Unit information: Finance in 2021/22

Unit name	Finance
Unit code	EFIMM0125
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Zheng
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Accounting and Finance - Business School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit is designed to give students a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of finance and financial markets. This unit will serve as the foundation for TB2 optional units in finance. The following areas of finance will be covered: discounting, investment appraisal, cost of capital, portfolio diversification, asset pricing, and financing decisions (debt and dividend policies). The unit will also include key areas in financial accounting relevant to the study of finance and financial markets: understanding and interpretation of financial statements.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit a student will be able to:

1. Recognize the structure of company financial accounts, and be able to construct and interpret such accounts and describe key performance indicators such as price earnings ratios and measures of return on capital and gearing;
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of investment appraisal, including knowledge of the basic financial mathematics;
3. Explain the principles of portfolio theory and appraise the use of alternative asset pricing models;
4. Review the operation of financial markets and evaluate the issues in market efficiency;
5. Solve financial problems in the context of uncertainty, such as calculation of the cost of equity using the CAPM and of the weighted average cost of capital in the presence of debt.
6. Describe the sources of long-term finance and analyze corporate capital structure decisions and dividend policies.
7. Discuss foreign investment decisions in an international environment.

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions including lectures, tutorials, drop-in sessions, discussion boards and other online learning opportunities

Assessment Information

This unit will be assessed by 100% individual coursework

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EFIMM0125).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.