Essay

Author	Affiliation	GitHub
N.F. Katzke.	Satrix Investment Management	https://github.com/nicktz

Essay description

• The main aim of the written essay is to allow you to identify a suitable financial topic of interest, and expand your knowledge on the topic.

• Use the opportunity to broaden your interest in a field / area that is not covered in the course outline, but which will prove interesting to you.

Requirements:

• Hand-in date: on or before the 17 October 2025.

• Please email me your essay to nfkatzke.class@gmail.com (no hard copies please)

  • Late penalty: 2.5% per day (including weekends).

• Topic should be in the field of finance, quantitative finance, financial economics or related;

  • My suggestion would be that you confirm your topic to me at least two weeks before the due date - in class or per email.

• Academic writing - this is not your first essay at the department, you know what is expected of you (contact me otherwise);

• Maximum 2500 words (clearly state your words);

• Accurate and arranged reference list - with in-text referencing corresponding to the department’s style.

Finding a topic:

I will list several potential topics below, but my suggestion would be that you search for and find a topic that interests you.

Suggested sources for inspiration:

• Bloomberg

  • Also - you can access the terminals and type NEWS

• Financial Times

  • Library will have more resources as well

• VOXEU

  • Great for source of inspiration

Topic examples

• Sovereign Wealth funds - best practices and comparisons globally

• Thematic Investing: opportunity or fad?

• Sustainable Investing - does going green mean going broke?

• The rise and fall of crypto currencies - the current state of affairs.

• Prescribed Asset purchases in SA. Good, bad or Ugly?

• The changing nature of tech IPOs - is the traditional primary market broken for Silicon Valley?

• Central Banks becoming too central to modern economies? Quantitative easing from a Milton Friedman perspective.

• How OpenAI may impact financial markets.

• The curious case of China: has it run out of steam and what this means for the global trade balance?

• India’s rise: does it have what it takes to challenge silicon valley?

• The 2023 BRICS Summit: risks and opportunities of closer integration?