A83010 Applied Financial Modelling

Scuola di Economia e Management
Syllabus
Academic Year 2016/17 First Semester

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course a student will be able to

  • perform financial calculations
  • and carry out statistical and empirical procedures

that come in useful in the fields of financial analysis and discretionary portfolio management.

In addition, he/she will be

  • familiar with the regularities of US financial markets,
  • aware of the possible cognitive biases of investors and traders,
  • and well informed about equity research and value investing.

Course Content

This course, worth 8 ECTS credits, is about financial analysis and discretionary portfolio management. It deals with some validated models and procedures that support decisions on the management of, say, a private portfolio, an endowment, or a mutual fund according to the requirements in terms of liquidity, diversification, income/growth, risk/return. The approach is both qualitative and quantitative.

Emphasis is placed on data and procedures that are used or taken into consideration by financial advisors, financial analysts, and portfolio managers, e.g. of mutual or hedge funds. As a consequence, students will learn which data to analyse and how to approach financial analysis and discretionary portfolio management, especially in connection with stocks, bonds, and exchange-traded funds. After drawing a distinction between investment and trading, students will also understand in depth

  • how to diversify between asset classes, i.e. how to obtain the greatest possible long-term return from a financial portfolio with a given degree of risk;
  • how to pick mispriced stocks or bonds by relying on fundamental analysis. As for equity research and value investing, students will focus on whether a listed company benefits from a stable competitive advantage and whether stock price and fundamental value are consistent. In doing so, Benjamin Graham’s and Warren Buffett’s guidelines will be mentioned;
  • how hedge funds do some typical trades, both in stocks and bonds.

All the relevant aspects of a financial problem are taken into account through a problem-oriented and hence multidisciplinary approach. Therefore,

  • attention is paid to the empirical evidence on US financial markets, with historical data on their performance being appropriately classified;
  • the informational and fundamental efficiency of US financial markets is discussed at length, with attendant neoclassical and behavioural interpretations being contrasted. As investment decisions are likely to be both rational and emotional, emphasis is placed on the possible occurrence of speculative bubbles caused by cognitive biases and hence irrational exuberance;
  • teaching includes practical sessions, where use is made of an electronic spreadsheet to display the most advanced procedures. Homework may involve the development of an electronic spreadsheet that processes historical data from various sources.

The main findings of selected empirical studies are consistently reported by means of educated summaries. Different inspiring regularities of US financial markets are taken into consideration, including the relationship between current forward rates and future spot rates, the performance of corporate bonds, heteroskedasticity and mean reversion of stock returns (price-earnings ratios and dividend yields as predictors of long-term returns), the dissimilar behaviour of growth and value stocks, the effects exerted on stock prices by the most unexpected news in quarterly reports, the performance of equity mutual funds and its persistence, the performance of hedge funds and its persistence. Such regularities lay the foundations for active portfolio management by individual and institutional investors alike. Notably, any kind of informational efficiency would be precluded from the lack of financial analysis and active portfolio management.

Course Delivery

To take this course, students must be familiar with mathematics (basics of calculus and optimisation), statistics (sample statistics and their distributions, hypothesis testing, multiple linear regression) and accounting (reclassified financial statements, main accounting ratios). Knowledge of the financial system (markets and intermediaries as institutions and their functions, financial contracts and their use) is very helpful.

Individual active learning is needed on the basis of 1-2 hours per week, so as to keep up with all lessons and practical sessions (8 ECTS credits, 50 contact hours or so). As personal advice is likely to be needed as well, each student should meet the lecturer at least once during office hours.

Teaching includes practical sessions, which are computer assisted. Class attendance and active involvement are strongly recommended and graded (3% of the best possible score).

Required Readings

Ghezzi L. (2016), Handouts for Financial Modelling, 9th edition, Castellanza, reserved to students.

Elton E.J., Gruber M.J., Brown S.J., Goetzmann W.N. (2010), Modern portfolio theory and investment analysis, 8th edition, New York, Wiley.

