MBA/MS Curriculum - Finance Focus

The Master of Science (M.S.) in Business and Management (Finance focus) program is designed to produce outstanding professionals in the areas of corporate finance, investment banking, money management and financial institutions.  The courses in finance can be used in all types of businesses.  The area of investments provides rigorous analytical tools for the measurement of risk-return tradeoffs in financial markets and the allocation of capital in the financial economy.  The area of corporate finance provides an understanding of how capital is raised, risk is managed, and companies are governed in the corporate sector.  The finance curriculum also provides opportunities to better understand ways in which derivative securities can be used in managing risk  - both international and domestic - in corporations as well as in investment portfolios.

Graduates of the program are well-qualified to take leading roles in industry as well as to continue work towards a doctorate.   The Master of Science (M.S.) in Business and Management (Finance focus) will provide conceptual and practical expertise on how companies, institutions and individuals make investments, raise capital and manage risk in a dynamic financial environment.  Increasingly, the complexity of financial instruments means that advanced knowledge is required to understand risk and return effects of these financial securities.  These skills will be important in helping firms raise capital and issue securities in a way that grows the firm without subjecting it to undue risk.

OVERALL REQUIREMENTS

Core Finance Classes:  15 credits, 5 classes
Finance Electives:  9 credits, 3 classes
Related Area Electives:  6 credits, 2 classes

CORE REQUIREMENTS

BUFN 700 - Investment Management (3 credits)
Corequisite: BUSI 640.

Methods of security selection and portfolio management in the debt and equity markets. Investment alternatives, securities markets, bond and common stock valuation, options, portfolio theory, and behavior of stock prices.


BUFN 714 - Advanced Financial Management (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640.

Advanced corporate finance course that builds on the core course. Study of investment and financing decisions faced by firms at various stages in their life cycles. Topics include advanced capital budgeting and capital structure, real options and option-like features in securities, financial contracting, governance, financial distress, and capital-raising transactions ranging from IPOs for young firms to complex hedging strategies for large firms. Pedagogy uses mix of lectures and case studies.


BUFN 716 - Financial Restructuring and Strategy (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640.

Integration and extension of financial theory and principles to analyze financial, asset and ownership restructuring decisions. A valuation framework is used to study strategic decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, share repurchases, exchange offers, leveraged recapitalization, joint ventures, employee stock option plans, divestitures and spin-offs.


BUFN 726 - Futures and Options Contracts (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640.

The institutional features and economic rationale underlying markets in futures and options. Valuation of futures and options. Hedging, speculation, structure of futures prices, interest rate futures, efficiency in futures markets, and stock and commodity options.


BUFN 731 - Fixed Income Securities (3 credits)
Corequisite: BUFN 700.

Focuses on understanding financial instruments that have market values which are sensitive to interest rate movements. Develop tools to analyze interest rate sensitivity and value fixed income securities. Topics include a variety of fixed income assets and related securities, including: zero coupon government bonds; coupon bearing government bonds; exchange-traded bond options; bonds with embedded options; floating rate notes; caps, collars and floors; floating rate notes with embedded options; forward contracts; interest rate swaps; bond futures and options on bond futures.

APPROVED FINANCE ELECTIVES (9 CREDITS REQUIRED)

BUFN 702 - Applied Equity Analysis and Portfolio Management (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640.

Applications of finance concepts to definitions of investment objectives, equity analysis, portfolio analysis and management, and investment performance evaluation. Cases and studies of actual securities. Emphasis on fundamental analysis and stock recommendations.


BUFN 722 - Banking and Financial Institutions (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640.

The role of financial management in banking and financial institutions. The economic role and regulation of banking and financial institutions, analysis of risks and returns on financial assets and liabilities, and the structure of assets, liabilities and capital.


BUFN 724 - International Financial Management (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640.

The role of financial management in the multinational firm. The financing and managing of foreign investments, assets, currencies, imports and exports. National and international financial institutions and markets.


BUFN 735 - Computational Finance (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640/BUSI 630.

Introduces and applies various computational techniques useful in management of equities and fixed income portfolios, valuation of financial derivatives, such as stock options, valuation of fixed income securities and their derivatives. Techniques include portfolio Monte Carlo simulation, binomial and Black-Scholes option pricing models, value at risk and stochastic processes.


BUSI 771 - New Venture Financing (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 640 or permission of department.

Development of skills for financing new ventures (both small and potentially large). Exploration of various funding sources. Criteria used in evaluation and decision process, including commercial banks, venture capital companies, small business investment companies, underwriters, private placement-financial consultants, mortgage bankers, and small business innovative research grants (U.S. Government). Topics will include: methods of financing, techniques for valuing new businesses, financial structure, and evaluation methods used by investors and lenders.


BMGT 840 - Seminar in Financial Theory (3 credits)
Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Seminar in selected classic and current theoretical and empirical research in the foundations of finance.

TWO ADDITIONAL ELECTIVES FROM AMONG THE FOLLOWING:

BUFN 702, BUFN 722, BUFN 724, BUFN 735, BUSI 771, BMGT 840 (course descriptions above)

-or-

BUAC 710 - Advanced Accounting Theory (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 610.

