|
 Academic Year:
| 2012/3 |
| Owning Department/School:
| School of Management |
| Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
| Period: |
Semester 2 |
| Assessment:
| CW 50%, EX 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| Before taking this unit you must take MN10311 or take MN20026 or equivalent, or alternatively you must have knowledge of the financial markets. |
| Description:
| Aims: The unit will develop students� understanding of investment and portfolio decisions, valuation of securities, and the effect of trading decisions on the behaviour of the financial markets, through participation in an on-line investment game. Furthermore, the unit will enable to students to consider the implications for efficient markets and behavioural finance. The unit will involve only limited formal lectures, and the teaching input will be mainly reflective on the participation in the investment game. The investment game, Market Class, is an on-line investment game, designed by market professionals as a method of introducing students to the characteristics and valuation of financial instruments. Using the game and supporting it by introductory and group sessions, the aim of the module is to enable students to understand security valuation techniques; how to apply these techniques in a portfolio management context; how to make appropriate dynamic portfolio allocation decisions over a number of weeks; how to assess portfolio performance; and the role of price formation in markets. Learning Outcomes: On completion of this unit students should be able to understand: 1. the effects of investor decisions on financial market behaviour 2. security valuation for a variety of financial instruments. 3. portfolio allocation strategy. 4. efficient and inefficient markets (fundamental versus market valuations). Skills: Intellectual skills * Use appropriate financial analysis and computational techniques to compute security valuations * Use market information to determine appropriate investment strategies * Dynamic re-appraisal of portfolios (tactical asset allocations). Professional/Practical Skills * Recommend optimal trading strategies to analysts and investors. * Analysis of financial market trends (both fundamental and technical analysis) Transferable/Key Skills * Applying a range of financial and market analysis techniques to organisational decision-making * Critical skills in the application of techniques and the interpretation of financial and market data and results Work unsupervised in a team environment * Allocated tasks within a team * Agree on team strategies * Implement strategies in a team environment. Content: 1. Weekly financial market trading game. 2. Theoretical perspectives on financial market behaviour The investment game is intended to be a teaching aid to a class of students who will play the game in small groups over a ten-week period during one semester. The groups of students will act as competing fund management teams making weekly asset allocation decisions, based on information about the assets and asset classes available. In the game, the prices of the financial assets are endogenously determined by the asset allocations, and therefore the teams have to incorporate the likely equilibrium outcomes into their decisions. There are no formal lecture sessions. There will be an introductory session, and course material will be provided to enable students to participate in the game. Each week the group of students will meet informally to discuss an appropriate asset allocation strategy. The module will be delivered outside of a classroom setting, with discussion board on Web-CT used to provide support and feedback. |
| Programme availability: |
MN30470 is Optional on the following programmes:School of Management
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