Some lectures in the area of corporate finance


This is part of a training program on topics in corporate finance taught for RBI staff, May 2011, at IGIDR, Bombay.

Books

The lectures on portfolio optimisation is material covered in Modern portfolio theory and investment analysis by Edwin J. Elton, Martin J. Gruber, Stephen J. Brown, William N. Goetzmann.

The lectures on market efficiency are based on a variety of sources, including Market efficiency: Stock market behaviour in theory and practice, edited by Andrew W. Lo, which is a compendium of articles.

  1. Foundations of Finance by Chi-fu Huang and Robert Litzenberger (for a rigorous treatment of the mathematics of portfolio optimisation).
  2. Investments by William Sharpe, Gordon J. Alexander and Jeffrey W. Bailey.
  3. Investment science by David Luenberger.
  4. India's financial markets: an insider's guide to how the markets work by Ajay Shah, Susan Thomas, Michael Gorham
  5. The Economics of Financial Markets by Houthakker and Williamson (for market microstructure).
  6. A random walk down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel.
  7. Capital Ideas by Peter Bernstein.

Course content

Introduction to portfolio optimisation [Slideshow]

The Markowitz optimisation solution [Slideshow]

From optimisation to asset pricing [Slideshow]

Asset valuation and the efficient market hypothesis [Slideshow]

Testing for efficient markets [Slideshow]

Testing for efficient markets, part II [Slideshow]


Mechanics