Finance Track

This course acquaints students with the conceptual and practical problems in measuring revenues and expenses, assets and liabilities. The principal objective is to make students proficient in assessing the financial position of a company, its cash flow, liquidity, capital structure, hidden liabilities, and reserves through an understanding of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The course provides a practical overview of the structure of accounting and its relation to finance and economics that should continue to be valuable as the accounting environment changes.

Prerequisites: ACC 401 and FIN 402

This course addresses the accounting for mergers and acquisitions, foreign operations, and derivative financial instruments. Emphasis is placed on developing an appreciation of the forces shaping accounting, including the effects of organizational arrangements, information and taxes. The interdependency of the accounting methods, organizational structure, and tax decisions are investigated.

Prerequisites: ACC 401 and FIN 402

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 monetary policy and fiscal policy. There is a strong emphasis on the international linkage among economies and the implications of macroeconomics for the business environment.

This course provides intensive study of the fundamental ideas of option-pricing theory and their application to options, financial futures and other securities; analysis of hedging with forward and futures contracts; development of the Black-Scholes option-pricing formula, its uses and modifications, and generalizations of the model; and discussion of the structure and organization of options and futures markets, and the exploration of empirical evidence on the validity of option-pricing models. Analyses of the pricing of options on futures, foreign currency, portfolios and indexes, commodity prices, bond prices, and interest rates are included as time permits.

Prerequisites: FIN 402 and FIN 411

This course is a comprehensive graduate course in corporate finance that is taught using in-class lectures, class notes, and cases, each of which requires a team report and negotiated deals involving co-operation and competition with other teams. The subjects covered include corporate valuation as applied to friendly mergers and hostile takeovers. We also will cover relevant issues in securities regulation, insider trading law, and corporate governance law

This course will enable the students to acquire a good understanding of the fundamental causes of restructuring events; the legal framework in which restructuring occurs; the likely consequences and risks involved in pursuing various restructuring strategies. After taking the course, students will be capable of deriving the value of securities issued by firms undergoing a restructuring events (with a particular focus on distressed firms.) They will learn about famous restructuring cases and controversies, and will be exposed to the views of guest speakers who pursued a career in M&A and restructuring.
 

Prerequisites: FIN402 and ACC401

This course provides an introduction to the evolving use of technology in financial markets and applications. One area of focus is “blockchain” technology in financial transactions, markets, permanent historical records and cryptocurrencies. The other major area of focus is innovations such as peer-to-peer transactions and the use of artificial intelligence in evaluating and funding investments. Throughout we will consider the prospects for the success of the new technologies, asking questions such as: How revolutionary are the various parts of Fintech? What are the hidden pitfalls of the technology/business models to individuals, companies and/or society? How will major financial institutions and governments react? What changes are required in legal rules (including internationally) to accommodate Fintech? The course will require working with large data sets (the blockchain) and specific cryptocurrency implementations. While computer programming skills are not required as a pre-requisite, success in the course will require that students learn the basics of the computer science concepts of public-key cryptography, data verification, and simple programming structures (loops, branching).

Pre-requisites: FIN 402 or equivalent

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 puttable 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.

Prerequisites: FIN 402 and FIN 411

This course acquaints students with the conceptual and practical problems in measuring revenues and expenses, assets and liabilities. The principal objective is to make students proficient in assessing the financial position of a company, its cash flow, liquidity, capital structure, hidden liabilities, and reserves through an understanding of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The course provides a practical overview of the structure of accounting and its relation to finance and economics that should continue to be valuable as the accounting environment changes.

This course draws on a mix of concepts from economics, strategy, and technology to frame and understand issues relating to the management of digital products, services, and platforms. It is targeted at students who wish to pursue product management or similar roles in technology firms, or in firms that invest in technology companies. The course focuses on the interconnections between technology, business models, and user experience. Topics covered include the economics of digital products, innovation, platform architecture, design, monetization, and growth.

The focus of ENT 423 is learning how to prepare an effective business plan that will communicate the inherent value of the concept. Among the critical issues that will be addressed are: competitive conditions and industry trends, sustainable competitive advantages, management team, marketing plan, financial plan, exit possibilities, franchising, legal entities. The approach used is appropriate for start-ups and for corporate venturing. It is also suitable for both profit and for not-for-profit organizations. Also included is a social entrepreneurship module. At the same time plans are prepared, other entrepreneurial issues are studied, such as assembly resources, launching and building new ventures and harvesting results. Lectures, cases and guest speakers are utilized. The speakers will address a range of new venture topics from the development of management teams, marketing, finance, venture capitalists and legal issues. The completion of a business plan for a proposed new venture is required.

