Course Topics
• Quantitative methods: Review of financial mathematics and modelling. • Credit risk transfer: Determination of credit risk and usage of instruments like credit default swaps, total return swaps, asset backed securities, etc. • Structured products: Development and pricing of products - based on equities and fixed income securities - that exhibit specific return, risk or other attributes. • Alternative investments: Fundamentals of the alternative investment space, especially real assets, private equity & hedge funds. Adding value through active management (absolute & relative returns, risk reduction through diversification). • Investment strategies: Theoretical foundation and empirical testing of trend following, and momentum strategies, fixed-income strategies and relative value & event driven strategies

Teaching format
lectures and empirical applications

Educational objectives
ILO (Intended Learning Outcomes) ILO 1 – Knowledge and Understanding: ILO 1.1 Knowledge of the fundamentals of corporate finance for the correct application, for example, of decision-making models and the management of financial data and risks in treasury management ILO 1.2 Understanding of management models and cost-effectiveness of different types of intermediaries, market microstructure, operational efficiency of financial markets, and the impact of financial markets on the economic conditions of intermediaries. ILO 1.3 Knowledge of a wide range of investment, financing, and risk management tools, starting from the fundamentals of portfolio diversification and the classical models for asset pricing and risk measurement ILO 1.4 Understanding of specific Finance topics that characterise the roles of Financial Analyst, Portfolio Manager, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Administrative Manager, Controller, Internal Auditor, and Business Consultant ILO 2 – Applying Knowledge and Understanding: ILO 2.1 Ability to identify, evaluate, and manage investments in financial markets. ILO 2.2 Ability to design coherent financial management strategies in companies or financial intermediaries, applying acquired knowledge in risk management techniques, asset valuation, and derivative handling ILO 3 – Making Judgements: ILO 3.1 Ability to relate models and empirical evidence in the study of companies, intermediaries, and financial markets ILO 4 – Communication Skills: ILO 4 Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, the specialised content of individual disciplines, using different registers depending on the audience and the communicative and educational purposes, and to assess the educational impact of such communication ILO 5 – Learning Skills: ILO 5.1 Ability to frame a new problem systematically and to generate appropriate taxonomies

Assessment
Students may opt between two different types of assessment: 1) Standard assessment for the course is an obligatory final written examination (100% of the final grade). 2) Moreover, there is the possibility of an optional assessment, where students write a project paper and have their performance assessed by both the project paper (50% of the final grade) and the obligatory final examination (50% of the final grade). The optional assessment is only available for attending students having notified the lecturer of their choice at the latest on the date of the 9thlecture. The optional course project can be done in groups of 2 students. (ILOs assessed 1-5)

Evaluation criteria
Theoretical knowledge of models and concepts covered in the class as well as knowledge of their empirical applications.