Welcome to Risk Management in the Global Economy

Finance plays an increasingly important role in our daily life.

We all rely on banks and other financial institutions to provide us with a safekeeping for our savings, with means of payments in the form of debit or credit cards, with access to funds for small or large loans, and sometimes also with a return on our investment. A crucial feature of finance is risk: any form of financial investment involves a degree of uncertainty on its outcome. Turmoil in financial markets has far-reaching consequences on economies worldwide, and shows that it would be dangerous to ignore the risks associated with financial investments.

But what are the main sources of risk in financial markets? And what can be done to manage the risks of our investments? In this course on Risk Management in the Global Economy, we’ll discuss how financial markets work, what are the main types of financial investment, and what tools are available to form well-diversified portfolios and to hedge our risks.

Meet the team

To help us on our journey into risk management, we’ve put together an experienced team from our Centre for Financial and Management Studies. Along with lead educators Pasquale Scaramozzino and Hong Bo, we’ll be joined by:

• Prof Christine Oughton - Professor of Managerial Economics

• Sonja Ruehl – Fellow in Financial and Management Studies

• Dr Maurizio Fiaschetti – Lecturer in Banking and Finance

• Prof Laurence Harris - Professor of Economics

We also have a team of mentors who’ll be accompanying you on the course, explaining key concepts and guiding you in your discussions, so you can follow them here:

• Boying Xu

• Jeo Lee

Meet your fellow learners

But what about you?

Are you intrigued by the financial pages of newspapers? Are you ever frustrated by the jargon used by financial commentators, or with their analysis of the financial sector? Have you ever bought stocks or bonds?

As you think about your own experience and understanding of risk management, or perhaps reflect on your motivations for taking this course, take a few moments to introduce yourself and share your thoughts with your fellow learners.

Add your thoughts in the comments below. You might like to follow other course participants who have similar interests to yours so that you can learn together and share experiences.