Undergraduate - UnitBFG3300 - Fundamentals of financial derivatives

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Business and Economics
Organisational Unit	Department of Banking and Finance
Offered	Not offered in 2014

Synopsis

The Australian derivatives market is one of the largest and most dynamic in the world. The main futures contracts traded on the Sydney Futures Exchange are amongst the most liquid asset classes in the world. This unit provides students with an understanding of how these markets work and how they can be used. Topics include institutional aspects of financial derivatives markets, the use of (and factors affecting) option prices in equity, currency and interest rate markets, and the pricing of and uses of futures, forward contracts and swaps and new financial derivatives in Australia.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

describe the characteristics of options, futures, and other derivatives
identify the factors that affect option prices
apply option pricing models
explain the operation of futures markets and the link between spot and futures prices
analyse swaps, FRAs, caps, floors and collars in terms of their basic components for pricing purposes
demonstrate how derivatives can be used for risk management, speculation and arbitrage
apply critical thinking, problem solving and presentation skills to individual and/or group activities dealing with derivative instruments and demonstrate in an individual summative assessment task the acquisition of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered by BFG3300.