MS in Finance Academics

COURSE CODE: ac814

This course is designed to help students to develop skills in interpreting and analyzing external financial reports. Both traditional and recently advocated methods of financial statement analysis are studied, taking the perspective of investors and creditors. Among the topics to be investigated are: (1) mechanics of financial statement analysis, (2) managers' incentives in making accounting choices, (3) usefulness of accounting numbers in an efficient market, and (4) international comparisons. The course also includes a brief review of some important accounting principles, emphasizing areas that were not covered in AC 710. [Lectures, exercises, exams, and project.]

COURSE CODE: fe730

The main aim of Managerial Economics is to present many of the decision problems managers face and to present the economic analysis they need to guide these decisions. In the first half of the course, microeconomic tools are used to structure complicated decision problems about production, pricing, investment, and other strategic issues. Some of these decisions take place in uncertain environments, and we address this uncertainty by making probabilistic forecasts and sequential decisions. Since most decisions depend on the structure of the industry in which a company operates, an additional goal is to distinguish different market structures and apply competitive strategies using game theory. In the second half of the course, the focus shifts to the study of the national and global economic environments within which companies operate. We identify the drivers of fluctuations in Gross Domestic Product, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates and other key features of the economies. Teams analyze and share economic developments in particular countries. Since governments play key roles in determining the fate of economies and companies, the final theme is the rationale for and efficacy of government policy tools.

COURSE CODE: fe820

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.

COURSE CODE: fe850

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.

COURSE CODE: fe870

This course introduces the analysis and management of risk in the context of 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

COURSE CODE: fe822

This course focuses on debt securities that are traded in the short-term money market and long-term bond and mortgage markets. Topics include: financial market structures and institutions, the quotation and pricing of debt securities, yield curve analysis, duration and immunization, and an introduction to interest rate risk management products, such as exchange-trade futures, and over-the-counter forward contracts, such as interest rate swaps. Special attention is placed on capital market innovations and trends.

COURSE CODE: fe829

Futures and stock options are recognized as important tools of investment and risk reduction. This course covers the theory of futures and option pricing, and develops a framework for analyzing hedging and investment decisions using futures and options. 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.

COURSE CODE: is879

This course aims to sharpen students' ability to frame a business problem and organize the relevant information in a way that is conducive to developing a spreadsheet model, and to perform logical analyses in an organized and rigorous fashion. Students will learn how to create a workable prototype of a spreadsheet based upon formula-charts, or a directed-graph diagram, applying principles of spreadsheet engineering to design the spreadsheet in a way that prevents errors. The course will teach students how to design, build, test, and use a spreadsheet, as well as how to process and visualize data in preparation for building a well-structured model. Students will be exposed to settings in which models can be used effectively. They will apply modeling concepts in practical situations and learn to extract insight from models and to use those insights to communicate, persuade and motivate organizational decision making. They will also learn how to formulate a constrained optimization problem with multiple variables for a variety of applications including, Strategy, Operations, Technology Management, Marketing, and Finance. The course will show how to understand how to use sensitivity analysis to evaluate the impact of a parameter on the optimal solution to a problem and cover the key principles for Real-Time Data Capture for Analytic. Finally, students will learn the latest technologies for effectively linking spreadsheets to relational data bases, and to reliably manage large scale spreadsheets.

COURSE CODE: be721

The aim of the course is to present many of the decision problems managers face and to present the economic analysis they need to guide these decisions. Microeconomic tools are used to structure complicated decision problems about production, pricing, investment, and other strategic issues, address uncertainty through probabilistic forecasts and sequential decisions. An important part of the course is to develop an understanding of the external environment in which firms operate by analyzing the implications of market structure, macroeconomic developments and policy, and other forms of public policy toward business.