Subject Code/Name: FINS1613 - Business Finance Contact Hours: 2 hours lecture, 1 hour tutorial
Assumed Knowledge: Nil, but an equivalent of 2U mathematics is highly recommended so that the maths make sense.
Assessment: 10% - Participation (A bit easier to earn than in ACCT1501), 10% - Homework (You have unlimited attempts at the questions), 10%+15%+15% (Total 40%) Separate quizzes, with the first quiz being super easy. Finals weighted 40%
Lecture Recordings? Yes
Notes/Materials Available:
In semester 1, there are HEAPS of resources offered. Live streams before the quizzes and finals, the entire QUESTION bank for quiz 1, and sufficient past quizzes for the other forms of assessment as well. Tutors are generally really nice and send you their tutorial slides as well.
Textbook: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (2nd Australian Edition), by Berk, DeMarzo, Harford, Ford, Mollica, and Finch, Pearson Australia, 2014. Not necessary at all; preferably use the lecture slides and MyFinanceLab.
Lecturer(s): Dr. Robert Tumarkin, Ying Dou
Year & Semester of completion: 2017/1
Difficulty: 1.5/5 (Biased!)
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Your Mark/Grade: 94 HD
Comments: This course is one of the choices for the first year electives of all commerce students. This course introduces students to the bread-and-butter of finance and makes up the fundamentals of everything in the finance major. It becomes a core course for actuarial students to fulfil CT2.
This course was ridiculously easy for me given that I had undertaken ACTL1101 in advance. Most actuaries are aware that taking this course before FINS1613 makes it significantly easier than otherwise, and hence the bias in the difficulty rating. For many students, this course tends to achieve a difficulty of 4/5 as they are either not well versed with maths equivalent to 2U level, understanding of how multiple cash flows work or feel bombarded by the lengthiness of several questions.
This course does not neglect theory altogether, however the focus is on the calculations. FINS1612 (only required by finance majors) introduces more theoretical concepts.
It is imperative that students understand quickly what goes on in the first few weeks of the course as everything is somehow tied to it. Topic 3 (Capital budgeting) is notorious for being the hardest of the lot; students who are currently taking (or have previously taken) ACCT1501 find it slightly easier, withs students having taken ACCT1511 finding it a breeze as it's just ACCT1511 dumbed down.
Many students highly recommend this course be undertaken in semester 1 and here are the reasons for it- The lecturer influences this the most. Robert Turnarkin is a godsend; he literally sets his assessment tasks in the best interests of the students (no details disclosed here). His level of 'chill' rivals that of the legendary ECON1101 lecturer Alberto Motta.
- The amount of resources in semester 1 is abundant. The amount of resources in semester 2 is very limited (not even many past papers let alone the livestream)
- The assessment is generally easier in semester 1.
It should be noted that the lecturer for semester 2 is not "bad". He just discloses limited stuff compared to Rob.