This course focuses on the entrepreneurial skill set applied to finding and selecting venture investment opportunities. The course is taught from the point of view of the investor, business plan reader, and the decision maker who must decide the course of action to take in order to generate a high return on investments made from a $100 to $150 million seed venture fund. These decisions include: determining risk factors, valuing investments, selecting from alternatives, building relationships with principals, structuring investments and deal structures, adding value as a non-executive manager, and realizing the value of the investment. This is a very hands-on course. The reading, assessment, and critiquing of business proposals, feasibility plans, or formal business plans, along with proposed structural solutions constitute a large measure of the class’s activities. By the end of the course a student will be
able to:

• Evaluate potential future trajectories and assess the related industry, business, and financial risks.
• Determine investment risk through an understanding of the interaction between industry future state scenarios and how various technology, product and business strategies are impacted by those industry forces.
• Value investments and use valuation methods for budgeting and managing a venture portfolio. The key factors to value and create the financial plan will be based on a business model that will potentially mitigate and reduce the levels of risk associated associated with an uncertain future and risky individual company investments.
• Understand capital structures and structure investments in individual venture backed start-ups.

This course provides intensive study of the fundamental ideas of option-pricing theory and their application to options, financial futures and other securities; analysis of hedging with forward and futures contracts; development of the Black-Scholes option-pricing formula, its uses and modifications, and generalizations of the model; and discussion of the structure and organization of options and futures markets, and the exploration of empirical evidence on the validity of option-pricing models. Analyses of the pricing of options on futures, foreign currency, portfolios and indexes, commodity prices, bond prices, and interest rates are included as time permits.

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.
 

Prerequisite: FIN 411

This course is a comprehensive graduate course in corporate finance that is taught using in-class lectures, class notes, and cases, each of which requires a team report and negotiated deals involving co-operation and competition with other teams. The subjects covered include corporate valuation as applied to friendly mergers and hostile takeovers. We also will cover relevant issues in securities regulation, insider trading law, and corporate-governance law

This course provides an introduction to, and an overview of, real estate as a capital asset and as a major component of our financial markets. The course will focus on the basic economics of real estate markets, market analysis, and real estate finance. Concepts used in the real estate industry will be covered throughout the course. The course will specifically consider market analysis, valuation, capital structure, and risk analyses for income-producing (commercial) properties. The securitization of both commercial and residential properties has been a critical factor in our current economy, and the structure of real estate securities and investment vehicles such as real estate investment trusts will be studied. The course also introduces real estate development and current trends in the market.

The Private Equity and Venture Capital [PE/VC] industry is more in the popular press than ever before; funds are larger and more diverse than in any past generation, deals are bigger, scope is worldwide, and wealth generation seems to be at levels heretofore unseen. Many argue that PE/VC drives major segments of national economies more than ever before, and that it is essential that the industry is better understood and weighed more heavily in the thinking and plans of policy-makers in government and commerce. This course provides exposure to what PE/VC is and how it works. We cover, among other things; the make-up of funds, the composition and operation of PE/VC firms, dealing sourcing, due diligence and investment process, and the roles of partnerships, GPs, LPs, ‘activists’ and Boards. At a higher level, we cover industry performance and competition, fund creation, some international aspects of the business, and differing approaches to financing in different alternative asset categories.

This course will enable the students to acquire a good understanding of the fundamental causes of restructuring events; the legal framework in which restructuring occurs; the likely consequences and risks involved in pursuing various restructuring strategies. After taking the course, students will be capable of deriving the value of securities issued by firms undergoing a restructuring events (with a particular focus on distressesd firms. They will learn about famous restructuring cases and controversies, and will be exposed to the views of guest speakers who pursued a career in M&A and restructuring.

Prerequisites: FIN402 and ACC401

This course provides an introduction to the evolving use of technology in financial markets and applications. One area of focus is “blockchain” technology in financial transactions, markets, permanent historical records and cryptocurrencies. The other major area of focus is innovations such as peer-to-peer transactions and the use of artificial intelligence in evaluating and funding investments. Throughout we will consider the prospects for the success of the new technologies, asking questions such as: How revolutionary are the various parts of Fintech? What are the hidden pitfalls of the technology/business models to individuals, companies and/or society? How will major financial institutions and governments react? What changes are required in legal rules (including internationally) to accommodate Fintech? The course will require working with large data sets (the blockchain) and specific cryptocurrency implementations. While computer programming skills are not required as a pre-requisite, success in the course will require that students learn the basics of the computer science concepts of public-key cryptography, data verification, and simple programming structures (loops, branching).

This course will focus on the creation of value through deal architecture – that is, transaction design and implementation. The goals of the course are to survey how private parties order significant commercial interactions and to understand the theoretical underpinnings of how they might maximize value in these interactions. In this sense, the course develops a heightened awareness and sophistication with commercial transacting, as well as a set of general skills that enhance the ability to create and preserve value in these circumstances.