FIE402 Corporate Finance (NHH)
Financial strategy, valuation and options. A good course where the key issues are Valuation (to distinguish good and bad projects), how to Finance this, and putting it together in the real world.
INTRO
When
​Spring 2024
Credits
7,5​
Language
English​
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Mandatory?
As a part of the Finance master, this is mandatory. But other master students can choose it as an elective.​​
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Has two mandatory (compulsory activity) individual homework that are graded as "approved/not approved". These were quite easy and didn't take to much effort. Maybe around 5-6 hours each.
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Workload
The workload was manageable and comparable to the average 7.5 credit course. I didn’t find it necessary to read the course book in its entirety, which saved a significant amount of time. The 2 x 45-minute lectures twice a week were sufficient, and there were many optional tasks available for practice and better understanding of the topics.
While completing all the optional tasks requires additional time, they are very helpful and relevant for the exam. I would recommend solving them in addition to the mandatory tasks.
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Lecturer
Our lecturer was satisfactory. He speaks English well and has a charming German sense of humor. His engaging teaching style keeps students attentive, which is commendable given the interesting course topics that would be hard to make boring.
One drawback was his PowerPoint presentations. While I could grasp most of the material by reading through the slides before the lecture, some parts were unclear and difficult to fit into the broader context. Although his explanations in class helped clarify some points, certain aspects remained confusing. I should have asked for further clarification, but I did not. Reviewing the textbook or old notes beforehand might have been beneficial.
Overall, the course proceeded smoothly. He rarely canceled classes, which only occurred once or twice due to illness or family obligations. Consequently, we did not fall far behind schedule.
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The Course
We had classes from mid-January to the very last days of March. The exam was not until May 28th, allowing ample time for preparation and revision between the last lecture and the exam date.
Typically, we had two lectures per week, each consisting of two 45-minute sessions. Most of the lecture time was spent going through the PowerPoint slides. At the end of each theme (e.g., ‘Black Scholes’), the lecturer would solve a longer task on the blackboard, demonstrating calculations and the application of theory to real-life examples. I found this particularly helpful for understanding how to solve the problem sets (the optional tasks later on).
Mandatory homework was assigned twice during the semester, with each assignment due a little over a week later. These were not too difficult, and if you understood the class material, you could complete them in about 5-6 hours.
Throughout the semester, there were also tutorial sessions where a tutor demonstrated how to solve tasks and answered any questions. This was a great opportunity to deepen your understanding.
The professor also offered ‘drop-in’ times, more frequently as the exam approached, where you could visit his office and ask questions in person. He was also responsive to emails.​
TACTIC
How to work with the course
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To perform well on the exam, the most relevant preparation is always to do PAST EXAM QUESTIONS! However, if you want to learn as much as possible for practical application, this may not always be the best approach. In our exam, I think 3 out of 4 tasks was pretty similar to other earlier tasks (2-8 years back in time), and 1 of the tasks was something I've never seen before.
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In this course, completing tasks is crucial. You need to calculate quickly and recognize the correct approach, so practicing numerous tasks will help you develop this skill. During the exam, I felt the time provided was adequate and did not feel significant time pressure. I had memorized the formulas so well that I rarely needed to refer to the formula sheet provided.
If I could retake the course, I would start by reading the textbook or notes from other students about a topic before the lecture, making it clearer what the lecturer was discussing. While the lecturer was competent in presenting and explaining, there were times when I lost track of our progress within the course. After the lecture, I would immediately start working on the problem sets, as doing tasks quickly exposed any weaknesses or gaps in my knowledge.
The Book: If I were to take the course again, I might consider getting the textbook. I did well without it (achieving a ‘B’), but it might have been easier to read the book sometimes rather than solely relying on lectures. However, the textbook is quite thick and contains a lot of material that is not necessary for the exam. If you find my notes or others’ notes detailed, clear, and easy to understand, it may suffice to read them before class.​​​​​
NOTES
The link to notes and course materials is provided below. You will be redirected to the file-sharing site, where you will need to create an account to access the files. Unfortunately, I was unable to implement a solution that allows access to multiple files without requiring a login. I apologize for the inconvenience