We have one overarching objective in this course: to master the general framework of international finance; a framework that highlights the fundamentals. One of my duties as the “prof” is to lay the groundwork for you to be an active learner of international finance. I prefer to couch the concepts of the course in terms of your questions. Given the foundation, you should eventually develop your own questions about international finance. There is no doubt that you will develop a solid competence in the advanced concepts and techniques if you develop your own questions.

In this course, we will place our emphasis on the international financial system, international investments, and international financial management, particularly in Asia. This course is especially helpful for a student pursuing a career in international banking, global asset management, or international corporate finance. Our course begins with a thorough analysis of international business risks and the structure of the international monetary system. We will then cover the following topics: the foreign exchange market; exchange-rate determination; international investments; currency and rate risk management; international capital budgeting; international political risk and corporate governance in Asia; and international banking and liquid asset management.

The objective of this course is to provide an in-depth analysis of financial derivative products: futures, swaps, and options. The analysis includes their valuation, trading strategies, and risk management. It should provide lasting conceptual framework in which to view the derivative markets and to examine new ideas, concepts, and instruments as they evolve in the future.

This course covers a great deal of advanced material. Students are expected to be comfortable with probability and statistics, the stock market, and a spreadsheet package such as Excel. Some use of stochastic calculus and differential equation will also be required.

After completing the course, you should be able to:

1. Understand how financial derivatives are used by market participants,
2. Understand how financial derivative values are calculated,
3. Appreciate the pros and cons of the most widely used derivative pricing models,
4. Identify mis-pricing in the derivative markets, and
5. Understand practical considerations in constructing portfolios involving financial derivatives.

Banking is a part of financial services but as a business, it is not quite the same as running a bank. With the systematic development of a knowledge base, there is now a greater understanding of why banks exist and how they have to fight for the right to exist. There is also a realisation that the different economic value components of a bank can be substituted by niche financial services firms. Aside from the business aspect, regulatory, risk and capital management have attracted special attention as they have been in the past. This course aims to cover both the business and operational aspects of banking incorporating current industry conditions.

This course provides an introduction to the measurement, analysis and management of risk in financial institutions. A full appreciation of the techniques applied in risk management would require a level of mathematical sophistication beyond the scope of this course. Hence, the course has been structured to focus on the intuition behind the techniques used in risk management, and the strengths and weaknesses of each technique. At the end of the course, students should be able to develop a conceptual framework for thinking about risk management.

Business entities and individuals are exposed to substantial risk associated with losses to property, income, and wealth because of damage to assets, legal liability, disability, retirement, and death. Costs associated with legal liability and employee benefit programs, particularly Central Provident Fund (CPF) and health care, have become matters of deep concern to company management. Individuals seeking coverage of their professional and personal risks have similar concerns. This survey course analyses the nature and impact of these risks and discusses appropriate risk management techniques. The emphasis is on the analysis and management of these problems for business entities, but these are substantial implications for the problems faced by individuals and society. Specific topics include risk identification and measurement; risk control and transfer, risk financing with commercial insurance, self-insurance, and captive insurance programs; insurance markets and regulation; employee benefits and CPF; life and health insurance; personal financial planning; international risk management and insurance for multi-national corporations.

This course will introduce Singapore experiences in solving problems related to Medicare, Housing, ageing population and retirement, transportation, and using effective tax system to encourage people to work harder as well as to help the poor.

With the increasing sophistication in financial models, and the advance in IT, finance professionals and researchers increasingly need to perform basic financial modelling and data processing using the computer on their own. Among the software used for such purposes, Microsoft Excel stands out as the default standard. Some finance professionals, for instance from investing banking, would go to the extent of recognising Microsoft Excel as the single software that they would have to consistently use for the rest of their career. Therefore it is not only crucial to learn how to implement financial models in the computer, but especially using the advanced tools and VBA in Excel as well. This subject complements and enhances the other finance modules currently offered in the following ways:

1. Concretises the theoretical finance theories into implementable methods. This enhances the practical ability of the finance students.
2. Prepares the students for financial modelling work, including model design, sourcing for data, model programming and debugging.
3. Discusses the concept of efficiency and effectiveness when implementing financial models. This would be the only module that discusses such important perspective.

This module focuses on the valuation of fixed income securities, such as bonds, bond derivatives, interest rate derivatives, interest rate swaps, mortgages, and asset-backed securities. We will focus mainly on the valuation of these instruments and on interest rate risk. We may also discuss issues related to credit risk.

