UNSW Business School/ Banking & Finance

FINS2624 Term 1 2020

Course Information
 Teaching Staff
Lecturer in Charge (Lecturer weeks 1-8)
Robert Bishop
Location: Room 351 Level 3 Business School
Extension: +61 (2) 938 54450
robert.bishop@unsw.edu.au
Consultation Hours: Tuesday 10am-12pm. Room 351 but venue may
change based on demand
Lecturer (Lecturer weeks 9-10)
Huaizhou Li (Will)
Huaizhou.li@unsw.edu.au
Location: 305A, West Wing, Level 3 Business School
Consultation Hours: TBD

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 Teaching Staff
Tutors
Contact information and other details will be placed on Moodle
Discussion Forum
All course related questions MUST be posted on the Moodle discussion
forum
There ill be forums for each eek s lecture/tutorial under each eekl
sub-section (10 in total) plus a Course Administration and an i-Lab forum
at the top of the Moodle page
All discussion forums will be intensely monitored and you will receive an
answer within no later than 2 working days. If you want a prompt answer
ensure you place the question in the correct forum
Tutors and lecturers have been instructed to direct all student
emails on course related material to the discussion forum
Contact regarding private matters can still be emailed (however special
consideration etc should all go through formal channels)
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 Textbook
There are two alternative textbooks for the course. Student may choose
either of the following:
Investments, by Z. Bodie, A. Kane, and A. Marcus, 11th Ed., McGraw-Hill
Irwin, 2018
The custom version of Bodie et al (2018) called FINS2624 - Portfolio
Management 2e, prepared by Robert Bishop
The custom book is an exact print of the full hardback version but only
includes the chapters we will be using in this course
You may use earlier versions of the text - up to the 9th edition. However
some of the references in the lecture notes and the content/examples will
not always be the same. It is not advised to buy any version earlier than
the 9th edition

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 Lectures
Please see the lecture timetable on-line
Lectures will be 2 hours and will occur on all 10 weeks - including i-Lab
(weeks 6 and 9), flexibility week (week 6) and mid-term (week 7)
Lectures will start promptly so we can comfortably get through all the
material
Please do the assigned readings before attending the lecture to make the
session more productive
Lecture recordings will be available but may not capture all the materials
such as white board illustrations etc

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 Tutorials
There are 8 weekly tutorials which have a duration of 90 minutes each
There are no tutorials in week 1 and week 6 (flexibility week)
Therefore weekly tutorials run from weeks 2-5 and 7-10
You should attend every tutorial and submit all of your problem set
solutions
Respect both your tutor and classmates by keeping a good learning
environment
Ask your questions and provide feedback at anytime
Keep up with your tutor and learn from active thinking

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 Tutorial Problem Sets
Tutorial attendance and participation counts for 7% of the course total
Tutorial problem sets for each tutorial will be posted on Moodle at least one
week in advance
Each problem set ill be based on the pre ious eek s Lecture
Students are required to complete a total of 7 problem sets for 7
marks, i.e. 1 per problem set (weeks 2-5 and 7-9).
Although there is a problem set for the final tutorial in week 10, you are
not required to submit it
For the final week's lecture, as there will be no follow up tutorial,
questions and answers will be posted for your revision
To receive your weekly mark, please complete the problem set, attend
each tutorial and participate

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 Tutorial Tips
Tutorial attendance:
Attend on time attending later than 10 minutes after commencement or
requesting to leave early will be treated as non-attendance
If, for unforeseen reasons, you cannot attend your tutorial, obtain email
permission from both your regular tutor and the tutor of the tutorial you
wish to attend before the tutorial class. Please do not switch too often as
permission will not be granted
Please check course outline Section 4 regarding special consideration
related to tutorials
Submit your hand-written and signed weekly problem set on A4 paper
(with your name, student ID, tutorial section) at the beginning of each
tutorial. Bring a second copy so you can go through the questions
You don t ha e to get e er thing right, but onl genuine, honest attempts
to answer all of the essential to cover questions will be credited
At the end of the tutorial sign the attendance list
Post any follow-up questions on the weekly discussion forum
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 Online Quiz
A brief online quiz comprising 15 multiple choice questions in 25 minutes
will be administered in week 4
The online quiz will be worth 3% of your final mark
Your score and feedback on each question will be available shortly after the
quiz has closed
Each student will only be able to make 1 attempt
Each student s online qui ill be unique
Details and specific instructions concerning the quiz will be available in the
Moodle section labelled Online Qui

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 Mid-Term Exam
Saturday 4th April - Week 7 (time to be confirmed later)
30% of total mark
90 minutes duration
Covers Lectures 1 5
Format and number of questions to be announced on Moodle shortly
Exam will be written (not online)
Please check Course Outline Section 4 for Special Consideration
procedures in relation to the mid-term exam

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 Final Exam
Final Exam counts for 50% of the total mark
During the examination period (2-15 May)
Coverage: All lectures in the term
More details will be announced on Moodle later
Please check Course Outline Section 4 for Special Consideration
procedures in relation to the final exam

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 i-Lab Simulation
The i-Lab is a new dedicated learning space with 64 pods and interactive
learning technology
There will be a practical simulation exercise using Factset and actual
security data conducted in the i-Lab with some take-home elements
Use of the i-Lab will occur in two sessions in weeks 6 and 9 and will
encompass both individual and group work. i-Lab accounts for 10% of
your final mark
The simulation will be based on portfolio optimisation under a Markowitz
and CAPM framework
Further details for the i-Lab assessment item will be lodged on Moodle
shortl under the i-Lab tab

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 Other Resources and Support
Practice multiple choice quizzes will be posted online in the Moodle section
Practice E ercises
Each quiz will correspond to a lecture and will be arranged into Easy,
Intermediate and Hard
Each quiz typically encompasses 20-30 multiple choice questions
Supplementary materials will be lodged with each lecture
Excel spreadsheets referred to in the lecture notes and discussed in the
lectures will be lodged on-line with detailed explanations
Hand ritten proofs and other supporting materials ill also be lodged
online when referred to
Weekly 1 hour PASS drop-in sessions will be commencing shortly (details
to be provided on Moodle)

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