanced Corporate Finance
This course will examine issues in corporate finance and corporate governance that are of particular interest to external fund providers. Corporate finance decisions will be studied with a focus on the external sources of funding: implications for stockholders, bondholders, banks. Both funding provided through financial markets and private funding will be considered.
Empirical Research in Finance
In this course, we introduce some popular empirical research methods and how they can be used to solve both academic and practical questions. It is divided into two big parts. The first part introduces theory and learns how to use software to apply these theoretical concepts. The second part exposes the students to the academic and practitioner's literature, in which these techniques are used to solve a variety of financial issues.
Global Financial Markets
This course is intended as a broad introduction to global financial markets. We discuss the instruments traded in the money and capital markets, the institutions that support and frame the markets, the trading mechanisms and the regulator structure. GFM 1 (taught in sem 1) is intended to be primarily descriptive and conceptual although we also aim to introduce some analytical elements such as the principles of bond pricing, the estimation of the term structure and the measurement of interest rate risk. In GFM 2 (taught in sem 2) we introduce various types of derivatives and we focus mainly on linear derivative products: forwards, futures and swaps.
Advanced Investment Analysis
This course is about investment analysis and management. Since the seminal publication of Harry Markowitz’s optimal portfolio selection model in the 1950s (Markowitz, 1952, 1959) investment management has become increasingly quantitative. Of course, the abundance of the available data has contributed to this evolution. The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to some of these quantitative management techniques. In doing so, we will stress practical implementation issues, without sacrificing academic rigor, however. We do not stress econometric and statistical techniques, although we do discuss them when useful.
Financial Risk Management
This course starts with pricing and hedging by using forward and futures. The next topic discussed is option pricing, both in discrete and in continuous time. Special attention will be given to risk-neutral valuation, the treatment of dividends, and the Greeks. Numerical techniques such as binomial tree and Monte Carlo simulation will be explored and implemented. Exotic options are covered together with financial engineering using numerical procedures.
Electives
We announce our electives at the beginning of each academic year, based on the current trends we see in the market.
Contemporary Issues in Global Finance (incl. International Experience Study Trip)
Though the class is titled ‘Contemporary Issues in Global Finance’, history often repeats itself. The details might be different, but common themes are repeated. We will use a combination of lectures, guest speakers, video documentaries, case studies, group discussions, class discussions, alumni career events, and group presentations in order to work through a variety of contemporary financial and economic issues.
Raising Capital and Investing in Global Financial Markets
This course is presented as a workshop and uses a case study approach to address the very broad topic of raising capital and investing in global markets. The approach is an active rather than passive investment approach, concentrating on investing in quoted companies globally and the cost of equity. We look at the value drivers of well-known companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google and others to explore how the market sets prices and required rates of return. Factors influencing IPO pricing and the impact on market prices of liquidity, speculators and indexed funds are addressed.
Computer Applications in Finance
This course aims at acquiring proficiency in Excel and VBA to implement the financial models that will be studied throughout the year. For this course, the participants work together with a company or an NGO to solve a real-life financial problem with the Excel skills they acquire during the course.
Note: This curriculum is subject to change.