For future professionals who want to learn more about personal finance and how to better manage their resources. The topics include purchasing/leasing cars, home acquisitions, investing in stocks and bonds, mutual funds, retirement planning and health and life insurance. Special emphasis will be on the nontechnical aspects of these issues. Cannot be used for credit in BSBA program.
Prerequisites: ECON 1002, MATH 1105, ACCTNG 2400, INFSYS 2800, and a minimum overall GPA of 2.0. The study of a firm's need for funds; the institutions, instruments and markets concerned with raising funds; and the techniques of analysis used to determine how effectively these funds, once raised, are invested within the firm.
Computer Appl in Finance
Prerequisite: INFSYS 1800, FINANCE 3500, one 3000-level finance course and a 2.0 overall GPA. Financial problem solving and applications on the micro-computer. A project oriented course with an emphasis on micro based finance projects: Present value/IRR analysis, duration, immunization, portfolio optimization, leasing, capital budgeting, financial forecasting, options and futures.
Prerequisite: FINANCE 3500 and a 2.0 overall GPA. Financial analysis of debt and equity instruments available on organized exchanges and in less tangible "over the counter" markets. Techniques of such analysis being presented in context with economic and management circumstances within the company, industry and economy.
Practicum in Investments
Prerequisites: FINANCE 3500 and a 2.0 campus GPA. Students will apply their knowledge of stocks and bonds by managing a real dollar portfolio of securities. This course requires that students perform technical and fundamental analysis, prepare research reports, present proposals and participate in group investment decisions. The University's Student Investment Trust provides the money for students to invest. Course may be repeated for credit up to a maximum of 3 credit hours.
Commercial Bank Mgmt
Prerequisites: ECON 1002, FINANCE 3500 and a 2.0 overall GPA. Corporate finance and microeconomics are applied to matters of importance to commercial bankers. Among the subjects treated are bank-asset portfolio construction, lending policies, liabilities management, bank capital structure, short-run cash management, financial market rates and flows, and quantitative models for bank management. Commercial bank management is analyzed from an internal viewpoint in terms of what bank managers should look for in asset management and why; what market conditions they should be aware of; and what techniques they can use to meet changing economic and financial conditions.
Prin Real Estate
Prerequisites: FINANCE 3500 and a 2.0 campus GPA. As an introduction to the real estate industry, the course broadly explores all phases of acquisition, development and disposal of real property. Topics include legal requirements of contracts, property rights, valuation and appraisal techniques, marketing, brokerage operations and practices, mortgage financing, leasing and property management.
Same as ENT 3145. Prerequisites: ENT 3100 and FINANCE 3500. This course examines venture capital and private equity firms as an important category of financial institutions. The main focus of the course is on financial, economic, and legal issues that develop between venture capital firms and their limited partners and between private equity firms and the firms in which they invest. More specifically, the course will explore the following processes: (1) how private equity and venture capital firms raise capital; (2) how they deal with firms in which they invest; and (3) how they exit investments. The course also discusses technology development process including protection through patents before they are licensed or used to establish as startup companies.
Pract Persn Financl Plng
Prerequisites: A minimum campus GPA of 2.0; FINANCE 3500 or consent of instructor and Area Coordinator. Professional financial planning requires broad knowledge of investments, insurance, income taxation, retirement planning, and estate planning, as well as certification requirements and legal/ethical issues. This course introduces students to the field of financial planning, and provides an integrated overview of the topics listed above. Students interested in the Financial Planning track are encouraged to complete this course prior to taking other courses in the track.
Life Ins & Empl Benefits
Prerequisites: FINANCE 3500 or equivalent and a minimum campus GPA of 2.0. This course explores the life insurance business from the perspective of both the consumer and provider. Coverage will include an analysis of the various types of life insurance products, aspects of life insurance evaluation, reinsurance, underwriting, and uses of life insurance in financial planning. Also included is an examination of the tax, legal, and ethical requirements.
Prerequisites: A minimum campus GPA of 2.0; FINANCE 3500 or consent of instructor and Area Coordinator. This course will focus on the responsibility of a financial planner in the formulation and implementation of an estate plan. Topics include wills, lifetime transfers, trusts, gifts, estate reduction techniques, tax implications in estate planning, business and inter-family transfers, dealing with incompetency, postmortem techniques, and the role of fiduciaries. Lectures, cases, and guest speakers will be used to stimulate analysis and discussion.
Prerequisites: FINANCE 3500 or consent of the instructor. This is an introductory course to provide students an overview of Fintech (Financial Technology). The course may include the following topics: Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, FinTech Credit, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, Robo Advisers, FinTech Regulation and RegTech, and Algorithmic Trading. This course provides students with the foundations for the interaction of finance, technology, and regulation in the financial industry.
Financial Data Programming
Prerequisites: FINANCE 3500 and a minimum campus GPA of 2.0. Students will learn the fundamentals of financial data programming with Python and R using structured data (tabular data such as spreadsheets) and unstructured data (text data such as social media) for application in finance fields.
Same as INTL BUS 3580. Prerequisites: FINANCE 3500 and a 2.0 campus GPA. This course explores corporate finance in the context of a global environment. Financial managers for an international firm must deal with all the normal problems faced by domestic corporations plus additional foreign exchange and politcal risks. Class discussions will focus on applying financial techniques to decision making in foreign operations. Students are required to work in a group to undertake a project related to international finance.
