Intermediate Finance
10-Week Undergraduate Course
Course Description: This undergraduate course focuses on portfolio theory, asset pricing, and derivatives. The first half introduces uncertainty and risk aversion before covering optimal portfolio construction, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and market efficiency. The second half introduces arbitrage, then examines bond markets, yield curve arbitrage, forwards, futures, and options. Throughout the course, readings, problem sets, and interactive polls reinforce key concepts and help students develop practical skills. Students should be comfortable with algebra, calculus, and statistics.
Figure: Optimal Portfolio Selection with Risk and Return
Notes. The figure illustrates the efficient frontier in portfolio theory, showing the trade-off between expected return and risk (standard deviation) for different portfolio combinations. The curved line represents the efficient frontier, where investors can achieve the highest expected return for a given level of risk. Individual assets are shown as points, and the tangency portfolio represents the optimal risky portfolio when combined with a risk-free asset. The region below the efficient frontier contains all feasible but suboptimal portfolio combinations.
Student Evaluations
| Year | Rating | Responses | Student Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 4.8/5 | 68 | "Rory was by far the best finance instructor I've had the opportunity to interact with. He was extremely encouraging and welcomed all questions towards the module and also extra-curriculars in the discussion of the module content." |
| 2023/24 | 4.8/5 | 49 | "Very good at explaining things. Complicated module so his thorough approach to explaining things was super useful." |
| 2022/23 | 4.6/5 | 62 | "Rory is honestly one of the best teachers I've had, made it very easy to understand the lessons, and is great with students as a whole. His time was greatly valuable and appreciated!" |
| 2021/22 | 4.6/5 | 61 | "Rory is a fantastic module leader and lecturer. He explains concepts very well and is always available to answer questions in the forums or on Vevox." |
| 2020/21 | 4.4/5 | 111 | "Rory is an excellent teacher. The man is clearly very hard working and talented in his explanations. I have no hold-backs saying he is by far the best teacher I have had at Warwick." |