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TVM2

Principles of Valuation: Time Value of Money

 

School: University of Michigan

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: Coming Soon (6 Weeks Long)

Workload: 5-10 Hours Per Week

Instructors: Gautam Kaul and Qin Lei

Credentials: Professor Kaul has won five Excellence in Teaching awards at Ross, along with earning the Victor L. Bernard Leadership in Teaching Award in 2009. He is widely published in financial journals and teaches a variety of introductory and advanced courses, including Corporate Finance, Investment and Financial Institutions, and Sustainable Enterprise. Lei, a Ph.D. holder from the University of Michigan, joined the University of Michigan staff in 2013 after earning the MBA Outstanding Teaching Award at Southern Methodist University in 2012. He currently teaching courses in applied investment management, options and futures, and capital markets. His most recent research has been published by the Journal of Financial Markets and the Journal of Industrial Economics.

Graded: Students will earn a signed certificate from the instructors for successfully completing the course.

Description: Technically, finance is an expression of various behaviors. Many times, behaviors are interpreted based on someoneā€™s background and biases. In this introductory course, students will focus on personal financial decisions ā€“ the choices and tradeoffs they make (and why). In particular, it will cover the TVM (time value of money) framework: how todayā€™s decisions impact tomorrowā€™s outcomes. After mastering TVM basics, the course will move to concepts in alternative decision criteria, such as net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR), before concluding with accounting principles like cash flows. The course will be taught through video lectures, with students evaluated on work problems assignments and a final exam.

Review: ā€œI don’t know if this review will be acknowledged by anyone, but I need to urge Gautam Kaul to provide more examples in his Time Value of Money video lectures! His assignments and his lectures are very disjointed. He provides a very basic explanation of some key finance principles and formulas, then he makes available assignments with problems that are far more advanced than what his lectures can support. His video examples don’t exceed 3 year periods, they lack any real-world application, and they don’t explain any of the idiosyncrasies that are used throughout the assignments. If these courses are intended to force students to teach themselves the material and allow the instructors to do half-ass preparation, then I’m glad I didn’t pay the $75×5 for the Intro to Finance specialization program. Gautam’s excitement about the field of finance is apparent, but his willingness to sufficiently teach it to the level of his assignments is incredibly lacking and quite frustrating! if you’re so excited to provide an opportunity for learners, then stick to the plan and don’t test for professional ability when you’re teaching basic introduction.ā€ For additional reviews, click here.

Additional Note: This course is the first part of an ā€œIntroduction to Finance: Valuation and Investing Specialization,ā€ a four course series that includes a capstone project. To learn more about these courses and register for them, CLICK HERE.

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