SMU Classification: Restricted

The Lee Kong Chian School of Business

Academic Year 2018/19
Term 1

QF205 COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY FOR FINANCE

Instructor Name : Zhao Yibao
Title : Senior Lecturer of Quantitative Finance
Tel : 68280925
Email : ybzhao@smu.edu.sg
Office : LKCSB #5040

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course aims to expose students to the use and usefulness of computing technology in the realm of finance. From
the collation of data, analysis of data in order to tease out relevant information, to the presentation and visualization of
information, computing technology plays an important role that is increasingly essential as one faces the need to
assimilate an astronomical amount of information in today’s world. The course is structured in such a way as to employ
topics in finance to motivate the discourse on computing technology. Equipped with the computing skills, in turn,
students are motivated to handle more challenging problems in finance.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
 Write reusable Python and Excel VBA user-defined functions
 Use Python and Excel VBA to solve quantitative finance problems
 Employ basic algorithms in computer-aided problem solving

PRE-REQUISITE/ CO-REQUISITE/ MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE COURSE(S)

Please refer to the Course Catalogue on OASIS for the most updated list of pre-requisites / co-requisites for this
particular course. Do note that if this course has a co-requisite, it means that the course has to be taken together with
another course. Dropping one course during BOSS bidding would result in both courses being dropped at the same
time.

ASSESSMENT METHODS
Class Participation: 20%
Homework/Project Assignments: 30%
Final examination (Closed-Book): 50%
Total: 100%

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts of
academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic work of
other students) are serious offences.

All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the student’s own work. Penalties
for violation of the policy range from zero marks for the component assessment to expulsion, depending on the nature
of the offence.

When in doubt, students should consult the course instructor. Details on the SMU Code of Academic Integrity may be
accessed at http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.

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ACCESSIBILITY
SMU strives to make learning experiences accessible for all. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers
due to disability, please let me know immediately. You are also welcome to contact the university's disability services
team if you have questions or concerns about academic provisions: included@smu.edu.sg.

Please be aware that the accessible tables in our seminar room should remain available for students who require
them.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING (EPTL)

There there is an emergency that makes it infeasible to have classes on campus, classes will be conducted online via
WebEx, with no disruption to the schedule. To familiarise students with the WebEx platform, part of this course may
be conducted online. The instructor will inform students of which classes, if any, will be conducted as part of this
EPTL initiative.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS AND EXPECTATIONS

Lectures
Students are taught the basics of Python and Excel VBA programming languages and problem-solving skills. Both
mathematical problems and finance-related problems are used as examples throughout the course. Students are
expected to be proactive in their pick-up of the computing languages.

Class Participation
Class Participation is a central part of the learning process for you and your classmates. When you contribute, you help
others learn. Your participation mark reflects your contribution to your classmates learning. This includes continuous
attendance and completion of in-class assignments.

Homework/Project Assignments
There will be 8 online assignments, respectively in Weeks 1 to 7 and Week 9. The assignments are designed to help
students to have a better grasp of the learning objectives. Late submission is accepted but penalty will apply. There is
also a group project. Students need to submit a project report and give a presentation in week 13.

Examinations
There will be a closed-book final exam. No make-up exams will be allowed without prior permission.

The instructor expects all of the students to follow the school’s examination policy. Among other things, students need
to bring their own calculator(s) to the exams; students are not allowed to share calculator(s) with one another; students
also need to silence their cell phones and keep them away from the desk during the entire duration of the exam.

CONSULTATIONS AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Office consultation is available every week. Email questions are welcome at any time.

CLASS TIMINGS
This course will be taught in one 3-hour session. Please refer to SMU class schedules for the upcoming term for the
timing information.

RECOMMENDED TEXT AND READINGS

A course pack (including lecture notes and assignments) is available. Any book about “Python” or “Excel VBA” will be
useful as supplementary readings.

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WEEKLY LESSON PLANS (Subject to changes)

Week Specific Learning

Topics Covered Assessment of Learning Instructional Strategies
No. Objectives for the Lesson

1 1. Introduction to Python and Excel VBA

o Programming environment
2 o Debugging tools

2. Programming concepts
3 o Data types  Direct instruction (teacher-
o Operators  Class participation (20%) centred instruction)
4 o Expressions and statements
o Flow controls  Homework/Project  Homework/Project
o Functions assignments (30%) assignments (extra practice
5
o Classes with skills or concepts that
o Exceptions and error handling  Final exam (50%) have already been presented
6 o Modules and packages or demonstrated)
o Input/Output
7  Guided hands-on
3. Implementation of Financial Models programming in class.
8 Mid-term Break o Option pricing by Black-Scholes Instructor is available for
formula immediate consultation
9 o Option pricing by Monte Carlo
simulation  Final exam
o Option pricing by binomial tree
10
o Option pricing by solving the Black-
Scholes differential equation using finite
11 difference method

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13

14 Study Break
15 Final Examination