LEARNING OUTCOMES
Learning outcomes for this course, upon successful completion, include the ability to: 1) know and understand basic concepts and vocabulary of finance, 2) identify and assess the financial health of a company, 3) predict the financial position of a company in short-term frameworks, 4) understand and incorporate time value of money in decision making, 5) understand and evaluate expected benefits and risks of investment decisions, 6) understand and estimate a company s cost of funds, 7) evaluate capital expenditures proposals, and 8) understand valuation models of corporate securities.
Credits: 6
Schedule: 11.10.2021 - 29.10.2021
Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Joan Lofgren, David Volkman
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
Email Address: dvolkman@unomaha.edu
Office Hours: 11:00-12:00
CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):
Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):
Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
valid for whole curriculum period:
This course is intended to be a comprehensive introduction to the principles of financial management. Emphasis is given to major functions of financial management as they pertain to valuation, risk and risk-return trade-off, financial analysis and planning, and capital budgeting. The course will begin with discussions of the various fields of finance, the basic concepts of financial statements, security markets, interest rates, taxes, risk analysis and the time value of money. That knowledge will then be used to discuss several topics including, but not limited to, bond and stock valuation, the cost of capital, capital budgeting, capital structure and debt and equity valuation.
applies in this implementation
Required Reading .
Fundamentals of Financial Management, Brigham & Houston, 11th edition, 2022 - eBook
Course Schedule
Session # and Date
Topic/s
Assignment/s
Session 1: 11/10/21
Deduction due to an absence on the first day of the course: 5 points (on a 100-point scale) will be deducted from the student’s final raw score before converting it to the final grade.
We will address the question of your goal as a corporate leader.
Chapter 1 – An Overview of Financial Management
Chapter 2 – Financial Markets
Read Chapter 4 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 2: 12/10/21
We will discuss how you can determine the strengths and weaknesses of a company through ratio analysis.
Chapter 4 – Analysis of Financial Statements
Read Chapter 5 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 3: 13/10/21
The foundation of finance is the time value of money. This chapter and lecture are extremely important to your success in the class and to your knowledge as a future leader of your company.
Chapter 5 – Time Value of Money
Session 4: 14/10/21
The second session will deeply explore the theory of the time value of money.
Chapter 5 – Time Value of Money
Read Chapter 7 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 5: 15/10/21
Debt financing is a fundamental foundation of most companies. We will discuss how to determine the price and cost of debt instruments.
Chapter 7 - Bonds and Their Valuation
All assigned homework is due by 23:59 on 16/10/21. Please submit via My Courses.
Session 6: 18/10/21
The exam will test your knowledge of the previous weeks material and will be heavily weighted to the concepts in the time value of money.
Exam I
Read Chapter 8 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 7: 19/10/21
We will address how to determine expected return and risk of an investment.
Chapter 8 - Risk and Rates of Return
Read Chapter 9 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 8: 20/10/21
We will value equity investments using a simple valuation model.
Chapter 9 – Stocks and Their Valuation
Session 9: 21/10/21
The valuation of equity will be extended into more advanced valuation models.
Chapter 9 – Stocks and Their Valuation
Read Chapter 11 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 10: 22/10/21
We will discuss how corporations determine the profitability metrics of a project using the NPV, IRR and MIRR methods.
Chapter11 – The Basics of Capital Budgeting
All assigned homework is due by 23:59 on 23/10/21. Please submit via My Courses.
Session 11: 25/10/21
The exam will test the previous weeks material.
Exam II
Read Chapter 12 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 12: 26/10/21
We will continue our discussion on profitability metrics and develop a systematic method to forecast a project’s cash flows.
Demonstration of Project Analysis using Excel
Chapter11 – The Basics of Capital Budgeting (Continued)
Chapter 12 –Cash Flows Estimation and Risk Analysis
Read Chapter 10 in preparation of the next lecture.
Session 13: 27/10/21
We will answer the question of the cost of capital for a corporation.
Chapter 10 - The Cost of Capital
Session 14: 28/10/21
Complete our discussion on the cost of capital and tie the concept into the previous chapters.
Chapter 10 - The Cost of Capital (Continued)
Session 15: 29/10/21
The exam will test your knowledge of the material presented through out the course and will be heavily weighted to the material covered in the past week.
Comprehensive Final Exam
Excel assignment is due by 23:59 on 29/10/21. Please submit via My Courses.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
applies in this implementation
Grading
Course Requirements
Weighting (%) or maximum points
Exam 1
30
Exam 2
30
Comprehensive Final Exam
30
Excel Assignment
5
Homework (average of 2 assignments)
5
Total
Total
100
Conversion scale
Final grade
(official scale)
90 - 100
5
80 - 89
4
70 - 79
3
60 - 69
2
50 - 59
1
0 - 49
0
Workload
applies in this implementation
ECTS STUDENT WORKLOAD
This course is a 6 ECTS unit course, following the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) guidelines of Aalto University School of Business. The number of hours the average student is expected to work in the course is 160 (including in-class and out-of-class work).
Types of Hours
Number of Hours
Contact hours (on- and off-campus):
45
Out-of-class hours:
115
Work with course materials, eg required reading
45
Exam preparation
65
Individual research & writing
Team projects (meetings, research, preparation, etc.)
Other (Excel Assignment)
5
Total of all student workload hours
160
DETAILS
Study Material
applies in this implementation
Required Reading .
Fundamentals of Financial Management, Brigham & Houston, 11th edition, 2022 - eBook
Additional Information
Students should purchase or obtain a financial calculator by the first day class. Because of its functionality, I strongly indorse the Texas Instrument BA II Professional. I will demonstrate in class some of the functions of the financial calculator that you will need to know for exam questions and homework problems. To substitute for a financial calculator, students may use the financial mode of their scientific calculators. However, if using a scientific calculator, you will be responsible for knowing how to enter data and obtain needed computations. Students are expected to bring their calculators to class every day, beginning with the first day of class.
You will not be allowed to use an online financial calculator or any calculator downloaded on your phone.
Substitutes for Courses
valid for whole curriculum period:
Prerequisites
valid for whole curriculum period:
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further Information
valid for whole curriculum period:
Teaching Period:
Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=MLI28A020
Registration for Courses: In the academic year 2021-2022, registration for courses will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi.
The course is only for the Mikkeli Campus students and the registration is done at the Mikkeli study office.
applies in this implementation
Additional Information
Students should purchase or obtain a financial calculator by the first day class. Because of its functionality, I strongly indorse the Texas Instrument BA II Professional. I will demonstrate in class some of the functions of the financial calculator that you will need to know for exam questions and homework problems. To substitute for a financial calculator, students may use the financial mode of their scientific calculators. However, if using a scientific calculator, you will be responsible for knowing how to enter data and obtain needed computations. Students are expected to bring their calculators to class every day, beginning with the first day of class.
You will not be allowed to use an online financial calculator or any calculator downloaded on your phone.