Module manager: Dr Tiziano De Angelis
Email: T.DeAngelis@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2017/18
A-level Mathematics
| LUBS1035 | Foundations of Finance |
This module is approved as a discovery module
This module serves as an introduction to financial mathematics, the application of mathematics to financial problems. We will look at simple financial transactions, like mortgages, annuities and government bonds, and study how to assign a value to them. Central concepts are interest and the time value of money (the idea that one pound now is preferable to one pound later). This theory can then be used to evaluate investment projects.
- Introduction to mathematical modelling of financial and insurance markets with particular emphasis on the time-value of money and interest rates.
- Introduction to simple financial instruments.
- This module covers a major part of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries CT1 syllabus (Financial Mathematics, core technical).
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
- understand the time value of money and to calculate interest rates and discount factors
- apply these concepts to the pricing of simple, fixed-income financial instruments and the assessment of investment projects.
1. Interest rates. Simple interest rates. Present value of a single future payment. Discount factors.
2. Effective and nominal interest rates. Real and money interest rates. Compound interest rates. Relation between the time periods for compound interest rates and the discount factor.
3. Compound interest functions. Annuities and perpetuities.
4. Loans.
5. Introduction to fixed-income instruments. Generalized cashflow model.
6. Net present value of a sequence of cashflows. Equation of value. Internal rate of return. Investment project appraisal.
7. Examples of cashflow patterns and their present values.
8. Elementary compound interest problems.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 33 | 1 | 33 |
| Tutorial | 9 | 1 | 9 |
| Private study hours | 108 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 42 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 150 | ||
Consolidation of course notes and background reading: J. McCutcheon, W.F. Scott "An Introduction to Mathematics of Finance".
- Assessment of success on 5 example sheets
- Contact during tutorials.
!!! In order to pass the module, students must pass the examination. !!!
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Problem Sheet | Homework set and due every other week | 15 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 15 | |
There is no resit available for the coursework component of this module. If the module is failed, the coursework mark will be carried forward and added to the resit exam mark with the same weighting as listed above.
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 2.0 Hrs 30 Mins | 85 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 85 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 4/26/2017
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team