BFC3240: International Finance

- Also CE & unit co-ordinator. I found Ali to be very approachable and knowledgeable in the content, even though this was not his area of research or education. He understood the content very well and was able to explain it decently in the lectures. Due to this, although the lectures are a bit dry, by watching over them you are able to get a far deeper understanding of what the subject is about.

(Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)

Coming from a more statistical/applied background, I thoroughly enjoyed this subject. It was able to look beyond the theory of finance and apply it into practice. There is also a large economics background employed, particularly in the field of balance of payments and demand and supply graphs as covered in ECC1000 & ECC1100 in particular. Therefore, doing this unit as close to as completing those 2 units is recommended, such that your knowledge on macroeconomic concepts is fresh to make the understanding far easier.

Tutorials were pretty standard, you just went over the questions posted on Moodle + excel spreadsheet after completing the tutorial quiz in the first 10-15 minutes of the tutorial. I had Ibrahim as my tutor, who was excellent, as he understood the content very well and was incredibly approachable to help clarify any questions about the material that I had.
Also, the exam covered concepts well beyond the last few weeks. Everything in international finance builds up knowledge, so it is good to have a strong understanding of the fundamental concepts covered in the first few lectures before learning the later concepts. Due to this, although limited material was provided for the exam and the assignment marking was a bit weird, I still really enjoyed this unit as most of the concepts made sense to me and were extremely relevant in the inter-connected world that we live in today. Would definitely recommend this unit to a finance major / finance degree student as an elective, or as a unit to add on to your core list of units for your finance major

- 60%. The exam consisted of 9 short answer questions covering the lectures, tutorials and additional readings covered over the semester. I found it to be not too bad, as I understood what the additional readings were asking, so was able to maximise my marks in that form. It also touched upon the All-in-cost-of-funds (AIC) also known as the internal rate of return (IRR), so remember to bring your HP 10bII+ calculator to the exam as this is the only way you can get full marks for that question. Other than that, the exam was relatively straightforward, and was very similar to the past exam questions with solutions provided on Moodle. If you just go over those, the problem sets and the questions for each topic provided on Moodle then you'll be fine.

- 10%. This was an 1000 word essay on the currency system in either India or Turkey and how risks could be mitigated by having operations in these countries. Groups were formed by yourselves, so this did not make the task too difficult as we had group members willing to help wherever they could. The average mark for this was 7.81/10 so most students understood what needed to be done to do well. Unlike the project posted 2 reviews earlier for ETC3420, a marking rubric was provided, so if you stick to that and ensure you follow all points listed in that then you will be able to maximise your marks.

- 5% (Sum of 10 Quizzes) - Every tutorial usually at the start a quiz is unhidden on Moodle and must be completed in the tutorial once it is unhidden. Each quiz consisted of 2-3 multiple choice questions. These were usually not too difficult, and answers were readily available online but were not always correct. Each quiz was worth 0.5%, to get to the total of 5%. Most people got close to 5/5% so this should not be too tricky

- 20%. This semester the mid-semester test was trialled as a multiple choice test only. There were 30 questions covering material from lectures 1-4 and parts of lecture 5 that were not really specified correctly. However, the 100 mins allocated for this were plentiful, such that there would be no problem for most students to complete the test in the given timeframe. As per all finance mid-semester tests, the test was held at Caulfield Racecourse during the allocated lecture time slot (6-8pm Thursday). If you go over all the lecture slides then you should be fine for this, as the questions were usually taken straight from material in the lecture slides, sometimes on obscure information which was not to be expected.

by Eiteman Stonehill and Moffett is the prescribed textbook for this unit. It isn't excessively necessary, as the lecture slides do cover everything quite well. However, most examples from the lecture slides are taken from the textbook, so if you can get an online copy it will help immensely. The 15th edition of this book is due to be released this month, so from next year onwards the 14th edition will be outdated, so try and get the 15th edition online if you are taking this subject from next year onwards.

No past/sample exams provided. Only a small selection of practice questions with solutions were provided

- 5%. Something new this semester. After the last tutorial of the week, on Friday at 1pm a spreadsheet was released on Excel for students to complete. The spreadsheet had to be completed by the following Wednesday at 11:55pm and was then submitted on Moodle. This tested the previous tutorial's content, usually following the problem sets released to be completed in the tutorial after the quiz. These as well were not too difficult, and you do have the opportunity to collaborate with friends to check over your spreadsheet, so most certainly take this on board to maximise your marks.

4 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture

1x 2hr lecture per week
1x 1hr tutorial per week

Semester 2, 2019

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