Fundamentals of Investments

Course information

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1) Understand basic concepts of finance, financial markets and securities, investments, portfolio theory, asset pricing, and market efficiency.

2) Understand the fundamentals of the pricing of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and derivatives, and understand the role of systematic factors in the behavior of asset returns.

3) Apply commonly used methods to construct an investment portfolio, and understand the sources of the risks and expected returns of a portfolio.

4) Analyze the performance of an investment portfolio and understand the role that skill and luck play in observed investment outcomes.

5) Understand the role of investors and financial markets in enabling and advancing sustainable development.

Content

Time value of money, assets and markets, portfolio theory, asset pricing, market efficiency, portfolio management, security analysis, fixed income, derivatives, socially responsible investing.

Teacher

Petri Jylhä

Study material

Bodie, Kane & Marcus (2014, 10th edition). Investments. Other editions can also be used.

Materials provided by the lecturer

Workload

Lectures: 27 h
Lecture preparation: 54 h
Assignments: 50 h
Exam preparation: 27 h
Exam: 3 h

Prerequisites

No prerequisites.

Evaluation

Assignments (30%)
Final exam (70%)

Teaching time and location

The teaching time and the location of the course can be found at Sisu information system

1. The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
2. From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that academic year 2025-2026 is selected  

3. From the blue bar, click Lecture and open the Groups and teaching times tab to see the teaching time and the location of the course. Exam times can be seen by clicking Exam.
    

   Exam instructions at the Open University

The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.

Further information

Equivalent to course 28C00300 Investment Management

Online learning environment for the course  

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.

Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses

More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 
Course registration Registration for this course starts on 22.9.2025 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 22.10.2025 

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

The number of participants is limited to 50.

This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Business.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication

You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID

Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.

Instructions for using Multifactor Authentication