FE 5101/FE 5101D Derivatives and Fixed Income

Basic theories of futures, options, and swaps pricing. Fundamental concepts of no arbitrage equilibrium and also risk premia. Hedging techniques and the Greeks. Fixed Income securities analytics. Yield curve analyses. Extensions to asset-backed securities and asset securitization issues. Structured notes and embedded options. Corporate debts and convertibles.

FE 5107/FE 5107D Risk Analyses and Management

Market risk. Value-at-Risk measures and problems. Parametric historical, and simulations VAR. Alternative securities risk and derivatives risk measurements. Delta-normal VARs and applications to different products. Credit risks and measurements. Liquidity, operational risk, legal risk, settlement risk, model risk, tax risk and others, Stress testing, Accounting and legal compliance. Some existing models and Risk Management best practices.

FE 5110 Financial Engineering Project

Students are encouraged to work on a project related to an actual problem at work involving financial engineering solutions. Otherwise students could work on a new product or process idea, or a detailed case study. The report about 60x double-spaced A4 pages including appendixes should be carefully written and submitted.

FE 5112/FE 5112D Stochastic Calculus and Quantitative Methods

This module will cover the fundamental concepts of stochastic calculus as well as quantitative methods that are relevant to financial engineering. The topics include Wiener processes, stochastic integrals, stochastic differential equations, Ito’s lemma, the martingale principle and risk neutral pricing. It will also cover important topics in linear algebra and optimization.

FE 5116/FE 5116D Programming and Advanced Numerical Methods

This module will cover both computer programming and numerical methods. On the programming side, this module will cover Octave language. The emphasis will be given to programming to solve financial engineering problems. On the numerical methods side, this module will cover finite difference, discretization and Monte Carlo simulation methods.

FE 5209 Financial Econometrics

The statistical modelling and forecasting of financial time series, with application to share prices, exchange rates and interest rates. Market microstructure. Specification, estimation and testing of asset pricing models including the capital asset pricing model and extensions; Modelling of volatility. Practical application of volatility forecasting. Estimating continuous time models.

FE 5103 Equity Products and Exotics

Covered warrants, equity warrants and options, subscription rights, stock index futures and options, and other equity derivatives. Issues of pricing and hedging. Institutional constraints. Portfolio management and other investment strategies. Path-dependent options such as Asian options, barrier options, lookback options, and forward-start options. Spread options, rainbow options, quantos, exchange options, basket options, as-you-like options, power options, digital options, and others. Pricing techniques and risk management purposes.

FE 5105 Corporate Financing and Risk

Financial Markets and Instruments. Management of foreign exchange, money market, and derivatives desks. Asset-Liability management. Regulatory issues. Corporate Valuation, restructuring, leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions. Issues of deal structures and management of cashflows.

FE 5108 Portfolio Theory and Investments

Portfolio Optimisation Theory. Capital Asset Pricing Models. Arbitrage Pricing Theories. Factor Models. Market Neutral Strategies. Abnormalities and Market Mispricing. Asset Allocation and Dynamic Portfolio Optimization. Portfolio Insurance Problems, and Global Funds Management.

FE 5208 Term Structure and Interest Rate Derivatives

This module will cover both term structure models as well as the valuations of interest rate derivatives. The topics covered include Vasicek , Ho-Lee, Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR), Heath-Jarrow-Morton (HJM) and LIBOR market models. On the numerical side it will cover Black-Derman-Toy (BDT) and Hull-White models as well as some simulation methods.

FE 5210 Research Methods in Finance

This module aims to facilitate students in developing the basic skills for independent research, and to promote their motivations and interests in finding and solving problems. During the study of a research question, students are to demonstrate their progress in acquiring techniques, and to develop presentation skills including effective oral communication and scientific research report writing. Offerings of this module in different years may have different areas of focus.

FE 5211 Seminar in Financial Engineering

Topics relating to financial engineering.

FE 5215 Seminar in Financial Product Innovations

New topics and areas in financial products development and market applications.

FE 5216 Financial Technology Innovations Seminar

New topic and areas in financial technologies including information technology applications, electronic commerce, and other electronic applications to finance problems.

FE 5217 Seminar in Risk Management and Alternative Investment

Topics would cover various alternative investments and risk management based on Chinese experience.

FE 5218 Credit Risk

The course consists of two parts - (i) statistical credit rating models and (ii) credit derivatives. The first part would cover various statistical credit rating models including Altman’s Z-score, logistic regression, artificial neural network and intensity models. The second part will cover various models used to price credit derivative as well as tools used to manage credit risk. The topics covered would include real and risk neutral probabilities of default, RiskMetricsTM, CreditRisk+, default correlation, Copula, Basket default swap, CDOs etc.

FE 5219 Credit Analytics Practicum

This module will provide students with the opportunity to work on real-world problems in quantitative credit analysis. The module will be project based within either a research or industry environment. Students will gain a detailed knowledge of the project subject matter, along with an overall understanding of quantitative credit analysis.

The projects will be group-based with up to three students in a group. Most of the groups will be based in RMI’s Credit Research Initiative, and students can also source for an external company to host their projects.