Course Lecturer Name(s): Dr. Brian Francis
Course Director Name: Dr. Brian Francis
Course Lecturer(s) Contact Information: 473 444 4175 Ext. 3443
Course Director Contact Information: Email: BFrancis@sgu.edu
Course Lecturer(s) Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:00am to 4:00pm or by appointment via email.
Course Director Office Hours: As above
Course Lecturer(s) Office Location: Building C, Business and Management Studies Department
Course Director Office Location: As above
Course Support: Ms. Tracy Fortune, tfortune@sgu.edu, ext 3373
Course Management tool: To learn to use Sakai, the Course management tool, access the link https://apps.sgu.edu/members.nsf/mycoursesintro.pdf
Course Description:
The course undertakes a rigorous study of concepts and evidence relevant to investment management. Topics include diversification, portfolio optimization, mutual funds, behavioral finance and trading. The course is geared towards the understanding and implementation of “modern portfolio theory”, which is a general approach for maximizing the expected return of a portfolio given a certain amount of risk. This course introduces forwards, futures, swaps and options to students and aims to outline how these tools are used.
Course Objectives:
- Determine the impact of borrowing on the stock position, determining margin call prices and deposit amounts.
- Calculate and interpret the risk and return on individual stocks, bonds and a portfolio of assets.
- Describe the benefit of diversification of holding a portfolio of assets and the importance played by the market portfolio.
- Apply different valuation models to evaluate fixed income securities and stocks.
- Explain how futures are used for hedging risks.
- Describe the price bounds on options.
- Give details about how swaps and CDS work and how their prices are determined.
- Use Binomial tree and Black-Scholes models to price options.
Student Learning Outcomes:
ISLO-1: Students will be able to apply ethical skills to lead and manage in their respective business discipline.
ISLO-9 Students will be able to apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to compete in a global business environment
Program Outcomes Met By This Course:
- Ability to propose business solutions through the use of theories, research and analytical skills.
- Utilize knowledge and skills related to financial issues that are applicable to firms participating in business in the global environment.
SAS Grading Scale: Grades will be assigned as follows:
A = 89.5% or better
B+ = 84.5 - 89.4%
B = 79.5 - 84.4%
C+ = 74.5 - 79.4%
C = 69.5 - 74.4%
D = 64.5 - 69.4%
F = 64.4% or less
Course Materials:
Textbook: Investments by Keith Cuthbertson & Dirk Nitzsche (On ProQuest)
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sgugd/detail.action?docID=822588
Supplementary Readings/Resources: To be assigned throughout semester
Course Grading Requirement:
|
Course Grading Requirements |
Percentage of Final Grade |
Date |
|
Attendance |
10% |
|
|
Forum Discussions on Sakai |
10% |
|
|
Participation in Class |
5% |
|
|
Midterm |
15% |
Midterm Week |
|
Assignments |
40% |
Due Dates and nature to be determined |
|
Comprehensive Final |
20% |
Finals Week |
|
TOTAL |
100% |
|
Course Requirements:
- This is a seminar course. Lectures are limited to that required to identify and explain concepts and terminology. Students must keep up with the reading in the text and those assigned throughout the semester, and be prepared to discuss the material in class or in the forum. Read critically, evaluating in light of your own experience and knowledge. Use the calendar included as your guide to keep on track. Check Sakai often, as valuable information is posted time to time. Suggested problems will be identified from each chapter in the textbook. These should be done prior to all examinations to ensure the information is grasped. They are for your practice and will not be graded. Proof of their completion must be presented to gain access to the solutions during my office hours.
- Attendance. Students are allowed two unexcused absences for the semester. All remaining unexcused absences will affect the final grade. Please email all excuses to BFrancis@sgu.edu.
- Participation: An essential obligation is to keep up with the assigned readings within the course study outline contained in this syllabus. Class attendance is essential, and participation will be evaluated on your responses to class activities like forum discussions.
- Midterm to be administered on ExamSoft. More details will be given in class.
- Assignments: Assignments must be your own work and submitted as advised by the instructor. These assignments will be group activities.
- Comprehensive Final Exam to be administered on ExamSoft. More details will be given in class.
Course Schedule:
This schedule represents our expected class plan. However, as the term progresses, we may need to make changes if we spend more or less time than planned on any particular topic. Here is the plan: Topics to be covered in the course include:
- Weeks 1-2: Course review and reviews of Chapter 1 (Markets and Players) and Chapter 2 (Raising Finance)
- Weeks 3-4: Chapter 3 (Financial instruments) and Chapter 4 (Trading Securities)
- Week 5: Chapter 5 (Investment Companies) and Brief review of chapters 6-8)
- Week 6: Chapter 9 (Measuring Asset Returns)
- Week 7: Chapter 10 (Portfolio Theory)
- Week 8: Midterm Week
- Week 9: Chapter 11 (International Portfolio Diversification) and Chapter 12 (Section 12.1, Single-Index Model)
- Weeks 10-11: Chapter 13 (CAPM and APT)
- Week 12: Chapter 23 (Derivative Securities)
- Week 13: Chapter 24 (Futures Markets)
- Week 14: Chapter 25 (Options Markets)
- Week 15: Chapter 26 (Options Pricing)
- Week 16: Finals Week
School of Arts and Sciences Master Syllabi — Info for All Sections
Academic Integrity
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“Plagiarism is regarded as a cardinal offense in academia because it constitutes theft of the work of someone else, which is then purported as the original work of the plagiarist. Plagiarism draws into disrepute the credibility of the Institution, its faculty, and students; therefore, it is not tolerated” (p. 48).
Plagiarism also includes the unintentional copying or false accreditation of work, so double check your assignments BEFORE you hand them in.
Be sure to do good, honest work, credit your sources and reference accordingly and adhere to the University’s Honor Code. Plagiarism and cheating will be dealt with very seriously following the university’s policies on Plagiarism as outlined in the Student Manual.
Your work may be subject to submission to plagiarism detection software, submission to this system means that your work automatically becomes part of that database and can be compared with the work of your classmates.
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“Students are expected to attend all classes and or clinical rotations for which they have registered. Although attendance may not be recorded at every academic activity, attendance may be taken randomly. Students’ absence may adversely affect their academic status as specified in the grading policy. If absence from individual classes, examinations, and activities, or from the University itself is anticipated, or occurs spontaneously due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, proper notification procedures must be followed. A particular course may define additional policies regarding specific attendance or participation” (p. 9).
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“All matriculated students are expected to attend all assigned academic activities for each course currently registered. Medical excuses will be based on self-reporting by students. Students who feel they are too sick to take an examination or other required activity on a specific day must submit the online SAS medical excuse, which is available on Carenage. Students are only allowed two such excuses a year. Upon consultation with the Director of University Health Service, the third excuse will result in a mandatory medical leave of absence. The policies regarding make-up examinations are at the option of the Course Director” (p.46).
For additional specific examination policies and procedures, refer to the St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020), pages 31 through 37.
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“A student with a disability or disabling condition that affects one or more major life activities, who would like to request an accommodation, must submit a completed application form and supporting documentation to the Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services (SAAS) located in the Dean of Students Office. It is highly recommended that students applying for accommodations do so at least one month before classes begin to allow for a more efficient and timely consideration of the request. If a fully completed application is not submitted in a timely fashion, an eligibility determination may not be made, and accommodations, where applicable, may not be granted prior to the commencement of classes and/or examinations” (p. 8).
It is the responsibility of the student to read and understand the policies, laws, rules and procedures that while they could affect your grade for a course, have not been specifically outlined in the course syllabus. These are contained in the St. George’s University Student Manual.