AF6035 - Financial Management

The two one-hour weekly lectures will provide you with a theoretical underpinning of the module content, supported by two one-hour weekly seminars which will give you an opportunity to practice the various financial techniques, allowing you to build up a proficiency in the use of financial techniques and the necessary skills of interpretation and communication. One seminar each week will be focused on an examination level question.

There will be a number of additional exercises housed on the module’s e-learning portal that will permit you to undertake further practice independently. The module has a supporting reading list that provides you with an opportunity to see how the various financial decision making and investment appraisal techniques are applied to enhance shareholder wealth.

Your directed study will support the work you have undertaken in the contact sessions. You will be expected to keep up-to-date with your seminar exercises. In addition, you will be set a selection of exercises to complete in your own time.
Independent learning time is set aside for learning activities, self-identified by you, to gain a deeper and broader knowledge of the subject. You may complete the review exercises, work with the electronic support tools (such as comprehensive and detailed answers to seminar questions and recordings of lectures) and undertake further reading.
The problem-solving nature of the means that tutor (formative) feedback will be received continuously. You will have the opportunity to study how many of the principles studied (for example efficient market hypothesis) are applied in the real world by using the Bloomberg system, housed in the NBS trading room.

Support will be provided to you by a member of academic staff leading the module and providing the lecture input. A team of academic staff are allocated to seminar groups of about 20 students. This provides a closer, more personal academic support.

Your module is supported by an e-learning portal, which houses lecture materials, seminar exercises and answer files, alongside assessment details and various support facilities such as recordings of certain lectures and access to various online sources relevant to the course.

You will be provided with a wide-ranging electronic reading list that comprises of various academic reports, conference papers and journal articles that showcase the application of various financial techniques presented in the module.

Assessment will be by a three hour closed book exam which will be made up of multiple choice questions to test broader understanding of the module content, and four computational and theoretical questions (compulsory section A, optional 2 from 3 questions in section) covering specific financial techniques studied on the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• Understand a variety of investment appraisal techniques and their application to the analysis and interpretation of financial problems (MLO1).
• Understand and demonstrate the role of financial techniques as an aid to decision making; through the selection of financial tools and techniques to assist in the solution of financial problems (MLO2).


Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• Evidence skills in the handling of financial data and the corresponding findings of its analysis and modelling for progression to more advanced contexts (MLO3).

Formative Assessment
You will be continuously assessed in formative terms during seminars which will always incorporate pre-work based on preceding week’s lecture material. Your seminar tutor will give you feedback on that preparation.

Summative Assessment
100% of the mark for the module will be derived from a closed book exam (plus 15 mins reading time) which will be made up of two sections. Section A is compulsory and comprises 60% of the mark. Section B requires 2 from 3 questions to be answered and comprises 40% of the mark. (MLO1, MLO2 & MLO3).

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Periods of financial upheaval have taught us a very important lesson: some companies are managed well, others are managed badly. Discerning one from the other is critical to the stability of modern economies. From a financial perspective, the key difference has been in the way managers view the trade-off between risk and return. This module will teach you how to make an informed judgement about which investment projects firms should opt for and which ones they should reject. You’ll be able to critically assess what a sensible level of debt is, and what impact capital structure has on the required rate of return. Having completed this module, you’ll be fully equipped to contribute to the practical problems that financial managers are faced with. You’ll also be in a strong position to engage with academic debate on the theories underpinning the module’s key concepts.