FINN3101 Financial Engineering

FINN3101

Financial Derivatives and Financial Engineering

Undergraduate Programmes 2023/24

SUMMATIVE ASSIGNMENT

The assignment involves experiential learning using the Volcube trading platform that is provided to Durham by an external organisation, Zishi. A representative from Zishi provided you with instructions on how to access and use the platform in the third lecture of Michaelmas term.

(a) Complete 5 themes of option mini games (intrinsic/extrinsic, put-call parity, delta effect, delta hedging and vega/vol/value). You have unlimited attempts. You must answer a minimum of 25 questions in each mini game to achieve a score. You will receive full marks for competing the task with no penalty for errors. (10 marks)

(b) Complete 3 levels of hedge finder in directional games. You have unlimited attempts. You will receive full marks for competing the task with no penalty for errors. (15 marks)

(c) Complete 5 simulations in the ‘Scenarios and Assignments’ section as a single player. Each round has an escalating level of difficulty. You have only one attempt to complete each section. You will be awarded a mark based on your trading performance. (25 marks)

For each of parts (a), (b) and (c) of the assignment, you should write a reflective account of your learning experience from using the Volcube platform. (50 marks)

You should take screen shots to demonstrate that you have completed the tasks. These should be merged with your reflective accounts to produce a single document. The screenshots are not included in the word limit.

Overall word limit: 1000 words

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Your completed assignment must be uploaded to Blackboard Learn Ultra
no later than 12:00 midday on February 29th, 2024.


The assignment should be submitting using one of the following file types: .doc, docx or .pdf

A penalty will be applied for work uploaded after 12:00 midday as detailed in the Student Information Hub.  You must leave sufficient time to fully complete the upload process before the deadline and check that you have received a receipt. At peak periods, it can take up to 30 minutes for a receipt to be generated.

Assignments should be typed, using 1.5 spacing and an easy-to-read 12-point font. Assignments and dissertations/business projects must not exceed the word count indicated in the module handbook/assessment brief.

The word count should:

§ Include all the text, including title, preface, introduction, in-text citations, quotations, footnotes and any other items not specifically excluded below.

§ Exclude diagrams, tables (including tables/lists of contents and figures), equations, executive summary/abstract, acknowledgements, declaration, bibliography/list of references and appendices. However, it is not appropriate to use diagrams or tables merely as a way of circumventing the word limit. If a student uses a table or figure as a means of presenting his/her own words, then this is included in the word count.

Examiners will stop reading once the word limit has been reached, and work beyond this point will not be assessed. Checks of word counts will be carried out on submitted work, including any assignments or dissertations/business projects that appear to be clearly over-length. Checks may take place manually and/or with the aid of the word count provided via an electronic submission. Where a student has intentionally misrepresented their word count, the School may treat this as an offence under Section IV of the General Regulations of the University. Extreme cases may be viewed as dishonest practice under Section IV, 5 (a) (x) of the General Regulations.

Very occasionally it may be appropriate to present, in an appendix, material which does not properly belong in the main body of the assessment but which some students wish to provide for the sake of completeness. Any appendices will not have a role in the assessment - examiners are under no obligation to read appendices and they do not form part of the word count. Material that students wish to be assessed should always be included in the main body of the text.

Guidance on referencing can be found on Durham University website and in the Student Information Hub.

MARKING GUIDELINES

Performance in the summative assessment for this module is judged against the following
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