Seminar: Applied Finance (F)

Course content

The aim is for the students to take point of departure in a topic discussed in "Finance" and relate this to practice. "Applied" means that the seminar paper must speak to someone practicing (a practitioner) finance and provide a recommendation based on the analysis carried out in the seminar paper.

 

Examples (only a few – opportunities are endless) of topics are:

  • Valuation of a firm
  • Optimal capital structure
  • Examples, consequences, (and solutions), of financial distress in practice
  • Asset specificity and capital structure
  • Trading strategies
  • Industry comparisons
  • Strategic capital structure / finance
  • Qualitative research (e.g. interview) of CFO
  • Empirical test of e.g. ratings, D/E, liquidity, R&D, etc.
  • Simulations
  • Research note to employer
  • For more examples and questions contact supervisor

 

All topics using finance can be described. For more examples contact supervisor

Education

MSc programme in Economics

The course is a part of the financial line, signified by (F)

 

The seminar is primarily for students at the MSc of Economics.

 

The course has changed name from Applied Corporate Finance to Applied Finance. The content is the same. It is not possible to register at Applied Finance, if Applied Corporate Finance has been passed. 

 

Grundet pensum overlap er det ikke muligt at deltage på dette seminar, hvis man allerede har bestået den danske version: Anvendt Corporate Finance (AØKK08345U).

 

Den danske version af seminaret udbydes ikke i efteråret 2020.

Learning outcome

In addition to the learning outcome specified in the Master curriculum the student is after completing the seminar expected to be able to:

  • Structure a paper.
  • Argue and present arguments through a paper.
  • Analyze theory and data.
  • Apply an analysis in a real situation.
  • Extend the conclusion of an analysis so it is applicable and relevant for a practitioner of finance.

At the seminar the student is trained independently to
- identify and clarify a problem,
- seek and select relevant literatur,
- write a academic paper,
- present and discuss own paper with the other students at the seminar.

The aim of the presentations is, that the student uses the presentation as an opportunity to practice oral skills and to receive feedback. The presentations is not a part of the exam and will not be assessed.

Mandatory activities in the seminar:
- Kick-off meeting
- Finding literatur and defining the project
- Writing process of the seminar paper
- Presentation of own project and paper
- Giving constructive feedback to another student´s paper
- Actively participating in discussions at the presentations and other meetings.

There is no weekly teaching/lecturing and the student cannot expect guidance from the teacher. If the teacher gives a few introduction lectures or gives the opportunity for guidance, this as well as other expectations are clarified at the kickoff meeting.

Process:
It is strongly recommended that you think about and search for a topic before the semester begins, as there is only a few weeks from the kick-off meeting to the submission of the project description/ agreement paper.

The seminar project paper must be uploaded in Absalon before the presentations, as the opponents and the other seminar participants have to read and comment on the paper. It is important that you upload a paper that is so finalized as possible due to the fact that the value of feedback and comments at the presentation is strongly associated with the skill level of the seminar paper.

After the presentations, you can with a few corrections improve the seminar paper by including the feedback and comments emerged during the presentations. It is NOT intended that you rewrite or begin the writing of the full project AFTER the presentation has taken place.

The seminar is very free and hence does not have specified literature.

Litterature will be decided by the students in collaboration with the supervisor.

 

It is highly recommended that the students have read subjects as CAPM and stocks, Fixed Income and bonds, derivatives, pricing methods, real options, capital structure basics and financial statement analysis basics. E.g. through the course "Corporate Finance and Incentives" at the Study of Econonomics, University of Copenhagen.

It is expected, but not required, that the students have an interest in finance and wishes to explore further into the world of finance. It is hence expected and recommended that most students have followed one or more finance courses in addition to basic finance.

BSc in Economics or similar

Schedule of the seminar:

• Kick-off meeting: September 3, 2020, 15.15-17.00
• Deadline of project description: September 18
• Deadline of pre-paper uploaded to Absalon: One week prior to presentations.
• Presentations: In the periode November 2 – 20 by agreement at the kick-off meeting

All information regarding the seminar is communicated through Absalon including venue. So it is very important that you by yourself logon to Absalon and read the information already when you are registered at the seminar.

Oral
Individual
Collective
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)

 

Each student receives individual oral and written feedback on the paper at the presentation from peers.

Each student receives individual oral feedback on the paper at the presentation from the supervisor.

The supervisor gives the students collective oral feedback and individual guidance.

ECTS
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination
A seminar paper in English that meets the formal requirements for written papers stated in the curriculum of the Master programme and at KUNet for seminars.

If a student chooses to make a valuation of a company please note that this should be with a strong focus on finance rather than accounting. I.e. the strategy and reformulation of the P&L parts must attract minimal focus and cost of capital, risk (beta), capital structure etc. .
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Aid
All aids allowed

for the project paper.

The teacher defines the aids that must be used for the presentations.

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Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
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Criteria for exam assessment

Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the seminar and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes in the Curriculum of the Master programme.

 

To receive the top grade, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material.

 

The students are evaluated based on three criteria; structure, content/analysis and application. Structure is how well the argument is presented through the seminar paper. Contents/analysis is about how deeply theory and data is analyzed – it is the traditional concept of "academic rigor". Application is the degree to which the student is able to apply the analysis in a real situation/the extent the conclusion of the analysis is applicable and relevant for a practitioner of finance.

  • Category
  • Hours
  • Project work
  • 186
  • Seminar
  • 20
  • English
  • 206