A select group of investors in the US (such as Warren Buffett and Seth Klarman) and in Asia (Cheah Cheng Hye – Value Partners, Teng Ngiek Lian – Target Asset Management) have generated market‐beating returns by adopting philosophy of value investing first conceptualized by Graham and Dodd.

Investing using this framework is more than understanding the philosophy and theory behind value investing,students must acquire the tools,skills and experience necessary to put theory into practice. The course will utilize real‐ life data sets and examples and apply them to a practical framework in order analyze and value a business, then measure this value against the market value in order to uncover “value opportunities”.

A sound understanding of personal finance is important for everyone to be able to make informed investment decisions, avoid costly mistakes and achieve financial independence.

The course offers an overview of personal finance topics and issues, covering financial planning, credit management, insurance and investment planning, retirement planning (including CPF schemes), legacy planning and consumer protection.

It provides students an introduction to the key aspects of financial planning. Doing so will empower them with the tools to chart their financial journey and achieve their financial objectives. Aside from learning the theory, students will actively participate in classroom discussions and will be given case studies that will require them to apply their financial knowledge.

Financial statements of publicly listed companies are primary inputs for many business decisions such as investment and credit decisions. This module provides a conceptual framework for analyzing these financial statements. It begins with a review of the basic ideas in financial accounting, and then progresses to techniques such as financial ratios and specific topics including long-term assets, valuation of a business and quality of earnings. In light of the globalization of business, special attention will be devoted to the challenges in understanding financial statements from different countries. Topical issues such as accounting irregularities and frauds will also be covered. At the end of the module, the students would have developed a greater awareness of the business world and mastered an arsenal of analytical techniques to handle most business situations.

The objective of this module is to introduce students to the consumer banking wealth management industry. Students will be introduced to the wealth management industry in terms of understanding the global political environment, Singapore’s regulatory framework, and how the industry works. They will learn how to help clients to understand their financial health and make good informed investment decisions to meet their financial objectives.

Wealth management is an integral part of the financial industry. Singapore has a strong reputation as a wealth management center and is looking to further develop and strengthen its position. The importance of working with industry players to develop courses on wealth management cannot be overstated. DBS is one of the biggest player in this area. Hence, this module is in collaboration with DBS trainers. The trainers from DBS will be the main instructors for the module, while the NUS professor facilitates the classes.

Transaction Banking is an area of corporate bank services aiming at serving the needs of corporate treasurers and helping companies manage their liquidity and working capital more efficiently and productively.

This course will provide students with a broad and deep knowledge about transaction banking and the tools and technologies available to corporate treasury management and financial service providers. It will also provide students with a good understanding of the value that transaction banks bring to large corporations in order to help them better manage their businesses.

This is an introductory course on China’s Capital Markets that examines China’s Listed Equity, Private Equity, Bond and Derivative markets from a development perspective and its convergence towards international standards. The course will use a combination of cases, professional and academic articles to provide an understanding of the concepts, issues and investors involved in China’s Capital Markets. An underlying theme of this course is how China’s Capital Markets have developed and improved, despite the grievances and misgivings widely espoused by the investment community.

This course is essential for those persons seeking to gain an insight of China’s Capital Markets. The significance of China’s Capital Markets should not be underestimated given its rapid development and the internationalisation of the Renminbi.

Foreign Exchange (FX) is an essential element of international trade. It has also become an important global trading market, the quintessential market for professional financial traders. The course will provide a good platform for understanding global financial markets, of which FX is an integral part of. This will be illustrated through learning about FX’s linkage to activities of key institutions such as banks, brokers and central banks, its linkage to interest rates and its role in the development of financial instruments. In the rapidly evolving global financial landscape, FX is at the forefront of usage, thanks to its relative ease of entry and the advent of speedy computers . With uncertainty in geo‐political developments, and the ready volatility of foreign exchange rates, foreign exchange trading and hedging are inseparable essentials of financial market risk management. The course will help to de‐mystify the FX market including the inculcation of an understanding of the risks, reward and costs that the market has.

This course aims to provide students with an overview of the commodity markets. We will introduce commodities as an asset class and present key concepts for commodity trading and investing businesses. We will focus on physical trading and investing in real assets as opposed to trading commodities in the financial markets/on screens. You will find it useful to have some basic knowledge of accounting, algebra, statistics, finance and risk management prior to enrolling in this course.

