Students will work in teams of up to 5 people to prepare a short report on a specific Financial Institution that explains its business environment, operations and recent performance. Teams can choose among commercial banks, mutual and pension funds, insurance companies, investment banks, securities companies, or venture capital firms.
The main text, not including an executive summary, introduction, conclusion, references and appendices should not exceed 3000 words. The report should consist of three sections:
Business environment section should discuss the country and industry in which the firm is operating, describe its customers, partners/suppliers, competitors and products, analyse its legal and regulatory environment.
Operations section should describe how it functions, analyse its sources and uses of funds (assets/liabilities), how it makes its profits (revenues/expenses), and describe its risks and risk management process.
Performance section should use profitability (profit margin, return on assets and return on equity) and investment ratios (earnings per share, dividends per share and P/E ratio) to discuss trends in its recent performance and compare it to the industry.
