Course unit details:
Investment Analysis
| Unit code | BMAN20072 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 10 |
| Unit level | Level 2 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Offered by | Alliance Manchester Business School |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
To expand student knowledge regarding investment, this course covers diverse topics, including portfolio management and diversification, performance evaluation, bond and equity valuation, and introduces students to futures, options, behavioral finance, as well as professional ethics.
Pre/co-requisites
| Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Decision Making | BMAN10522 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Fundamentals of Finance | BMAN10552 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Foundations of Finance A | BMAN23000 | Co-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Financial Decision Making M | BMAN10522M | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Foundations of Finance B | BMAN23000B | Co-Requisite | Compulsory |
Pre-requisite course units have to be passed by 40% or above at the first attempt unless a higher percentage is indicated within this course outline. If the pre-requisite unit is defined as a compulsory course unit within your programme of study (Maths with Finance, IBFE, Accounting, BA Econ pathways for example) then progression onto the dependent unit is permitted as long as you have gained the appropriate amount of credit to progress on to the following year of your registered undergraduate programme.
Pre-requisites:
BMAN10522/10522(M) Financial Decision Making or
BMAN10552 Fundamentals of Finance with an examination pass mark of 60% or above.
Co-requisites: BMAN23000(A) or (B) Foundations of Finance.
Dependent course units: BMAN30190 Empirical Finance (Only available to students specialising in Finance either singly or jointly and provided the following area pre-reqs have been passed. BMAN23000 (A) or (B) Foundations of Finance, BMAN20072 Investment Analysis and BMAN20081 Financial Statement Analysis).
Aims
This course develops the understanding and application of the theory, tools, terminology, and professional ethics of investments from a finance viewpoint. To maximize transferability of knowledge and skills, this course emphasizes general investment principles as opposed to details of specific securities and investment vehicles, which are subject to regular changes. Successful completion of the course lays the foundation for students wishing to pursue a career that involves providing and implementing investment advice.
Learning outcomes
Students should be able to:
Syllabus
Week 1-1: Introduction
Week 1-2: Risk and Capital Allocation
Week 2-1: Optimal Risky Portfolio
Week 2-2: Markowitz Portfolio Optimization
Week 3-1: Index Models
Week 3-2: Security Analysis
Week 4-1: Portfolio Performance Evaluation
Week 4-2: Capital Asset Pricing Model
Week 5-1: Arbitrage Pricing Theory
Week 5-2: Empirical Evidence on Security Returns
Week 6-1: Efficient Market Hypothesis
Week 6-2: Behavioural Finance
Week 7: Guest Lecture
Week 8-1: Term Structure of Interest Rate
Week 8-2: Managing Bond Portfolio
Week 9-1: Futures
Week 9-2: Options
Week 10: Revision
Teaching and learning methods
All lectures will be on campus. The course unit has 18 one-hour lectures. Power point slides for all lectures can be downloaded from Canvas. Students are expected to read the prescribed readings in the Timetable below.
In addition to the lectures, there will be 4 one-hour workshops, designed for problem solving. All workshop materials in the form of questions with solutions will be available on Canvas.
Lectures:
18 one-hour lectures.
All lectures will be recorded, and the corresponding lecture slides can be downloaded from Canvas.
Workshops:
Four workshops will be held, each session is 50 minutes long.
The aim of workshops is to provide students the opportunity to interact with the teaching assistant and other students to obtain immediate feedback. The workshops will mainly focus on solving some of the weekly problem sets. Students are expected to solve the problem sets by themselves before participating in.
Students can post their questions on Canvas discussion forum. Teaching staff will try their best to answer those questions in the forum and also during the workshop sessions if time allows.
Problem sets:
Questions on problem sets are designed to help students testing their knowledge and understandings. They will be available together with the lecture materials.
Solving problem-set questions before seeing the solutions is highly recommend to students, as it is a very good preparation for the final exam. Answering and discussing them will be the delivered during workshop sessions. We strongly recommend students pay attention and actively participate in discussions at workshops.
Knowledge and understanding
KU1: Gain the knowledge of the theory, tools, and terminology of investment management.
KU2: Understand the limits of such knowledge and its effects on analyses and interpretation.
Intellectual skills
IS1: Develop logical and critical thinking for the decision making of portfolio allocation and derivative investment.
Practical skills
PS1: Develop computational and quantitative problem-solving skills.
PS2: Gain experience in a real-world portfolio investment exercise.
PS3: Be familiar with the latest developments and innovations in investment analysis.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
TS1: Build capacity for independent and self-managed learning, as well as working with other members of a team.
Assessment methods
Formative Assessment:
Group coursework
Summative Assessment:
Examination (100%)
Feedback methods
Formative Assessment: Portfolio performance will be discussed in the revision lecture.
Exam: Marks and feedback will be available at the Semester 2 Publication date.
Recommended reading
Textbook: Bodie, Z., Kane, A., and Marcus, A., Investments, 13th edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin.
eTextbook is available via the link provided in Canvas course webpage.
Supplementary Text: Standards of Practice Handbook, 2014, 11th edition, CFA Institute Reference for “Week 7 Professional Ethics in Finance” Available at: https://www.cfainstitute.org/sites/default/files/-/media/documents/code/code-ethics-standards/standards-practice-handbook-11th-ed-eff-July-2014-corr-sept-2014.pdf
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Assessment written exam | 2 |
| Lectures | 18 |
| Practical classes & workshops | 4 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 76 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Wendi Huang | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Information
Length of course: 12 weeks
