Although there are no formal requirements, students will benefit from a solid background in mathematics and statistics.

At the end of the course students should be able to: - Compute present and future values of cash-flow streams to compute the net present values of different real and financial investments. - Have a basic knowledge of the functioning of financial markets and of the way in which investment decisions are made. - Understand the risk-return tradeoff. Understand how diversification affects risk. - Have a clear understanding of the difference between systematic and diversifiable risk and know how to measure each. - Understand how interest rates are set and the principles of valuation of fixed income securities. - Know the basic types of derivatives and understand why and how they are used in risk management.

Topic 1: Introduction to Financial Markets Topic 2: Time Value of Money Topic 3: Investment Valuation Topic 4: Fixed-Income Securities Topic 5: Interest Rate Determination and Risk Management in Fixed Income Topic 6: Return and Risk Topic 7: Portfolio Management: Mean-Variance Model Topic 8: Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Topic 9: Derivative Assets: Options and Futures Topic 10: Introduction to Derivative Asset Valuation

Teaching methodology will be as follows: -Each topic or sub topic is presented by the professor in a theory session. After the theory session the students have to study the materials, do complementary readings and work on the relevant problem sets. These problem sets and questions from the students are solved in the next practice session. The problem sets have to be solved at home prior to the practice session. -The course material for each topic (slides that will be used in theory sessions and problem sets to be solved in practice sessions) is provided in advance through the intranet in Aula Global 2. -Each teacher has scheduled weekly office hours that the students can use to obtain extra help.