Undergraduate Courses 2016-17

This course provides a broad perspective on personal finance. It highlights the importance of setting goals, and making good use of financial resources to meet financial obligations in the course of one’s lifetime. Following a comprehensive and step-by-step guide, students will gain skills and knowledge on how to make informed and effective decisions to achieve their financial goals. While various tools and techniques are covered, the emphasis is on the intuition, logic and fundamental principles that underlie their uses. The course also provides hands-on practice for students to prepare their financial information and assess their financial health. With basic math skills, students can formulate financial management strategies that deal with their cash, credit and debt choices as well as housing decisions. They will gain an understanding of the risk-return tradeoff, and the protection from insurance. Moreover, they will learn how to evaluate investments to accumulate wealth for the long term.

Introduction to money and capital markets; money instruments; financial institutions; and markets for various securities, including stocks, bonds, and derivatives; and the currency pegging system in Hong Kong.

For Quantitative Finance students only. The course aims to provide orientation to students to help them prepare for academic studies and understand the finance industry. The course starts with a lecture series to provide student with an overview of financial markets and institutions and raises their awareness about finance issues. It will be followed by company visits whereby students are taken to major financial institutions and corporations and meet with company representatives.

For non-SB&M students. Introductory business finance. Topics include time value of money, stocks and bonds valuation, risk/return analysis, portfolio theory, capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy, derivative securities, international finance and mergers.

For SB&M students only. Introductory course in financial management. Topics include the concepts and techniques of valuations of cash flows, capital budgeting, risk and return of assets, capital structure, dividend policy and working capital.

The course is designed to promote students' personal development, teamwork, communications skills, and to improve their employability and long-term career success. Graded P or F. For students with major in FINA and QFIN only.

The course is designed to promote students' personal development, teamwork, communications skills, and to improve their employability and long-term career success. Selected topics will be different from those covered in FINA 3010. Graded P or F. For students with major in FINA and QFIN only.

This course studies the concepts and evidence relevant to the management of investment portfolios. Topics include diversification, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, factor models, the relation between risk and return, trading, passive (e.g., index-fund) and active (e.g., hedge-fund, long-short) strategies, mutual funds, performance evaluation, long-horizon investing and simulation.

This course provides a rigorous and analytical study of concepts and evidence relevant to the management of investment portfolios. Topics include diversification, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, factor models, the relation between risk and return, trading, passive (e.g., index-fund) and active (e.g., hedge-fund, long-short) strategies, mutual funds, performance evaluation, long-horizon investing and simulation.

This course covers options, forward contracts, futures contracts and swaps. By the end of this course, students will have a good knowledge of how derivative contracts work, how they are used and how they are priced.

This course provides an analytical and rigorous study of derivative securities including options, forward contracts, futures contracts and swaps. By the end of this course, students will have a good knowledge of how derivative contracts work, how they are used and how they are priced.

The course provides an in-depth treatment of long-term financing decisions, including estimation of the cost of capital, financial leverage, corporate distress, raising financing, dividend policy, and working capital analysis.

The course provides a rigorous and in-depth treatment of corporate investment and long-term financing decisions, including estimation of the cost of capital, financial leverage, corporate distress, raising financing, dividend policy, and working capital analysis. The course extensively uses case-studies and simulations to illustrate the concepts.

This course teaches students how to use financial information to value firms. By the end of this course, students will be able to value firms using discounted cash flow valuation, relative valuation, and real options.

This course applies all aspects of finance theory to understand how assets and firms are valued. By the end of this course, students will be able to value firms and other financial and real assets using discounted cash flow valuation, relative valuation, and real options. Students are required to make extensive use of Excel in valuation exercises.

The course aims to provide students with knowledge of financial markets and Bloomberg functionality. The course consists of four modules: economic indicators, currencies, fixed income and equities. Students will need to complete all four modules to receive the Bloomberg Market Concepts certification. Graded P or F. For students with major in FINA and QFIN only.

This course will enable students to learn more about market information and the functionality of a Thomson Reuters data product most commonly used by financial professionals. It begins with the first module of basic overview and is followed by four core modules on data, screen design, graphics, analysis tools of various instruments, which includes one module of data retrieval in Excel. Students will be eligible in attending the Thomson Reuters Certification Assessment upon completion of the course. Graded P or F.

The objective of the course is to give students first hand experience in using Reuters terminals and provide them with a firm foundation of analytical skills and practical market knowledge. Graded P or F.

This course focuses on a broad understanding of financial and investment issues arising in the context of personal wealth management. Students will gain an understanding of the nature and use of various financial products and legal instruments for developing a financial plan. It covers topics such as client financial status and expectations, portfolio management, securities trading, managed funds, insurance, and tax and estate planning.

This course examines liquidity, market structure and trading. The focus is on examining the efficiency of trading systems and markets, the impact of new algorithmic trading on markets, the role of intermediaries and regulatory actions on market structure issues. Students learn about a number of alternative market structures in terms of their economic and operational effectiveness.

This course analyzes mechanisms underlying the creation of value in mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring. Students will learn analytical techniques and tools to analyze (a) strategy behind corporate restructuring transactions, whether and what to acquire, (b) evaluation and financing of acquisitions, and (c) decisions and processes that impact value creation in mergers.

Pricing of bonds, term structure models, duration analysis and immunization techniques, valuation of interest rate options, convertible bonds, mortgage-backed securities, pricing credit derivatives, bond portfolio construction and management.

An introduction to the fundamental principles of international financial management and investment. Topics include: international financial markets and instruments; foreign exchange markets; foreign currency derivatives and currency risk; international capital budgeting; international bond and equity markets.

This course examines financial intermediaries with a particular emphasis on banks. It introduces students to the nature, purpose, and management of these institutions. The course also brings together the upstream issues in risk measurement and the regulative environment surrounding banks. By the end of this course, students will be able to understand the role of banks in the economy and the effects of frictions such as information asymmetry and agency costs on bank behavior. The course will start with the review of basic game theory.

This course covers the application of financial tools and techniques to the funding and valuation of an entrepreneurial venture. Students learn about fundraising at startups, pitching to investors, and structuring and negotiating financial contracts with venture capital firms. The course is very applied and mostly case-based.

The course provides students with opportunities to gain hands-on experience in securities research and portfolio management. Students will manage HKUST Student-Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), and make investment decision to invest into the Hong Kong listed companies. Students will be assigned to cover different industry sectors, and submit research reports on the sectors and companies, and participate in the stock selection process. Instructor's approval is required for enrollment in the course.

The course provides students with opportunities to gain hands-on experience in securities research and portfolio management. Students will manage HKUST Student-Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), and make investment decision to invest into the Hong Kong listed companies. While the same stock selection process is to be followed as in FINA 4713, students will be assigned to submit research reports on completely different industry sectors and companies according to the prevailing market environment. Instructor's approval is required for enrollment in the course.

For QFIN students in their fourth year of study only. This is a capstone course for final year students in the BSc Quantitative Finance program. Working in groups, the students will bring together all the knowledge learned in the program to develop and execute a quantitative trading strategy through a simulated platform. The instructor will guide the students through the following stages: (1) idea generation, (2) strategy backtesting, (3) risk management planning, (4) system development, (5) trade execution, and (6) performance evaluation. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their leadership and presentation skills.

Directed study of selected issues in Finance. May be graded by letter, or P/F for different offerings. Instructor's approval is required for enrollment in the course. Subject to approval by the department, students may repeat the course once if a different topic is selected.

Covers current developments in finance. Topics selected by instructors. May be graded P or F.