Syllabus
MGMT 298 — Investing in Bonds, Options, and Currencies
| **UCLA Anderson School of Management | Spring 2026 — 4 Units** |
Professor Andrea Eisfeldt
Instructor & TA Information
| Faculty of Record | Professor Eisfeldt |
| andrea.eisfeldt@anderson.ucla.edu | |
| Office | C4.10 / via Zoom |
| Office Hours | By appointment only |
| Teaching Assistant | Junyu Zhang |
| Junyu.zhang.phd@anderson.ucla.edu | |
| Office | TBA |
| Office Hours | TBA |
Course Meeting Times and Location
| Day & Time | Thursdays 4:10–7:00pm (see schedule for specific dates) |
| Location | UCLA Anderson |
Pre-requisites
MGMT 408
Course Description
This course prepares students to understand and manage investments in non-equity markets, including bonds or fixed income markets, derivatives markets such as futures and options, and international financial markets including currencies and swaps. We will cover each topic from the ground up, starting with the basics and finishing with current investment strategies in each space. We will discuss macro, geopolitical, and market risks, as well as relevant regulatory changes and financial innovations. Links to current events and what is happening in the real economy and financial markets will be emphasized. This class can be a jumping off point for full-quarter classes in fixed income, international finance, and/or derivatives, but it is intended to cover the foundational material needed to be proficient in investment management on the buy or sell side of these asset classes.
About the Professor
Professor Eisfeldt has 26 years of graduate management teaching and research experience and over 10 years of experience in asset management. She was Chief Economist at a hedge fund with over $3 billion in assets under management, and consulted for several years on fixed income and equity strategies for AQR. Professor Eisfeldt serves on the academic advisory board of a Fintech startup, as well as the Board of the UCLA Investment Company, which manages about half of UCLA’s endowment. She is the developer and owner of the NXTI Intangible Core Index, which utilizes research-based measurement of intangible assets to enable security selection and is licensed by Simplify ETFs.
Syllabus Outline
The following describes the material covered each week:
- Bonds overview, interest rate determinants, term structure, credit risk, sovereign risk
- Bond pricing, bond spreads, duration, credit
- MBS and Corporate bonds, conviction and quant fixed income strategies
- Derivatives overview, forwards and futures, options payoffs
- Option pricing: Black-Scholes, the greeks, common option strategies such as straddles, butterflies, etc.
- Options strategies: short-dated options, buffered index strategies, digital options, event and quant option strategies
- Currencies overview, macro situation, central banking and balance of payments
- International financial markets and linkages to GDP, inflation, and interest rates
- Carry trades, macro bets
- Best Idea Presentations
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand and price fixed income securities (bonds). Develop and analyze bond investment strategies.
- Understand and price derivative securities (futures, options, swaps). Develop and analyze option and futures trading strategies.
- Understand the fundamental and financial drivers of exchange rates. Develop and analyze currency and foreign exchange trading strategies.
Course Materials
Required:
- Slides will be posted weekly on BruinLearn prior to class
- Articles describing academic research and current events related to class content will be posted weekly prior to class. Sources include Bloomberg, WSJ, Financial Times, the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Portfolio Management or Financial Analysts Journal.
Optional:
- Optional Textbooks (all required material will be covered in the course handouts):
- Derivatives Markets — Robert M. McDonald
- International Financial Management — Geert Bekaert & Robert Hodrick
- Handbook of Fixed Income Securities — Frank Fabozzi
- Additional links and references to optional readings will be posted on the course site during the quarter.
Evaluation and Grading
Required Assignments and Weighted Percentages
This course will be graded using the following weighted percentages for each of the assignments in the course. Feedback and grades are typically posted within one week of assignment due dates.
| Assignments | % of Grade |
|---|---|
| Individual HWs (equally weighted) | 30% |
| Group Assignments (equally weighted) | 40% |
| 8 Quizzes (drop lowest 2) | 20% |
| Class Participation | 10% |
Grades
Your overall course grade will be determined by how your performance on graded assignments ranks in comparison with other students in the class according to the grade distribution model at Anderson. Note that courses in which an overall grade of C is received must be offset by higher grades in the same term for students to remain in good academic standing at UCLA. A grade of C- or below in a core class must be retaken.
Assignment Descriptions
The following are descriptions of your required assignments for this course. Specific instructions, submission information, and any accompanying rubrics are detailed on the course site.
Graded Assignments
- Individual HW 1 (Due Week 3) — Analytical assignment pricing bonds and performing bond risk attribution. This assignment will use real-world parameters and workhorse bond pricing models.
- Group Strategy Proposal 1: Bond Strategy (Due Week 4) — Fixed income investment strategy proposal.
- Individual HW 2 (Due Week 6) — Analytical assignment analyzing common option and futures strategy payoffs and pricing. Calibrated examples will be used to compute standard derivative strategy payoffs and prices. Data will be pulled from Bloomberg.
- Group Strategy Proposal 2: Options/Futures/Swaps (Due Week 7) — Derivatives investment strategy proposal.
- Individual HW 3 (Due Week 9) — Analytical assignment assessing quantitative examples of the links between inflation, interest rates, and foreign exchange rates. Parity relationships including purchasing power parity, covered and uncovered interest rate parity, and related “carry trades” will be computed using current data from the OECD, Bloomberg, and Thomson Reuters.
- Group Strategy Proposal 3: International Strategy (Due Week 10) — International investment strategy proposal.
- Group Best Idea Presentation (Week 10, in-class) — Groups present their choice for the best of their three strategy proposals.