OVERVIEW

The course focuses on the advanced topics related to investments and financing decisions, both short- and long-term, the financial planning and risk management.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide skills necessary for preparation and management of financial plan, from the perspective of a financial management operator and that of a business consultant, paying attention to recent evolution in financing model of italian SME's. Great attention will be paid on bank-business relationship in its recent evolution and to the choice of financial instruments to implement financial plan.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowing the objectives of the main firm financial decisions

Knowing the impact of ownership and governance structures of financial decisions

Learning to estimate the cost of capital of listed and unlisted companies and to evaluate investments

Understanding the concept of risk and knowing the principles, methods and tools of Enterprise Risk Management

Learning how to prepare a financial plan and identify suitable sources to cover any financial need

Learning how to use the financial data available in the main databases

PREREQUISITES

Students are expected to have acquired, during the bachelor path, knowledge about:

• capital budgeting techniques
• cost of capital
• financial structure decision
• cash flow determination and analysis

They are also advised to have a refresher:

S. Ross, D. Hillier, R. Westerfield, J. Jaffe, B. Jordan, “Corporate Finance” 3/ed, McGraw Hill, 2018, capp. 3,6,10,15.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures with examples

Applications and database use

Project work in group

Case Studies, Seminars and Workshop with Professionals

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Corporate Governance and firm value maximization

• Relevance of ownership and governance structures
• Conflicts of interest and self-regulatory codes
• Dividend policy

Risk measurement

• CAPM applications
• Alternatives to CAPM
• Calculating Beta for listed and unlisted companies
• Marginal investor
• Behavioral perspective

Investment decisions  

• Cost of debt

• Rating
• NPV applications
• Taxes – Inflation and sunk costs
• Project analysis
• Sensitivity analysis
• Scenario analysis
• Real options
• Decision trees

Funding decisions

• Structure of the financial system and main theories underlying financial structure choices
• Characteristics of short term and medium-long term financing instruments
• Company’s life cycle and financing decisions

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)

• Risks classification
• Objectives and phases of the ERM
• The CoSO framework (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission)
• The use of derivative instruments to manage interest rate, exchange and price risks

Financial Planning

• Operating budgets
• Forecast income statement and balance sheet
• Fixed capital investment plan
• Plan of investments in working capital
• Inventory, credit and liquidity management
• Financial Plan
• Treasury plan

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brealey R., Myers S., Allen F. (2020). Principi di finanza aziendale, 8/edizione, McGrawHill

Watson D., Head A., Mantovani G., Rossi E. (2017). Finanza aziendale. Principi e pratica, 7/edizione Pearson Italia

Berk J., Demarzo P., Morresi O., Venanzi D. (2018), Finanza Aziendale 2, quarta edizione, Pearson, Milano

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LAURA NIERI (President)

MARCO DI ANTONIO

FRANCESCA QUERCI

ROSALIA SANTULLI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Wednesday February 22nd, 2023

Class schedule

ADVANCED CORPORATE FINANCE

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral examination

Exam schedule