FM211 Half Unit
Principles of Finance II
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Jojo Paul
Availability
This course is available on the BSc in Accounting and Finance, BSc in Economic History, BSc in International Social and Public Policy with Economics, BSc in Management, Diploma in Accounting and Finance, Erasmus Reciprocal Programme of Study and Exchange Programme for Students from University of California, Berkeley. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course is available with permission to General Course students.
This course cannot be combined with FM215.
Permission forms from the General Course admin office should be submitted to the Department of Finance by email at finance.ug@lse.ac.uk with a copy of the transcript attached.
Requisites
Mutually exclusive courses:
This course cannot be taken with FM215 at any time on the same degree programme.
Co-requisites:
Students must complete FM210 or FM101 either before taking this course or in the same year as this course.
Course content
The course examines the theory of financial decision-making by firms and examines the behaviour of the capital markets in which these decisions are taken. The topics covered are the theory of capital budgeting under certainty in perfect and imperfect capital markets, sources of funds, basic theory of capital structure and the cost of capital, company dividend decisions and financial markets and institutions.
This course covers the same topics as FM215. Thus, both FM211 and FM215 are equivalent content-wise. However, compared to FM215, this course puts less emphasis on the underlying statistical theory and relies less on the use of mathematical methods. Nonetheless, the course is quantitative in nature, and familiarity with mathematical and statistical methods taught in first-year courses will be assumed.
Teaching
10 hours of classes and 20 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
There will also be workshops in WT.
Formative assessment
Students are expected to complete weekly problem sets for classes and to make positive contributions to class discussion.
Indicative reading
Detailed course programmes and reading lists are distributed at the start of the course. Illustrative texts include:
- Principles of Corporate Finance by Richard Brealey, Stewart Myers, and Franklin Allen, McGraw-Hill Inc.
- Corporate Finance by Jonathan Berk and Peter DeMarzo, Pearson Global Edition.
Assessment
Exam (90%), duration: 90 Minutes in the Spring exam period
Continuous assessment (10%)
Key facts
Department: Finance
Course Study Period: Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 5
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 250
Average class size 2024/25: 11
Capped 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Problem solving
- Application of numeracy skills
- Commercial awareness