FIE400E Investments

• Topics

  Analysis in connection with the three main types of financial instruments:

  • Stocks
  • Interest rate instruments (bonds/certificates)
  • Derivatives (options, futures, and forwards)

  Further development of "standard portfolio theory":

  • Portfolio analysis
  • Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and new variants
  • The efficiency characteristics of financial markets
  • Investment analysis and portfolio management
  • New management principles

  Discussion of

  • Pricing and valuation
  • Management and strategies
  • Institutional conditions

• Learning outcome

  Knowledge

  • Students should be able to understand the principles of pricing and valuation of financial instruments such as stocks, derivatives, and fixed income securities;
  • Students should be able to know portfolio theory and its relation to the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and variants of the model;
  • Students should be able to understand the principles of asset allocation and strategies, as well as performance evaluation of portfolios.

  Skills

  • Students should be able to apply the theory and models on practical problems of relevance for investors through in-depth knowledge of the financial markets and rigorous analytical thinking;
  • Students should be able to solve financial problems using Microsoft Excel.

  General competence

  • Students should be able to address investment decisions in a systematic manner focusing on financial theory and empirical evidence;
  • Students should be able to communicate the knowledge to investment professionals and carry out extensive independent work on investment analysis;
  • Students should be able to provide insights to a wider audience about the differences among the basic types of securities and how they fit in the total portfolio picture;
  • Students should be able to form an opinion about current issues and debates covered by media and finance journals.

• Teaching

  Lectures, quizzes and problem sets.

• Recommended prerequisites

  It is recommended that students have taken courses like BED3/BED030 Investment.

• Credit reduction due to overlap

  FIE400E course cannot be combined with FIE400N, which is the Norwegian version of the same course.

• Compulsory Activity

  Approved problem sets, groups of 3-5 students.

  Course approval from FIE400N is valid for FIE400E.

• Assessment

  4 hour school exam.

  Students who wish to retake the exam in FIE400N can take the exam in FIE400E, which is the English version of the same course.

  The exam can be answered in English or Norwegian.

• Grading Scale

  A - F

• Literature

  • Bodie, Z., A. Kane & A.J. Marcus: Investments. International Student Edition, 12th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2021.