Finance Concentration

Investment Management and Financial Analysis

Open to Full-Time MS Finance Students

This optional concentration in our MS in Finance program offers you a deep dive into capital markets and investing—one of the most dynamic fields in finance and a top career path for many graduates. You’ll build strong quantitative skills and gain insights into capital markets, investment strategies, and the latest technologies that support smart investing decisions.

In this concentration, students are required to take the following courses:

FIN 418

Quantitative Investing

FIN 418

The objective of this course is to equip you with the frameworks, tools, and methodologies necessary to build and/or be an educated user of quantitative models for financial decision making. The course is suitable for students seeking a career in finance, but also for students with broader interests who wish to strengthen their general modeling skills, and it does not require any quantitative background other than what is covered in the MBA core courses. Master modeling frameworks such as regression analysis, Monte-Carlo simulation, optimization, and binomial trees. Learn how to apply these frameworks in financial contexts such as portfolio management, term-structure estimation, capital budgeting, risk measurement, risk analysis in discounted cash flow models, and pricing of European, American, exotic, and real options. The modeling tools will be illustrated by applying them to a variety of real-world cases.

MBA Prerequisite: FIN 402, GBA 412, GBA 485A 
MS Prerequisite: FIN 462, GBA 462, (GBA464 or GBA485A)

FIN448

Debt Markets and Fixed Income Strategies

FIN448

The objective of this course is to undertake a rigorous study of fixed-income securities and markets. A variety of fixed-income securities will be discussed including coupon bonds, callable and putable bonds, sinking fund provisions, and floating rate notes. Interest rate derivatives such as forwards and futures on fixed-income securities, bond options, options on bond futures, caps, floors, and collars will also be discussed. In addition, we will study some tools that are useful in bond portfolio management including horizon analysis, duration, optimization techniques for constructing bond portfolios and modes for pricing fixed-income securities. While the perspective of this course is from the viewpoint of a bond investor, a person in corporate finance needs to understand similar material. Evaluating an investment in a fixed-income security is the mirror image of the problem faced by a corporation in deciding whether or not to issue a bond.

Prerequisite: FIN 411

In this concentration, students choose two of the following elective options.

ACC 411

Applied Financial Statement Analysis with Data Analytics

ACC 411

The objective of this course is to develop and sharpen your analytical ability to use financial information to perform various types of applied economic and financial analysis. Managers formulate a firm’s business strategy and make operating, investing, and financing policy decisions to implement that strategy. The outcomes of those decisions are reflected in the firm’s financial statements which, along with other financial information, are used by equity and debt analysts, investors, lenders, creditors, bondholders, loan officers, debt-rating agencies, and numerous other external parties to evaluate the firm’s current economic performance and to forecast its future economic performance. A key aspect of the course is the link between managers’ strategic decisions and the resulting performance that gets reflected in the firm’s financial statements. This course develops the analytical and technical skills and related applied analysis techniques required to perform a wide variety of economic analyses using financial information. Among other things, applied financial analysis requires knowledge of the various techniques used to analyze financial information such as common-size and trend analysis, ratio analysis, modeling the predictable cash flow effects of sales growth, models of financial distress, forecasting techniques, valuation models, as well as the ability to select and apply the appropriate techniques in a given economic setting. This course develops your ability to perform economic analysis in a wide variety of real-world settings using a number of different applied financial analysis techniques.

MBA Prerequisites: ACC 401, FIN 402

BPP 426

Macroeconomic Policy: Choices and Outcomes

BPP 426

 

Macroeconomics is the study of how economies grow and fluctuate over time, and how they interact with one another. In this course, we discuss economic measurement, economic growth, and the business cycle. We also discuss the implication of modern theories of growth and fluctuation for the conduct of monetarypolicy and fiscal policy. There is a strong emphasis on the international linkage among economies and the implications of macroeconomics for the business environment.

MBA Prerequisites: ACC 401, FIN 402

FIN 421

Asset Management

FIN 421

The course will provide students with a fundamental understanding of the principles and analytics of asset management as applied to both institutional and private clients. It should be of great interest to anyone aspiring to a career in asset, portfolio, private wealth, endowment, foundation, sovereign wealth, or pension fund management. A fundamental understanding of the issues in asset management, whether institutional or private, will also be helpful in other areas of finance such as investment banking, insurance, accounting and personal finance, as well as operations and marketing in these types of firms. In addition, students will learn how to better manage their future personal wealth. This class will focus on the more practical aspects of asset management to prepare students for the actual demands of a job in the industry. The course will also describe the challenges in managing such portfolios from the perspective of an institutional or individual investor and a fund manager (public equity, fixed income, hedge, or liquid).

Prerequisite: FIN 411

FIN 434

Investment Management and Trading Strategy

FIN 434

This course explores selected topics in the management of equity portfolios. Course content may vary from year to year. Topics include: active portfolio management with particular emphasis on risk analysis, multifactor risk / return models and performance evaluation and style analysis. The course also considers issues and evidence on different forms of market structure and trading systems, including the role of specialists/dealers, optimal trading behavior for institutions, price impact of trades, and related information technology. Extensive use is made of investment software.

 

MBA Prerequisite: FIN 411

MS Prerequisite: FIN 462