Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• QST FE 820: Corporate Financial Management
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE712 OR QSTFE722) - This course provides an in-depth analysis of financial considerations relating to corporate growth. It addresses the setting of financial and corporate goals in terms of maximizing shareholder wealth and relationships among working capital, debt levels, capital costs, dividend policy, growth and the value of the firm. It also considers the requisite financial analysis associated with mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy.
• QST FE 822: Fixed Income Markets
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE712 OR QSTFE722) - This is a course primarily on fixed-income debt securities and markets. Emphasis is placed on the factors that determine bond yields, factors such as the coupon and maturity structure, liquidity, credit risk, and tax status of the security, and on measures of return and risk, statistics such as the yield to maturity, horizon yield, duration, and convexity. We will cover government debt (Treasuries and municipals), corporate bonds (investment-grade and high-yield), agency (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and mortgage-backed debt created via securitization (i.e., collateralized mortgage obligations). We will emphasize how interest rate and credit derivatives are used to manage portfolios of fixed-income securities.
• QST FE 823: Investments
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE712 OR QSTFE722) - Introduction to the investment management process. Defining investment objectives and constraints. Introduction to Modern Portfolio Theory, CAPM, Fama- French factors, APT, efficient markets, stock, bond and option valuation models. Introduction to forwards and swaps and their applications within investment strategies. Active and passive investment strategies, fundamental analysis, trading practices, and performance evaluation. Introduction to the role of futures and options in hedging and speculation. Arbitrage and hedge fund strategies. Understanding the assumptions underlying the different approaches and their limitations. Topics related to current events and the recent financial crisis.
• QST FE 829: Futures, Options and Financial Risk Management
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE712 OR QSTFE722) - This course covers the theory of futures, swaps and option pricing and develops a framework for analyzing hedging and investment decisions using these instruments. Attention is paid to practical considerations in the use of these investments, tax and accounting issues and the institutional features of the market in which the various instruments are traded.
• QST FE 833: ESG Equity Investing
  ESG Equity Investing is an introductory course that provides the appropriate tools to analyze and undertake investments in publicly listed companies taking into account the social impact of these financial decisions. Different dimensions of social impact -- Environment, Social, and Governance -- are discussed along with corresponding ESG metrics available to investors. The core of the course deals with the integration of (quantitative-based) portfolio allocation models with (qualitative-based) ESG scores and objectives. The course also discusses how impact investing may affect the behavior of firms, as well as alternative channels through which investors can provide impact (private investments, activism).
• QST FE 850: Private Equity: Leveraged Buyouts
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE713 OR QSTFE820) - Private Equity (PE) is a major force in the capital markets, acquiring household names such as Dell, Toys R Us, Neilson, Nieman Marcus, and many more. This course exposes students to, and de-mystifies, the PE world. The focus is centered on LBOs and their position in the alternative asset class. Students learn about the activities of PE firms including formation, fundraising, investing (deal structure, terms, due diligence, governance) and exiting. We also discuss how other industry sectors serve or are affected by PE and who the players are. This is a capstone course that integrates marketing, strategy and finance to further the understanding of business evaluation. Case study and class participation are the primary modes of learning. Course offered jointly with undergraduate course SMG FE 450.
• QST FE 854: Entrepreneurial Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: QST AC710 or AC711, QST FE712 or FE722 - The focus of FE854 is on the development of financial and business skills to identify, evaluate, start and manage new ventures. A comprehensive understanding of finance is an essential ingredient in the "recipe" for business success. No longer can the assumptions underlying financial projections be treated as "black boxes." In many cases, the answer is less important than the analytical process used to calculate it. Readings for the course will primarily be in the form of case studies, and will be supplemented by guest speakers, presentations, and readings from academia and industry.
• QST FE 860: Behavioral Finance and Incentives in Financial Markets
  Pre-requisite: QSTFE 712 or QSTFE 722 or QSTFE 723. Behavioral finance is an area of finance that started with some psychologists interested in decision making in finance and economics and observed that some of the assumptions standard in finance were not consistent with the behavior of agents. Following this lead, economics and finance scholars used these tools to try to explain some of the patterns in investment decisions and financial prices that the standard paradigm could not explain. This course is an overview of these findings with a practical focus on current events in financial markets and how behavioral finance could help to understand them.
• QST FE 870: Analysis and Management of Financial Risk
  Pre-requisite: QSTFE 712 or QSTFE 722 - This course introduces the analysis and management of financial risk by corporations and financial institutions. The objective of the course is to provide a conceptual framework for thinking about financial risk, covering both theoretical background and practical implementation.
• QST FE 875: Advanced Valuation Methods (Valuation Boot Camp)
  Prerequisite: QSTFE 712 or QSTFE 722. This course will provide students the opportunity to learn about valuation methods other than the discounted cash flow plus weighted average cost of capital method taught in the core curriculum, including adjusted present value, the method of comparables (multiples) and (time permitting) the equity cash flows method.
• QST FE 895: Action Learning Directed Study in Finance
  ALDS: FINANCE
• QST FE 898: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST FE 899: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST FE 918: Doctoral Seminar in Finance
  This doctoral course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the theory of corporate finance. This lecture-based course will be based on Nobel prize winner Jean Tirole’s textbook “The theory of Corporate Finance.” The emphasis in this book is on a contract theory approach to corporate finance, considering how to provide incentives to entrepreneurs and the financiers who are supposed to monitor them by designing financial claims on the firm accordingly. In addition to lectures, this class will include readings, presentations and assignments. Open to MBA students with faculty member's permission. Quantitative ability and prior courses in finance or microeconomics required.
• QST FE 920: Advanced Capital Markets
  This course provides a comprehensive and in-depth treatment of modern asset pricing theories. Extensive use is made of continuous time stochastic processes, stochastic calculus and optimal control. In particular, martingale methods are employed to address the following topics: (i) optimal consumption- portfolio policies and (ii) asset pricing in general equilibrium models. Advances involving non-separable preferences, incomplete information and agent diversity will be discussed.
• QST FE 921: Banking and Corporate Finance Theory
  The course will provide an overview of banking theory. The primary focus will be on bank regulation, but we will also consider issues of bank competition and bank-firm relationships.
• QST FE 998: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST FE 999: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST HM 703: Health Sector Issues and Opportunities
  This course provides a dynamic introduction to the health sector, beginning with the burden and distribution of disease and current patterns of expenditures. While the emphasis will be on the American system, a global context will be developed. The basic elements of insurance and payment, service delivery, and life sciences products will be described, and put in the context of the unique economic structure of the sector. The intense challenges of the sector will be explored, as well as both the ethical issues presented and the opportunities that emerge. Public policy and technological and practice development as drivers of change will be addressed throughout.
• QST HM 710: Health Service Delivery: Strategies, Solutions and Execution
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTHM703) - The overarching theme of this course is health care organizational transformation. The course will provide knowledge and skills needed to develop and implement high performing health care systems capable of delivering accessible, high quality, efficient services. It will draw upon relevant information from disciplinary areas of study including strategy, operations, marketing, finance, law, human resources, quality improvement, and information technology.