Duration
45h Th
Number of credits
| Bachelor in business engineering | 4 crédits |
Lecturer
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The 'Applied Financial Instruments' course provides an introduction to theory and empirical methods that play an important role in finance. We cover selected topics in asset pricing (portfolio theory, capital asset pricing model,...), fundamental analysis (bond pricing, discounted cash flow) and management decision-making (Net Present Value and investment decisions, asset and liability management, sensitivity analysis, ...) and related fields.
The course is structured in two parts:
Part I: Asset pricing and portfolio analysis
Part II: Fundamental analysis and applied tools in corporate finance
A Part 0 will review fundamental concepts in statistics, like random variable, distribution, and regression model.
The course consists in a set of lectures where the financial concepts are introduced and discussed. Particular attention will be dedicated to the limitation of these concepts in real-life applications. Then, these concepts will be used in exercise sessions. Exercises will consists in investment decision, portfolio optimization and corporate valuation problems.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The course provides students with a deep understanding of fundamental concepts used in finance disciplines such as market finance and corporate finance. Through the exercise sessions, students will develop analytical and modeling skills in finance as well as strengthen their communication skills in English. In particular, students will improve their skills in empirical analysis - competences that will turn out to be crucial not only for group and individual tasks to be delivered throughout their master studies but as well for the empirical work of their master thesis.
This course contributes to the following Intended Learning Outcomes :
ILO-6: being able to use accounting, mathematical, statistical and IT tools to solve a management problem
ILO-7: being able to conduct research autonomously and methodically to obtain the information needed to solve this problem using a critical approach
ILO-9 : being able to work within a team
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Fundamental knowledge of financial markets, financial mathematics, statistics and programming.
Good grades or understanding of the concepts seen in courses like "Probabilité et inférence statistique" and "Marchés Financiers" are expected
Students who need to acquire the prerequisites for the financial part are invited to read the following chapters:
- Basics in financial markets: working knowledge of key concepts like risk and return as well as of the capital asset pricing model and the asset pricing theory. Please read Chapters 10 to 13 - Ross, Westerfield and Jaffe. 2008. Corporate Finance. New York: McGraw-Hill, 8th edition.
- Accounting statements and cash flows: working knowledge of key financial statements, i.e. income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. Please read Chapters 2 and 3 - Ross, Westerfield and Jaffe. 2008. Corporate Finance. New York: McGraw-Hill, 8th edition;
- Basics in capital budgeting: working knowledge of discounting/compounding. Please read Chapter 4 - Ross, Westerfield and Jaffe. 2008. Corporate Finance. New York: McGraw-Hill, 8th edition;
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course is structured along two lectures per week: 3 hours lecture and 2 hours technical tutorial classes.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Lectures (around 15 hours) and exercise sessions (around 30 hours).
Organisational adjustments related to the current health context
Recommended or required readings
Book chapters and scientific articles will be announced during the class.
Assessment methods and criteria
Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.
June session :
- In-person
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
- Remote
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred remote
August-september session :
- In-person
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
- Remote
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred remote
Additional information:
Written exam, mixing exercises similar to the ones seen during the exercise sessions, and explanation of theoretical concepts and cases seen during the lecture, counts for 60% of the final grade.
Exercises to be completed every session at the latest 24h after the course (per group) and posted on LOLA will count for 30%.
Participation to to a datacamp count for 10%.
For both sessions, the exam takes place on ECampus. However, if the situation allows it in August, the second session will take place in the university building (although still via ECampus)
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Contacts
Julien Hambuckers, PhD (professor)
Rue Louvrex, 14, 4000 Liege
email: jhambuckers[at]uliege.be
George Broché, CFA (teaching assistant)
email: pg.broche[at]uliege.be
Items online
online notes
Lecture notes will be available on the course web page. Other items such as problem sets will also be available on the course web page. Some additional readings on materials related to the course over the term may be provided throughout the course via the course web page. Please refer to LOLA to access the course web page.