Financial Management — accfinmsc.com

Module Description

This module provides a data-driven foundation in financial management, equipping students with the analytical tools necessary to address core corporate finance decisions within modern firms. Principal topics include investment appraisal, cost of capital estimation, capital structure optimization, dividend policy design, and firm valuation. A distinctive feature is the integration of data-driven methodologies, where students engage with real-world financial datasets, apply statistical and econometric tools.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will be able to:

Apply appropriate techniques to price financial assets and securities.
Evaluate investment opportunities using capital budgeting techniques under conditions of certainty and uncertainty.
Estimate the cost of capital of a firm and its components using appropriate data and models.
Implement
the appropriate theories, models and data to identify the optimal capital structure of a firm and its strategy to move to the optimal.
Critically evaluate the dividend and payout policies of real-world firms using appropriate data and evidence.
Evaluate financial management decisions in an international context.

Module Outline

13 thematic units across the semester.

The indicative module outline is as follows:

Valuation of securities and financial assets:

Cost of Capital Approach: the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), conventional and bottom-up betas, country and equity risk premium, synthetic ratings, book vs market values.

Investment appraisal under certainty: NPV and IRR, MNPV and MIRR, NPV profiles, side costs and side benefits, inflation.

Investment Appraisal under Uncertainty: Break-even analysis, sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis, Monte Carlo simulations

Capital Structure: Capital structure theories, optimal capital structure, moving to the optimal and strategic considerations.

Dividend and

Payout Policy:

Financial Planning (long-term and short-term financing)

The IPO process

Mergers and Acquisitions

Risk Management & Financial Strategy

International Financial Management

Assessment

Description of the assessment process

Assessment Language, Assessment Methods, Formative or Summative, Multiple Choice Test, Short Answer Questions, Essay Development Questions, Problem Solving, Written Assignment, Report/Report, Oral Examination, Public Presentation, Laboratory Paper, Clinical Patient Examination, Artistic Interpretation, Other/Other

Explicitly defined assessment criteria and if and where they are accessible by students are mentioned.

The module assessment language is in English and students are expected to exhibit the required level of proficiency.

The assessment of the course consists of:

Midterm Exam (40%, problem solving)

Final exam (60%, problem solving)

The evaluation criteria across modes of assessment include the following:

Demonstration of key knowledge related to the content of course

Demonstration of an ability to apply the knowledge in a given problem or case study

Critical ability evident in applying appropriate methods/knowledge in a given case and/or developing theory-based and literature-based arguments.

Structure and presentation

Use of English language

More detailed assessment criteria will be provided to you in the module handbook document or posted on the course webpage, if deemed necessary.

Suggested Bibliography

Brealey, R.A., Myers, S.C., Allen, F. and Edmans, A. (2025) Principles of Corporate Finance. 15th edn. McGraw-Hill.
Ross, S.A., Westerfield, R.W., Jaffe, J. and Jordan, B.D. (2022) Corporate Finance. 13th edn. McGraw-Hill.
Damodaran, A. (2014) Applied Corporate Finance. 4th edn. John Wiley & Sons.
Vernimmen, P., Quiry, P. and Le Fur, Y. (2022) Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice. 6th edn. John Wiley & Sons.
Higgins, R.C. (2023) Analysis for Financial Management. 13th edn. McGraw-Hill.
Other library sources, including journal articles accessible through the Library, as assigned by the instructor.