This elective in Advanced Applied Portfolio Management will serve as a comprehensive real-world examination of the quantitative, fundamental, behavioral, and model-based approaches utilized for performing security valuation & portfolio management in the financial industry. Major topics covered include Relative Valuation, Multifactor Models, Liquidity and Value Enhancement Strategies. Lectures will involve frequent interaction with practitioners from the industry, hands-on lab projects, and real-life examples.

The objective of this course is to provide an overview of mergers and acquisitions, buyouts and corporate restructuring. Although the lectures and cases will often focus on the financial aspects of these transactions, we will also consider the various related legal, strategic, organizational and general management issues, as these in fact drive the financial analysis and ultimate success of the M&A. We will examine the process of evaluating opportunities in the corporate-control market, and will analyze how deal structure affects both value creation and value division. In particular, time-permitting we will cover the following topics (not necessarily in the order listed): M&A motivations, regulatory environment, tactics; M&A valuation of stand-alone firms, merged firm synergies, and expected impact on share value and earnings accretion/dilution; Transaction contingent clauses and agreements; Cross-border transactions; High growth, young firm acquisitions; Leveraged buyouts and the recapitalization and restructuring of troubled firms.

Philanthropy is evolving dramatically given supply of new philanthropic monies seeking greater impact. Motivated out of a love for mankind, improving the human condition remains a key objective. However, the act of philanthropy, its orientation, methods and approaches are realigning in ways that treat the giving of private wealth not simply as gifts but as investments with expected returns. As such, the “new” philanthropy borrows ideas, practices, technologies and vocabulary from the world of finance and private equity, to articulate its purpose and operational design. It emphasises impact and efficiency, and frames impact investing as a specific form of philanthropy, one that, at its core, involves leveraging and aggregating diverse resources to generate a blend of measurable social and financial returns consistent with the interests of the parties involved.

The past decade has seen an increasing interest in investments in hybrid organisations with double or triple bottom-lines. This conversation has just arrived in Singapore and Asia in the last couple of years. There is growing interest from all stakeholders to better understand investing in the intersection of financial, social and environmental dimensions.

Having an impact simply means making a difference. To identify and properly measure the difference, one needs to identify the counterfactual – what it would be without one’s intervention. How does an investor achieve impact? We explore this question using a framework that (1) requires that the investee enterprise itself has net positive impact, and (2) the investor’s financial and non-financial contribution increases beyond that enterprise impact.

As the venture philanthropic and impact investing practices are emergent and adaptive from the private equity sector, this course also draws discussion from venture capital and growth investing respectively. An underlying theme of this part of the course is to emphasise how venture philanthropic and impact investing can create social capital which promotes sustainable economic growth.

A sound knowledge of philanthropy and impact investing is therefore essential for the following participants in the intersection of social capital, private capital and public markets: private bankers, philanthropy advisors, family offices, foundations, venture philanthropists, impact and private equity investors, corporates developing a strategic CSR program, policy makers and government agencies.

This course introduces students to the top down approach of portfolio management and how portfolios with multiple countries can be constructed in addition to high-lighting the skills needed for stock selection using fundamental research and how these qualitative skills are applied to portfolio management in the investment industry through a series of company research report writing and portfolio positioning and construction.

The objective of this course is to provide a practical framework for students to understand how to construct regional portfolios using a top-down macroeconomic approach and how to incorporate the fundamental stock research from the students’ stock research reports into constructing a portfolio.

The course seeks to prepare students for an investment management career by providing an understanding of what goes on in the minds of investors when they put capital to work. Student will learn the importance of understanding business models and how business create values. They will also learn how portfolios are constructed from stocks they have analysed.

This module will provide students with a good understanding of the various aspects of funding for new or young ventures. In particular, students will gain deep understanding of the rigorous investment process and requirements of the professional investors, as well as their typical investment terms and conditions for providing funding to new or young ventures. Through the project work in this module, students will experience first-hand the difficulties and sometimes complex negotiation process with the most demanding providers of capital – the professional venture capital funds. They will be exposed to the specific requirements, investment terms and conditions that a typical venture capital fund would demand in order to mitigate its investment risks, and will also appreciate and understand how the investment terms could potentially affect an entrepreneur’s vested interest in his venture under various scenarios.

