25799 Finance for Managers

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Business: Finance
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Postgraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 250799 Finance Fundamentals AND 25742 Financial Management AND 25746 Financial Management: Concepts and Applications

Description

This subject serves as an introduction to Corporate Finance and develops the analytical techniques for making informed financial decisions in a corporate context. Students learn how to manage all aspects of a firm’s financial condition, with a special emphasis on investment and financing decisions. The subject develops valuable quantitative proficiencies in areas such as the time-value of money and asset pricing theory. It also develops important qualitative proficiencies in areas such as company law and corporate ethics.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1.	demonstrate an understanding of the principles and objectives of financial decision-making
2.	assess ethical problems and issues of social responsibility in a corporate setting
3.	apply time value of money techniques to financial decision-making problems
4.	assess a firm’s long-term financing options, and advise its managers on how to raise capital
5.	evaluate corporate investment proposals, and recommend whether they should be accepted or rejected

Contribution to the development of graduate attributes

This subject contributes to the development of the following graduate attribute(s):

Communication and collaboration
Professional and technical competence

Teaching and learning strategies

Before class: Students will be required to prepare for class each week by reading the lecture slides and the assigned sections from the textbook, and by watching the recorded lecture for the week. They will also be required to watch additional videos curated from the Internet, and to read assigned news articles illustrating key concepts. Finally, they will be expected to prepare solutions to the problem set for the week.

During class: During the first two hours of class, the lecturer will highlight the key concepts and techniques in the lecture slides for that week. The presentation will be interspersed with exercises and examples that students will complete collaboratively during the class. The final hour of class will be devoted to a discussion of the problem set for that week. Students will be encouraged to ask questions about the problems, and to present their own solutions and comment on the solutions of their peers. This will provide an opportunity for them to get feedback from the lecturer on their problem-solving skills.

After class: After class each week (and prior to preparing for the following week), students will complete an online multiple-choice quiz. The quiz will test all the topics covered in the material for that week and will allow students to consolidate their knowledge of those topics. Although it will not count towards the grade for the subject, it will be a valuable source of feedback, allowing students to self-assess their knowledge.

Content (topics)

Introduction to finance, the goals of finance and agency problems
Financial securities, debt and equity
The role of law and ethics in finance
Financial mathematics and asset valuation
Risk, asset selection and capital budgeting
Cost of capital and capital structure
Working capital management and Financial leases
International finance

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Quizzes (Individual)*

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3 and 5
Weight:	20%
Criteria:	*Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero.

Assessment task 2: Financial News Report (Individual)

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 2
Weight:	10%

Assessment task 3: Case Study (Group)

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 4
Weight:	20%

Assessment task 4: Exam (Individual)

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 3, 4 and 5
Weight:	50%

Minimum requirements

Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.

Required texts

Ross, Trayler, Koh, Hambusch, Glover, Westerfield, Jordan; Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 8th Australian Edition, McGraw-Hill 2021