Sumários
Review Session
26 Novembro 2025, 08:00 • Haoxu Wang
This is a review session for the final exam. Students may refer to the notes document used during the session to review the content.
Lecture 21: Structured Products and Digital Assets
24 Novembro 2025, 12:00 • Haoxu Wang
The session first finalized the discussion on “Structured Products” and then turned to “Digital Assets”. In this part of the lecture, the focus was on the basics of distributed ledger technology and blockchain, as well as an overview of four types of digital assets. The lecture also introduced the fundamental ideas behind how Bitcoin and Ethereum operate and their respective value propositions. The session concluded with a discussion of how digital assets relate to institutional investing.
Lecture 20: Structured Products
19 Novembro 2025, 08:00 • Haoxu Wang
The lecture was centred on the fundamentals of structured products. It began with an overview of financial structuring, focusing on the features of structured products. The session then discussed two major types of structured products: collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). For CMOs, the focus was on the sequential-pay CMO structure both in the absence of default risk (such as CMOs based on insured residential mortgages) and in the presence of default risk (such as CMOs based on commercial mortgages and subprime residential mortgages). Regarding CDOs, in addition to the common characteristics of CDOs, the lecture discussed specific structures used in the CDO market, with a focus on their distinctive features.
Lecture 19: Private Credit II
17 Novembro 2025, 12:00 • Haoxu Wang
The session first introduced mezzanine debt, a cash flow-based private credit strategy. It outlined the distinctive features of mezzanine debt in comparison with other forms of financing such as leveraged loans and high-yield bonds. Examples, typical investors, key characteristics, and advanced features of mezzanine debt were also discussed. Note that some of the material on mezzanine debt had originally been planned for the previous session. The lecture then examined the basics of distressed debt, another common cash flow-based private credit strategy. Following this, the session turned to asset-based private credit strategies, with particular attention to the fundamentals of asset-based loans (ABLs).
Lecture 18: Hedge Funds V and Private Debt I
12 Novembro 2025, 08:00 • Haoxu Wang
The session first discussed the limits to arbitrage, followed by an overview of the basics and historical performance of the three types of equity hedge funds. After this, the lecture introduced a new topic for the course, “Private Debt.” It began with an overview of the cash-based private credit market and its main strategies. The basics of credit risk analysis were then covered, including default risk, commonly used financial ratios, recovery rates, and credit ratings. Following a discussion on the key differences between bonds and loans, the lecture examined leveraged loans and then moved on to direct lending. The session concluded with an introduction to mezzanine debt, whose features will be explored in greater depth next week.