Contemporary issues in financial accounting. The nature of income, the relationship between asset valuation and income determination, and various approaches to accounting for inflation. The accounting standards setting process. The measurement and valuation of assets (e.g., foreign investments) and liabilities (e.g., leases and pensions).


BUAC 711 - Financial Planning & Control Systems for Managers and Consultants (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 611, BUSI 630 & BUSI 681 or permission of department.

This course provides an analysis of several topics concerning financial planning/control systems (management accounting systems). Topics covered: design and use of cost management systems (including activity-based costing systems), financial performance measures for enhancing firm value, managerial incentive contracts and accounting data, management accounting and Internet-based transactions, managing earnings and financial ratios, use of balanced scorecard to evaluate financial/non-financial managerial performance, management accounting systems and competitor analysis, behavioral aspects of budgeting, post-auditing of capital investments, accounting/economics aspects of information security, and transfer pricing.


BUDT 733 - Data Analysis for Decision Makers  (3 credits)
Prerequisite: BUSI 630.

Modern data analysis methods for managerial decision-making in the information age. Includes techniques for forecasting, clustering, classification, prediction and survey sampling.


BMGT 830 - Operations Research: Linear Programming (3 credits)
Prerequisites: MATH 240 or equivalent; or permission of department.

Concepts and applications of linear programming models, theoretical development of the simplex algorithm, and primal-dual problems and theory.


BMGT 835 - Simulation of Discrete-Event Systems (3 credits)
Prerequisites: Knowledge of Fortran, Basic, C, or Pascal; and BUSI 630 or equivalent.

Simulation modeling and analysis of stochastic discrete-event systems such as manufacturing systems, inventory control systems, and computer/ communications networks.


BMGT 882 - Applied Multivariate Analysis I (3 credits)
Prerequisite: ECON 621, ECON 624, EDMS 651, STAT 450 or permission of instructor.

Multivariate statistical methods and their use in empirical research. Topics include summarization and visualization of multivariate data, principal components, metric multidimensional scaling, canonical correlation, multivariate paired comparisons and repeated measures-designs, multivariate analysis of variance, and discriminate analysis. The maximum likelihood and likelihood ratio principles are also discussed. An important component of the course is the analysis of business data using contemporary software.


ECON 603 - Microeconomic Analysis I  (3 credits)
Prerequisite: ECON 600 or permission of department.

A detailed treatment of the theory of the consumer and of the firm, particularly emphasizing the duality approach. Topics include the household production model, imperfect competition, monopolistic and oligopolistic markets.


ECON 621 - Quantitative Methods I  (3 credits)
Prerequisite: ECON 600 or permission of department.

An introduction to econometrics, and a development of the mathematical background concepts needed. Background materials relate to various topics in linear algebra, and in distribution theory. Focus on estimation, hypothesis testing, and prediction in the classical linear regression model. Corresponding large sample issues are considered. Special topics such as non-nested models, hypotheses relating to nonlinear functions of parameters, and specification analysis, including tests for the dynamic stability of a model.


ECON 622 - Quantitative Methods II  (3 credits)
Prerequisite: ECON 621 or permission of department.

A continuation of ECON 621. Topics relate to the generalized least squares model, to dynamic single equation and simultaneous equation models, and to qualitative dependent variable models. Among the topics discussed are various tests for heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation, prediction issues, time series models such as ARCH and GARCH models, tests for unit roots, panel data models, and systems estimation including the GMM procedure. Both linear and nonlinear models are considered. General testing principles, such as likelihood ratio, Wald, and Hausman-type test are also discussed.
 

Finance Core (15 credits):

BUFN 700	Investment Management
BUFN 714	Advanced Financial Management
BUFN 716	Financial Restructuring and Strategy
BUFN 726	Futures and Options Contracts
BUFN 731	Fixed Income Securities

Electives

• Plan A: Five additional courses (15 credits)
• Plan B: Three additional courses (9 credits) plus a thesis (6 credits)

Three Finance Electives from the following (9 credits):

BUFN 702	Applied Equity Analysis and Portfolio Management
BUFN 722	Banking and Financial Institutions
BUFN 724	International Financial Management
BUFN 735	Computational Finance
BUSI 771	New Venture Financing
BMGT 840	Seminar in Financial Theory

Two Approved Electives** from the following (6 credits):

BUAC 710	Advanced Accounting Theory
BUAC 711	Advanced Managerial Accounting
BUDT 725	Models & Applications in Operational Research
BUDT 733	Data Analysis for Decision Makers
BUFN 702	Applied Equity Analysis and Portfolio Management
BUFN 722	Banking and Financial Institutions
BUFN 724	International Financial Management
BUFN 735	Computational Finance
BUSI 771	New Venture Financing
BMGT 830	Operational Research: Linear Programming
BMGT 835	Discrete Event Simulation
BMGT 840	Seminar in Financial Theory
BMGT 882	Applied Multivariate Analysis I
ECON 603	Microeconomic Analysis I
ECON 621/622	Quantitative Methods I / II

**Students can choose to complete a six credit Master's Thesis in lieu of the 2 final approved electives.