* Students learn about the basic principles of corporate financial decisions and the functioning of financial markets.
* Students will be able to read and interpret financial information.
* Students can judge investment proposals.
* Students can reflect on the contents of articles in the financial press.
* Students learn about shareholder value and the interaction with other stakeholders in the firm.
* Students present solution of small cases.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. A RE-EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND NEW COUNTERMEASURES BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT MIGHT FORCE COORDINATORS TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

The course consists of three parts. The first part focuses on the basics of corporate finance, where we will take the viewpoint of a financial manager and distinguish between investment and financing decisions. The second part focuses on the concept of valuation. Topics in this part are the net present value of a project or investment, valuation of stocks, valuation of bonds, and capital budgeting. The third part of the course is built around the risk-return trade-off and (modern) portfolio theory. We will analyse risk-return models to assess the required return of investment projects or securities. We will also introduce the topic of financial derivatives (options, forwards contracts) often used by corporate risk managers to hedge risky positions on the balance sheet like e.g. foreign exposure of outstanding invoices.

Jonathan Berk and Peter DeMarzo, Corporate Finance, Pearson, fifth global edition.