Keasey K., Hudson R., Littler K. (1998), The intelligent guide to stock market investment, Chichester, Wiley.

Handouts are available at the International Office.  All additional texts are available at the LIUC Library. Spreadsheets and additional teaching material will be made available in class.

Course Evaluation

After completing both individual and communal homework (36% of the best possible score) during the course, attenders will take a closed-book written exam (61%) at the end of the course. The exam for the remaining students is oral. Whether the final exam is written or oral, a pocket calculator is needed. Attenders can’t register for the exam, unless they have filled in an anonymous questionnaire on the course. Non-attenders may contact their lecturer for advice on how to go about this subject.

Syllabus

Session 1
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Review of financial mathematics

Outline of the course.

Overview: the investment process in practice (stages, tasks, and tools), passive and active portfolio management. Risk/return & income/growth: historical data on US financial markets, nominal/real rates of (logarithmic) return.  Homework.

Readings:

Ghezzi  7.7

Session 2
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Review of financial mathematics

Mean reversion and heteroskedasticity in US stock returns. Irrational exuberance and speculative bubbles: empirical evidence.

Fixed income securities: accrued interest, clean and dirty price, market risk, actual yield and yield to maturity.

Readings:

Ghezzi  7.6; 1.4; 5.1

Session 3
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Review of financial mathematics

Trading versus investing. Yield curves.

Euribor and euro swap rates. Term structures of interest rates: spot rates, measurement (money market).

Readings:

Ghezzi  6.1

Session 4
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Review of financial mathematics

Term structures of interest rates: measurement (Treasury market), forward rates.

Classical term structure explanations: financial insight and explanatory power.   Homework.

Readings:

Ghezzi  6.2

Elton et al.  pp. 514-523

Session 5
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of financial analysis

Review: main approaches to the appraisal of a company.

Product/industry life cycles. Growth & value companies: classification & empirical evidence. Dividend discount models.

Readings:

Ghezzi  4.6; 4.5

Session 6
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of financial analysis

Price-earnings ratios & price-book value ratios.

Prospective ranking of listed stocks: implicit mean rates of return, adjusted beta coefficients, and Wells Fargo critical line.   Homework.

Readings:

Ghezzi  4.5; 4.7

Session 7
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of financial analysis

Essentials of value investing: competitive advantage & corporate performance, fundamental analysis.

Concise research report (swot analysis, fundamental analysis, industry outlook): a large oil and gas company.   Homework.

Readings:

Ghezzi  7.8; 7.9

Keasey et al.  12; 13

Session 8
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of financial analysis

Benjamin Graham’s and Warren Buffett’s guidelines.

Basics of discretionary portfolio management

Portfolio rebalancing. Portfolio return: mean and variance, sample size determination.

Readings:

Ghezzi  7.8; 7.1

Session 9
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of discretionary portfolio management

Feasible combinations of 2 stocks, feasible set, efficient frontier.

Inclusion of a safe asset, one-fund theorem, two-fund theorem.   Homework.

Readings:

Ghezzi  7.2

Session 10
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of discretionary portfolio management

Diversification: statistical properties of systematic and diversifiable risks.

Single-index model, estimation of the beta coefficient of a listed stock.   Homework.

Readings:

Ghezzi 7.3; 4.7

Session 11
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of discretionary portfolio management

Efficient stock markets: theoretical hypotheses, operational implications, outline of the empirical evidence, tentative conclusions.  Cognitive biases and irrational decisions.

Active portfolio management: market-trend timing and mispriced-stock picking, style switching and group rotation.

Readings:

Ghezzi  7.6; 7.7

Session 12
Hours of lesson: 4
Instructor: L. Ghezzi

Topics:

Basics of discretionary portfolio management

Hedge funds: comparison with mutual funds, typical trading policies, empirical evidence.

Credit risk: default and recovery rates, rating scales and credit rating by international agencies. Actual yields on corporate bonds: breakdown by credit-risk class.

Readings:

Ghezzi  7.10; 5.3


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