¾«¶«´«Ã½app

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: FIN8201 or Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: GDBZ or MBSI

Rationale

Successful wealth management must draw on both orthodox and behavioural economics. The most well developed field of behavioural economics is behavioural finance. Research has identified many aspects of the decision-making process that are shaped by heuristics and, consequently, are biased in certain ways. Understanding the nature of the decision-making process from the perspective of behavioural decision theory is a first step towards developing an awareness of decision-making biases that shape both the wealth manager’s decisions and the decisions and actions of clients. In particular, the tendency to weight losses more heavily than gains of the same magnitude explains shifts in risk preferences and persistent biases in investment decision-making. By introducing students to some of the main findings of behavioural economics and its applications to financial markets and investing, this course complements the orthodox finance frameworks developed elsewhere.

Synopsis

This course introduces behavioural finance and identifies its implications for investment decision-making and wealth management. The ways in which normal decision-making is shaped by heuristics and characterised by persistent biases is explored and some of the main theoretical frameworks of orthodox finance, including portfolio theory and efficient markets, are reimagined from the behavioural perspective. The specific implications of investor psychology for the process of wealth management are developed in the second part of the course. Overall, the course provides an accessible introduction to behavioural finance and provides students with the opportunity to develop tools that facilitate a more sophisticated approach to wealth management in a context shaped by investor psychology.

Objectives

Topics

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Reference materials

Student workload expectations

Assessment details

Important assessment information

1. Attendance requirements:
   
   There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students’ responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
   
   
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   
   Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.
   
   Requirements after S2, 2020:
   To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.
   
   
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   
   Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)
   
   
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   
   Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
   
   Requirements after S2, 2020:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the end of semester examination by achieving at least 40% of the marks available for that assessment item.
   Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.
   
   
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.
   
   
6. Examination information:
   
   Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: There is no examination in this course.
   
   Requirements after S2, 2020:
   RESTRICTED: Candidates are allowed access only to specific materials during a Restricted Examination. The only
   materials that candidates may use in the restricted examination for this course are:

   • writing materials (non-electronic and free from material which could give the student an unfair advantage in the examination);
   • calculators which cannot hold textual information
   • Students whose first language is not English, may, take an appropriate unmarked non electronic translation dictionary (but not technical dictionary) into the examination.
   • Dictionaries with any handwritten notes will not be permitted. Translation dictionaries will be subject to perusal and may be removed from the candidate’s possession until appropriate disciplinary action is completed if found to contain material that could give the candidate an unfair advantage.

   
   
   
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   
   Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
   
   Requirements after S2, 2020:
   Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.
   
   
8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
   
   Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .
   
   

Assessment notes

1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the Harvard (AGPS) referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (APGS) style to be used is defined by the USQ library’s referencing guide. This guide can be found at .
   
   

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:

1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
2. is benchmarked against the internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.