• Class Number 4839
  • Term Code 3030
  • Class Info
  • Unit Value 6 units
  • Mode of Delivery Online
  • COURSE CONVENER
    • Dr Steve Sault
  • Class Dates
  • Class Start Date 24/02/2020
  • Class End Date 05/06/2020
  • Census Date 08/05/2020
  • Last Date to Enrol 02/03/2020
  • TUTOR
    • Dr Yizhi Wang
SELT Survey Results

This unit is designed to further students’ understanding of futures and options contracts and their use in managing risk. It builds upon material covered in FINM1001FINM2002 provides an overview of options, futures, forwards and swaps on a range of underlying assets/commodities including stocks, interest rates, foreign exchange as well as more exotic instruments such as weather and electricity derivatives. The models used for pricing these instruments will be covered as well as techniques used for risk management. 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. Describe options, futures, forwards, and swaps on a range of underlying assets/commodities;
  2. Explain and be able to utilise option trading strategies;
  3. Describe the types of assets/commodities used including stocks, interest rates, foreign exchange as well as exotic instruments and weather and electricity derivatives;
  4. Use various models to price forward, futures, swap and option contracts;
  5. Use these pricing models for risk management; and,
  6. Collect, process, interpret and communicate the outcomes of financial problems.

Research-Led Teaching

Students undertaking this course will be taught fundamental skills in Finance that will be applied to many real life applications. Students will also be shown how these techniques are applied to research today.

Additional Course Costs

The only additional course costs are a non-programmable scientific calculator (not a financial calculator)

Examination Material or equipment

The only permitted materials in the examination are a calculator (scientific, non-programmable and not a financial calculator), dictionary (which will be checked at the examination), pen and ruler.

Recommended textbook:

Hull, J., Treepongkaruna, S., Heaney, R., Pitt, D., and D. Colwell, Fundamentals of futures and options markets, 1st adaption, Pearson Education 2014. (i.e., The textbook readings are optional for this course. In addition, this textbook is available to students as a 2 hour or 2 day loan from ANU library).


Students are required to read the CFA Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct Standard IV: Duties to Employers. This content will be discussed in Lecture 11. This document can be found at:

https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/ethics/codes/standards-practice-handbook

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

  • in tutorials through interactions with tutors and discussions with other students;
  • through assessments where the lecturer and tutors will provide specific feedback;
  • through consulting teaching staff during their consultation time.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Other Information

Scaling

Your final mark for the course will be based on the raw marks allocated for each of your assessment items. However, your final mark may not be the same number as produced by that formula, as marks may be scaled. Any scaling applied will preserve the rank order of raw marks (i.e. if your raw mark exceeds that of another student, then your scaled mark will exceed or be the same as the scaled mark of that student), and may be either up or down


Support for Students

The University offers a number of support services for students. Information on these is available online from http://students.anu.edu.au/studentlife/


Communication

If necessary, the lecturers and tutors for this course will contact students on their official ANU student email address. Information about your enrolment and fees from the Registrar and Student Services' office will also be sent to this email address. Students are expected to check the Wattle site for announcements about this course, e.g. changes to timetables or notifications of cancellations. Notifications of emergency cancellations of lectures or tutorials will be posted on the door of the relevant room.


Assessment Requirements

As a further academic integrity control, students may be selected for a 15 minute individual oral examination of their written assessment submissions.

Any student identified, either during the current semester or in retrospect, as having used ghost writing services will be investigated under the University’s Academic Misconduct Rule.


Class Schedule

Week/Session Summary of Activities Assessment
1 Topic: Course Overview and Extended Analysis of Forwards, Futures and Options Contracts Readings: Lecture Notes 1, Hull et al Ch. 1 & 2
2 Topic: Hedging Strategies Using Futures Readings: Lecture Notes 2, Hull et al Ch. 3 & 5 Tutorial 1 Questions
3 Topic: Interest Rate Contracts and Swaps Readings: Lecture Notes 3, Hull et al Ch. 4 & 7 Tutorial 2 Questions
4 Topic: Options and Options Trading Strategies Readings: Lecture Notes 4, Hull et al Ch. 9, 10 & 11 Tutorial 3 Questions
5 Topic: Binomial Model for Pricing Options Readings: Lecture Notes 5, Hull et al Ch. 12 Tutorial 4 Questions
6 Topic: Black-Scholes Model for Pricing Options Readings: Lecture Notes 6, Hull et al Ch. 13 Tutorial 5 Questions
7 Topic: Index and Foreign Exchange Options Readings: Lecture Notes 7, Hull et al Ch. 15 Tutorial 6 Questions
8 Topic: Options on Futures Contracts Readings: Lecture Notes 8, Hull et al Ch. 16 Tutorial 7 Questions
9 Topic: The Greek Letters Readings: Lecture Notes 9, Hull et al Ch. 17 Tutorial 8 Questions
10 Topic: Exotic Options and other Non-standard Products Readings: Lecture Notes 10, Hull et al Ch. 22 Tutorial 9 Questions
11 Topic: Credit, Weather, Energy and Insurance Derivatives and Derivatives Mishaps and Ethics in Risk Management Readings: Lecture Notes 11, Hull et al Ch. 23, 24 & 25 CFA Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct Standard IV: Duties to Employers. Tutorial 10 Questions
12 Topic: Application of Derivatives and Course Review Readings: Lecture Notes 12 Tutorial 11 Questions

Tutorial Registration


Assessment Summary

Assessment task Value Due Date Return of assessment Learning Outcomes
Assignment 40 % 24/04/2020 15/05/2020 1,2,3,4,5,6
Final Examination 60 % * * 1,2,3,4,5,6

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Assessment Task 1

Value: 40 %
Due Date: 24/04/2020
Return of Assessment: 15/05/2020
Learning Outcomes: 1,2,3,4,5,6

Assignment

• The assignment will require students to answer a series of questions and to submit a written recommendation as to the hedging strategy of an international company.

• The assignment is to be undertaken individually.

• Details of the assignment will be provided during week 3 with all information also provided via Wattle.

• This assessment is redeemable. If students perform better in the final exam, then the final exam mark will count instead of the assignment.


Assessment Task 2

Value: 60 %
Learning Outcomes: 1,2,3,4,5,6

Final Examination

The final examination will be based on all the work covered throughout the duration of the semester. The final examination is worth 60% of the overall course grade. The exam will include a mixture of theoretical and numerical questions. Students will be provided with further details regarding the exam as it approaches.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically, committing to honest and responsible scholarly practice and upholding these values with respect and fairness.


The ANU commits to assisting all members of our community to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle and Academic Misconduct Rule, uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with.


The Academic Misconduct Rule is in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Very minor breaches of the academic integrity principle may result in a reduction of marks of up to 10% of the total marks available for the assessment. The ANU offers a number of online and in person services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. Visit the Academic Skills website for more information about academic integrity, your responsibilities and for assistance with your assignments, writing skills and study.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

No submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date will be permitted. If an assessment task is not submitted by the due date, a mark of 0 will be awarded.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

Assignments will be available for collection from the RSFAS School Office on level 4 of CBE Building 26C by 8 October 2019.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

Students will not be permitted to resubmit assignments.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

Dr Steve Sault
6125 0487
enquiries.rsfas@anu.edu.au

Research Interests


Dr Steve Sault

Dr Yizhi Wang
6125 7384
yizhi.wang@anu.edu.au

Research Interests


Dr Yizhi Wang

Responsible Officer: Registrar, Student Administration / Page Contact: Website Administrator / Frequently Asked Questions