Intensive Online Finance Subjects
Melbourne Business School offers three intensive online finance subjects for high achieving students applying for the Master of Finance or Master of Finance (Enhanced) who do not meet the subject prerequisites to meet the course entry requirements.
These subjects are only available to applicants who have had their course application assessed and have been recommended to undertake the subjects to meet their offer conditions. Eligible applicants will be invited to register for these subjects and should not register prior to receiving their conditional course offer.
To be competitive to be selected for these subjects, students need to be high achieving and typically have completed a minimum of two finance subjects throughout their undergraduate degree. If students are invited to complete these intensive subjects, they are only expected to complete one or two of the subjects. Historically applicants with a WAM of 75% and above have been competitive for entry into the program.
The intensive subjects will be completed prior to the start of the course.
NOTE: Completion of these subjects does not guarantee entry into the Master of Finance or Master of Finance (Enhanced). The subjects will not count for credit towards any degree program offered by The University of Melbourne (UoM) and cannot be used to meet prerequisites for other UoM subjects.
Overview
The three subjects offered are:
Intensive Corporate Financial Decision Making (Online)
Equivalent to the Corporate Finance (level 2) entry requirement
This subject examines capital budgeting techniques, the capital structure decision, the distribution decision and corporate risk management at a more advanced level to that covered in Principles of Finance . Topics include: the Modigliani-Miller theorems, the impact of taxes under a classical tax system, the impact of taxes under an imputation tax system, corporate acquisitions and restructuring, hybrid securities as a source of finance, and techniques in raising capital.
Intensive Investments (Online)
Equivalent to the Investments (level 3) entry requirement
This subject is an introduction to investment analysis, with emphasis on equity securities and fixed interest securities. The topics covered focus on issues fundamental to financial managers, money managers, risk managers, financial advisers, and regulators. These topics include the following areas of investments: fundamental ideas in asset pricing; modern portfolio theory and its applications; equilibrium theories of asset pricing; portfolio performance evaluation; empirical evidence on security returns; key issues in pricing fixed interest securities; the term structure of interest rates; techniques in fixed interest portfolio management and the pricing of floating rate notes and interest rate swaps.
Intensive Derivative Securities (Online)
Equivalent to the Derivatives (level 3) entry requirement
This subject focuses on the application and valuation of derivative securities, such as forwards, futures, swaps and options. The emphasis will be on arbitrage relations, valuation, and hedging with derivatives. The topics covered include: (1) Forwards and futures: the mechanics of trading, price determination, and hedging strategies; (2) Swaps: definition and valuation; (3) Options: payoffs, arbitrage bounds, trading strategies, the binomial model, the Black-Scholes model and its relationship to the binomial, hedging, American options and dividends, options on futures, limitations of the binomial and Black-Scholes Models.
Annual Intakes
Summer Semester
January – February
6 weeks comprised: weeks 1-4 subject content, week 5 study, week 6 exam
- Intensive Corporate Financial Decision Making (Online)
- Intensive Investments (Online)
- Intensive Derivative Securities (Online)
Winter Semester
June - July
6 weeks comprised: weeks 1-4 subject content, week 5 study, week 6 exam
- Intensive Corporate Financial Decision Making (Online)
- Intensive Investments (Online)
- Intensive Derivative Securities (Online)
Key dates
Dates for the 2023 Winter Semester offering:
- Subject registration opens: 27 March 2023
- Subject registration closes: 2 June 2023
- Summer subject commences: Monday 5 June 2023
- Subject runs for 4 teaching weeks
- Subject finishes: Sunday 2 July 2023
- Study week: 3 - 9 July 2023
- Exam: Monday 10 July 2023
- Results released: Friday 14 July 2023
Fee information
Intensive Corporate Financial Decision Making (Online): $930 (incl GST)
Intensive Investments (Online): $930 (incl GST)
Intensive Derivative Securities (Online): $930 (incl GST)
Note:
- Payment can only be made using the booking link below, and must be paid in full up-front.
