BAEcon Economics and Philosophy / Course details

Introduction to the financial system, financial claims, financial intermediaries, banking, financial markets, equity market, bond market, hedge funds and private equity, insurance, pensions, collective investments and so on.

Only available to students on: BA Econ; Mgt; IM; IMABS; IBFE, Accounting and BSc Econ. BMAN10522/10522(M) or BMAN10552 are pre-requisites of BMAN 21011.

Pre-requisites:

BMAN10522 or BMAN10522(M) Financial Decision Making or BMAN10552 Fundamentals of Finance

(BMAN10552 Fundamentals of Finance must be passed at 60% or more).
Pre-requisite course units have to be passed by 40% or above at the first attempt unless a higher percentage is indicated within this course outline.

Co-requisites: None

Dependent course units: None

Overlap: BMAN23000 (students should be aware that topics such as equity and bond valuation that are discussed at some point during BMAN21011 are also part of the curriculum for BMAN23000). BMAN21011 is an optional course therefore students who have a full grasp of these subjects may wish to consider other options. A detailed course description will be made available at the beginning of the semester and students are strongly encouraged to consult it in order to make an informed choice.

The course aims to enable students to appreciate and understand how financial markets and institutions operate. It covers financial institutions and other market participants, their roles in the financial system and the ways they interact with each other. A second and equally important objective is to help students to understand commonly used financial instruments and how they work.

 

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

a) describe the role and structure of the financial system;
b) explain key concepts such as financial claim, financial intermediation and financial market;
c) discuss theories on financial markets and institutions that help explain phenomena such as adverse selection and moral hazard;
d) explain the concepts and functions of different types of financial instruments.

Specific learning outcomes will be provided for each topic.

2 hours of lectures per week for 9 weeks

Four workshop sessions will be arranged outside of lectures.

Total study hours: 100 hours split between lectures, workshops private study and preparation for classes, coursework and examinations.

Informal Contact Methods
1. Office Hours
2. Online Learning Activities (blogs, discussions, self-assessment questions)

 

Participation (10%) and an on-site exam (90%). 

Participation will be fulfilled by completing the assigned question sets before specified deadlines for four workshops. The performance in answering these questions will not be considered towards participation. Put differently, when a student completes the questions for one of the four workshops, they earn 2.5%. If one completes all four workshops question sets before specified deadlines, they will be awarded 10%. Feedback on performance will be provided in workshops. 

For semester 1 only exchange students admitted via the Alliance Manchester Business School International Office that take this course as BMAN20601 the assessment will be participation (10%) and an essay (90%). The topic of this essay and other details will be announced after the reading week during the semester. Exchange students will be notified in due course if there is any change to this.
 

 

Methods of Feedback to Students
• Informal advice and discussion during a lecture, seminar, workshop or lab.

• Online exercises and quizzes delivered through the Blackboard course space.

• Responses to student emails and questions from a member of staff including feedback provided to a group via an online discussion forum.

• Written and/or verbal comments on assessed coursework.

• Generic feedback posted on Blackboard regarding overall examination performance.

Required reading

Buckle, M. and J. Thompson (2004), The UK Financial System. Theory and Practice, 5th ed., Manchester: Manchester University Press. B&T

Glen Arnold (2012), Modern Financial Markets and Institutions: a Practical Perspective, Harlow: Pearson.

 

 

 

Pre-requisites:

BMAN10522 or BMAN10522(M) Financial Decision Making or BMAN10552 Fundamentals of Finance
(BMAN10552 Fundamentals of Finance must be passed at 60% or more).

Pre-requisite course units have to be passed by 40% or above at the first attempt unless a higher percentage is indicated within this course outline.

Co-requisites: None

Dependent course units: None

Overlap: BMAN23000 (students should be aware that topics such as equity and bond valuation that are discussed at some point during BMAN21011 are also part of the curriculum for BMAN23000). A detailed course description will be made available at the beginning of the semester. BMAN21011 is an optional course.  Students are strongly encouraged to consult that description to make an informed choice.
Programme Restrictions: Optional for BA Econ, BSc Econ, BSc Management, BSc IM, BSc IBFE, BSc Accounting, BEconSc.

BMAN21011 is available to study abroad and exchange students admitted through the University of Manchester International Programmes Office.
 

For Academic Year 2024/25

Updated: March 2024

Approved by: March UG Committee