Economics, organizations and markets

For this degree programme, the Faculty has determined an Additional Educational Obligation (OFA) which consists of:
"Mathematics": 12-hour pre-course delivered in mixed classroom/online mode, with final assessment.

Students are required to attend the OFA according to the timetable indicated in the Student Kit of the Faculty of Economics of Milan and in the Student Kit of the Faculty of Economics of Rome – Pre-course Calendar (Undergraduate Degrees) and Additional Educational Obligations.

Students who have attended at least 70% of the scheduled hours are admitted to the final exam of the OFA course and in the event of a failed exam are not required to re-attend the OFA course.

Passing the final exam entails the fulfilment of the OFA and the possibility of continuing studying in the degree programme without further Additional Educational Obligations. During the first year, there will be at least 3 attempts to pass the final exam. The dates of the final test will be announced on the Blackboard online platform.

In case of a negative outcome of the OFA final exam, the Group Tutor in charge will contact the student in order to support him/her in the process of helping him/her prepare for the above-mentioned test.

In the event of a negative result in all the final exams scheduled for the academic year, the results of the Verification of Initial Preparation (VPI) and the final exams will be  assessed by a reference professor/lecturer designated by the Faculty, and - taking into account any 1st year exams passed by the student - the OFA itself may be considered fulfilled.
Otherwise, the student is required to renew his/her enrolment in the first year of the programme as a repeating student.

Students from other degree programmes (both at Università Cattolica and at other universities) for enrolment in the 1st year are exempt from taking the ADMISSION TEST (TIEC) and the VPI, provided that they have accrued the minimum required credits (ECTS) in the educational activities identified by the Faculty in their previous career.

"Reading comprehension" questions in Italian

Among the many aspects of our lives that technologies have revolutionized are investments. Until recently, those who wanted to make their wealth work interacted with financial advisors, specialists in the sector, who were able to propose the most suitable investments for each type of client. Now advisors have to contend with competition from robo-advisors. This term is used to define digital portfolio construction systems, capable of providing customers, through algorithms, with solutions to invest savings. In addition, all the phases that precede financial advice are automated, from customer acquisition to the definition of model portfolios to be proposed to the client according to its characteristics. It is a model that is becoming increasingly popular, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world and among less wealthy investors. According to the most recent statistics, it is mainly customers who turn to robo-advisors who are halfway between the mass market (i.e. the segment that groups people with less than 100 thousand euros to invest) and the mass affluent (customers with assets of more than 1 million euros). These clients are for the most part not financial experts and would like to delegate the management of their portfolio, but keeping the management costs low. The services offered by robo-advisors are characterized by their costs, which are much lower than those of portfolio management carried out by a financial advisor. The cost of managing assets of €100,000 is less than €20 per month. To capture clients, companies operating in this sector do not use the most popular arguments of traditional financial advisors, such as the ability to generate attractive returns or protect invested assets, but they beat the button precisely on low costs. As the slogan of one of these companies clearly explains: "portfolio management carried out by experts, but at the price you would pay for DIY". The increasing popularity of robo-advisors is forcing traditional savings advisors to rethink their role and the cost of their services. The business of online consulting is as popular with large investment funds as it is with banks. For many UK banks, which had stopped offering small wealth management services after stricter rules on the management of clients' savings, which had made it uneconomical to provide these services for the management of small amounts, the launch of robo-advisors could mean a return to the advisory market.

A. What aspect of the financial sector does the passage cover?

• The birth of new banks
• The globalisation of investment
• The poor financial education of savers
• The use of new technologies to guide investors

"Logic" questions in Italian

B. "Greece is poorer than Germany; France is richer than Greece; Germany is the richest of the three." Based on these statements, which of the following conclusions is necessarily true?

• France is the least wealthy of the three
• France is less wealthy than Germany
• Greece is richer than Germany
• France is less wealthy than Greece

C. In a class of 11 boys and 9 girls, each student had to choose only one extracurricular activity, basketball or volleyball. Knowing that basketball was chosen by 6 students in all and that 5 of them are boys, how many girls chose volleyball?

• 6
• 5
• 8
• 4

"Mathematics" questions in Italian

D.    The inequality (2x −  9)/(3 – x)2 ≤ 0 is verified

• x< 3V  3<x ≤  9/2
• x ≤ 9/2
• x < 3  V   x ≥ 9/2
• 3 ≤ x ≤  9/2  

E.    (a – 2b + 3)(a+2b+3) is equal to

• (a – 2b)2 – 9
• A2 – 4B2 +9
• A2 – 4B2 + 2AB + 9
• (a + 3)2 – 4b2

ANSWERS

A - The use of new technologies to guide investors

B - France is less rich than Germany

C - 8

D - x< 3 v  3<x ≤  9/2

E - (a + 3)2 – 4b2