- No discounts or payment plans are available. In particular, subject fees are not covered by Australian HECS - the full fee is payable on registration.
- Registrants who withdraw from the subject before the commencement date will receive a refund of fees less 10% for administration.
- Registrants who withdraw from the subject before the end of week 1 will receive a refund of fees less 20% for administration.
- After the end of week 1, no refund of fees is available.
- Registrants who successfully complete the subject and accept their Master of Finance offer will be eligible for a full fee remission. Students must be enrolled in the Master of Finance to be granted a remission. Remissions will be processed after the University's semester census date.
- Refunds will be made to the credit/debit card used for payment.
- Purchase of a textbook may be required in addition to the subject fee. Confirmation of any text requirements will be provided upon registration.
Entry requirements
These online subjects are open only to invited applicants of the Master of Finance or Master of Finance (Enhanced), and they have no formal prerequisites. However, they assume knowledge equivalent to the UoM subjects as outlined below. You are strongly recommended to have completed the equivalent prerequisite content before attempting these subjects. It is the responsibility of each student, with advice from the Program Director of the Master of Finance and Master of Finance (Enhanced), to determine if their prior study meets these requirements.
Intensive Corporate Financial Decision Making (Online)
Prerequisite knowledge equivalent to FNCE10002 Principles of Finance
The expected background for this subject includes the topics:
- Foundational finance (time-value-of-money, present value)
- Fundamentals of corporate finance (capital budgeting, leverage, types, and sources of financing)
- Fundamentals of investments (risk and return, diversification, capital asset pricing model)
- Fundamentals of derivative securities (risk management)
Intensive Investments (Online) and Intensive Derivative Securities (Online)
Prerequisite knowledge equivalent to FNCE20005 Corporate Financial Decision Making
The expected background for this subject includes the topics:
- Foundational finance (time-value-of-money, present value)
- Fundamentals of corporate finance (capital budgeting, leverage, types, and sources of financing)
- Fundamentals of investments (risk and return, diversification, capital asset pricing model)
- Fundamentals of derivative securities (risk management)
Delivery mode
The subjects are fully online. Participation in the subject requires access to the internet using a device with a Windows or Mac operating system. The subject is delivered through the UoM’s Learning Management System (LMS) that students will be granted access to when they are enrolled in the subject.
The subjects also use Zoom (download here) for conducting online consultations, which requires a video and audio connection and is most effective through a laptop or PC. Further information will be provided to students prior to the first session.
Subject Details and Process
Once you have been invited to register for these subjects and upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email detailing the date you will be given access to the University of Melbourne Learning Management System (LMS) subject site.
The subject content is covered over four weeks. Students will need to work through four modules of subject content. A study week will take place in week 5 and the exam will be held in week 6.
For each of the modules, students may need to:
- Watch lecture videos and take appropriate notes (depending on their experience with the topic).
- Complete practice questions.
- Check their answers and watch solution videos.
- Complete extra follow up questions from the additional material if extra practice is required.
- Attend the weekly online session via Zoom.
- Complete the weekly assignments.
It is estimated that each subject will require approximately 12 to 15 hours’ time commitment per week, including watching all the videos and doing problems.
There is one piece of assessment for each subject in the form of a final exam which will be held during the examination week (week 6) and will constitute 100% of the final mark. The exam will need to be completed by hand and submitted via the LMS. You will need to either save your work as a single pdf or scan it as a pdf in order to submit it. There are strict deadlines for the submission of the exam.
Students will receive notification of their grades for the subject once the examination has been marked and will be issued with a certificate indicating their grade by the Department of Finance. Successful completion of the subject with a mark of at least 75% will be required for the subject to count as an equivalent prerequisite to meet the entry requirement for the Master of Finance or Master of Finance (Enhanced). Students who do not receive a score of 75% or more, and who wish to re-enrol in the subject, should contact the department via the contact details outlined below.
Contact details
Phone: +61 3 8344 2323 | Office hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm Melbourne (Australia) time
Email: finance-intensives@unimelb.edu.au