Fintech continues to be a very popular focus within financial markets in the age of technology. Long protected by regulatory environments, financial institutions are coming under challenge from powerful technology providers who are able to deliver at greater efficiency and lower costs. This trend has forced FIs to embrace technology like never before. The common myth and perception is that this wave of technology will redefine society and career paths. And it is important to understand how the future of FIs and disruptors will likely evolve and the implications for financial disintermediation.

This course covers analytical tools and innovations in finance that solve practical problems. The objective is to connect theory with practice by building models, testing them with data, and using them for financial decision making. The topics include (1) efficient market hypothesis, (2) behavioral finance, (3) event studies, (4) Monte Carlo simulation, (5) Markowitz mean-variance portfolio, (6) artificial intelligence, (7) blockchain, (8) fintech, and (9) real option. The course adopts a cookbook approach to model, code, and solve problems in finance.

This module is an advanced finance module that aims to provide integrated perspectives on the topic of sustainability in the domain field of finance. Specifically, the course will cover the value implications of sustainability practices adopted by firms and those demanded by investors and financial institutions. Regulators, not for profit organizations and other intermediaries are also part of the ecosystem. Various financial valuation and investment tools and methodologies are modified and adapted for use.

The course offers a framework and analysis for the current technology landscape across inclusive financial and insurance sectors as well as emerging technologies such as AI, Blockchain, Cloud & Cyber Security, Data Analytics, Environmental Friendly Technology, Financial Inclusion, 5G and Quantum Computing (ABCDEFGQ). The students will be able to develop critical views of emergent technologies, upgrade their technology literacy and use new approaches to evaluate inclusive FinTech projects in a trustless world.

This course aims to prepare and equip students with the necessary knowledge and fundamental skills to take on roles at an analyst level in a Venture Capital/Private Equity firm. It will cover the What, Why, When and How of the VC/PE process, giving students the know how to identify an investment opportunity, evaluate and assess it, conduct due diligence, perform valuation and financial assessment, monitor and value-add to the investment and finally develop an exit strategy.

The course will be organised as a series of topics combining interactive lectures, discussions with group projects and case analyses. Students are expected to read ahead of lectures and be prepared to discuss topics relevant to the Cases. Students are required to think independently and also work in groups both on Case Studies and Group Projects using real life cases.

This is a course on investment banking designed to introduce students to the world of investment banks. The course will help students to understand the various business activities investment banks typically undertake and the various financial instruments created and used by investment banks. The global environment, challenges, and opportunities relevant to investment banking will also be covered.

Investment banks had played a pivotal role in the some of the recent crises, including the sub-prime crisis which led to the Great Recession. Investment banking products and activities are highly integrated with various other financial markets and institutions in such a way that any lapse in the investment banking industry may create ripple effects that are far reaching and with multiplied intensity. As a result, the business and regulatory landscape for investment banks are undergoing major changes. Hence, such a study is indeed timely.

Classes will be conducted in a more participative style. Lectures will cover the basic knowledge and extended learning will include term projects and cases discussions.

This advanced Seminar in Finance module will serve as a comprehensive real world examination of the quantitative techniques available and how these might be applied to portfolio management in the investment management industry. Major topics covered include exploring various quantitative tools and models for Estimating Expected Returns, Modelling Risks, Portfolio Construction & Management, Style Analysis & Bench-marking, and Strategic & Tactical Asset Allocation. Lectures will involve frequent interaction with practitioners from the industry, hands-on lab projects, and real-life examples. Students would be expected to be active in class participation developing financial model building blocks using Excel in the first instance, as well as subsequently utilising the other tools available in the Investment Management & Trading Lab. This course is suitable for students interested in a career as an investment analyst or as a portfolio manager in the financial services sector.

Family firms form backbone of Asia and world economies. Family businesses are commonly thought to be small, unprofessional; and in most cases seldom survive three generations. There are, however, a number of success stories, for example, Hermes, Toyota, Merck, and Ford Motors. These firms are large, publicly traded, and controlled by the founding family for several generations. How do these families manage to grow their business internationally and perpetual their wealth for multiple generations? Why do most family firms not survive?

We analyse the family business model that highlights the role of the founding family in the firm. Many family members own ownership stakes and hold top positions at the firm. The family, therefore, has immense influence on corporate financial decisions. This can be harmful to the firm’s value if the family chose corporate policies to please the family. We discuss how the family can put constraints on the firms on top of various roadblocks faced by the firm.