Financial Derivatives
Financial Derivatives
Financial Derivatives
Objective: The course deals with the building blocks of Financial Derivatives Futures (and Forwards),
Options and Swaps. The types of underlying assets considered will be equities, currencies, (and some
commodities). On completing this course, students should have developed a good understanding of
these derivative contracts, be proficient in the no-arbitrage pricing methodology (and risk-neutral
approach) that underlies derivative pricing, and have an exposure to related quantitative techniques.
The course assumes a basic understanding of mathematics, statistics, and applications. While one does
not have to be an expert in mathematics, we will rely on quantitative reasoning a lot. The course does
not require pre-requisites other than Corporate Finance, QM-I, and QM-II.
Text: Options and Other Derivatives; John C. Hull and Sankarshan Basu; 8th Edition; Pearson Education
Handouts: Relevant handouts for every part of the course will be posted on Moodle in due course and
will be required reading (except as mentioned).
Evaluation:
Mid-Term & End-Term Exams: Each exam has 40% weight. Format: some MCQs, numerical
problems, some short discussion questions.
Group Homework: Weight = 20%. Groups (of 3-4 students each; to be decided at the start of
the term) will submit 1 assignment per group. There will be 2 such assignments.
Attendance Policy: There is a minimum of 15 sessions out of 20 that you must attend. Your final grade
point will drop by 0.2 for every class in excess of 5 that you do not attend. All material covered in class
sessions is relevant to the exams.
Session wise plan (1.5 hour sessions) and Reading from Text
1. 1ntroduction to Futures & Options, Chapter 1 (1 session)
- Cash/Spot versus Forward Contracts; Introduction to Options; Payoff and Profit Profiles
- Hedgers and Speculators; Leverage
- The Economic Role of Futures and Options, and Reasons for Growth of Derivative Markets
1
2
7. The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model, Chapters 13 & 14, (2.5 sessions)
2
3