Same as INTL BUS 3582. Prerequisites: FINANCE 3500. This course explores the concepts of investing and hedging risk management, portfolio diversification, currency risk, asset pricing, and alternative portfolio strategies. Techniques for using derivatives are discussed in the context of hedging exchange rate risk. Reading foreign exchange quotes and understanding the functioning of global markets is central to the course. A prior course in investments is recommended but not required.
Same as INTL BUS 3280. Prerequisites: BUS AD 2900 or consent of instructor. This course studies of the role and function of International Law and national laws in the regulation of international business transactions. The impact of various legal regimes on import/export transactions, foreign investments, and the operations of multinational enterprises will be included. The role of national governments, supra-national governmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations in forming and administering the international legal environment will be studied.
Same as INTL BUS 3281. Prerequisites: A minimum campus GPA of 2.0 and junior standing. This course introduces students to the practices of doing business in China. Students will be introduced to the Chinese economic and business environment. Issues related to trade and foreign direct investment in China will be discussed. The course adopts an innovative approach, utilizing lectures, case analysis, projects, and student presentations.
Prerequisite: A minimum campus GPA of 2.0; one must have completed and/or be currently enrolled in at least 6 credit hours of finance electives and have consent of supervising instructor and Area Coordinator. A Business College GPA of at least 2.5 is also required. Students are employed in the field of finance where they apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom. Professional development and obtaining specialized work experience in a Track area are the primary goals. The student's program will be monitored by a finance faculty member with the student providing a formal written report at the end of the project. FINANCE 3590 may not be counted toward the minimum 15 credit hours of finance electives for a finance emphasis.
Indep Study in Finance
Prerequisites: Minimum campus GPA of 2.0 and approval by the supervising professor and the Area Coordinator. Special individual study in finance under the supervision of a full-time finance faculty member.
Individual Research in Finance
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and graduate director. Special individual research topics in Finance under the guidance of a specific professor.
Prerequisites: ACCTNG 5400 or ACCTNG 2400, SCMA 5300 or SCMA 3300, and BUS AD 5000 or ECON 1001 and ECON 1002. This course provides an in-depth analysis of corporate finance including asset pricing, risk and return, short- and long-term investment decisions, capital structure choices, dividend policy, derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other current topics. The material is taught through lectures and problem solving.
Computer Apps in Finance
Prerequisites: FINANCE 6500 and 3.0 overall GPA. This course focuses on modeling and data analytics in finance. Hands-on projects include applications in loan amortization, buy or lease decisions, financial statement analysis and forecasting, capital budgeting, bond and stock valuation, risk analysis, capital structure, and portfolio analysis. Students will learn basic and sophisticated Excel tools and how to build executive dashboards, interfaces, and other monitoring tools used in day-to-day business. They will also gain exposure to statistical inference, time series modeling, event study analysis, and machine learning techniques for forecasting and working with financial data.
Prerequisite: FINANCE 6500 and SCMA 5300. An in-depth study of techniques used in evaluating various financial assets as investment opportunities. Financial assets studied include common stock, preferred stock, and fixed income securities. Other related topics such as sources of investment information and current market trends are discussed.
Commercial Bank Mngmt
Prerequisite: FINANCE 6500. This course explores the various bank management techniques required to manage a modern commercial bank in a rapidly changing environment. Topics include asset and liability management, capital adequacy, bank holding companies, profitability, and bank market structure and regulation.
Prerequisite: FINANCE 6500. This course provides a broad introduction to real estate with a focus on legal issues, market analysis, valuation, financing, leasing and investment decisions. Classes are conducted in a in a standard lecture format with discussion on current topics. No prior knowledge of the industry is required
Prerequisites: FINANCE 6500. This course examines venture capital and private equity firms as an important category of financial institutions. The main focus of the course is on financial, economic, and legal issues that develop between venture capital firms and their limited partners and between private equity firms and the firms in which they invest. More specifically, the course will explore the following processes: (1) how private equity and venture capital firms raise capital; (2) how they deal with firms in which they invest; and (3) how they exit investments. Before discussing the main issues of the course, and as a way of introducing the subject, we begin with a brief discussion of the significance of venture capital funding in the technology transfer process and a simple example of venture capital funding from the perspective of an entrepreneur. As most new technologies are proprietaries, the course also discusses technology development process including protection through patents before they are licensed or used to establish as startup companies.
Prerequisites: FINANCE 6500. This course introduces students to the major topics of fintech (financial technology), including blockchain, cryptocurrencies, fintech credit, big data, machine learning, neural network, robo advisers, and algorithmic trading, as they relate to investments and financial institutions.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course covers fundamentals of Python and R programming with hands-on projects and specific applications in finance. Students will learn to acquire, clean, analyze and visualize both structured (tabular data such as spreadsheets) and unstructured data (text data such as social media). Both data programming languages are used in data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in modern financial services industry including banks, brokerage houses, hedge funds, and mutual funds.
Same as INTL BUS 6581. Prerequisite: FINANCE 6500. This course covers topics related to the determination of exchange rates, international parity relations and portfolio diversification. In addition, methods for using foreign exchange derivatives are explored in their use for hedging exchange rate risk. Learning to read foreign exchange quotes and understanding the functioning of global markets is an integral part of the course material. Each student is assigned a foreign country to study throughout the semester with the comprehensive project report. A prior investments course is recommended but not required.
Prerequisites: FINANCE 6500. This course incorporates a wide range of advanced topics in finance including, but not limited to, an evaluation of various financial assets as investment opportunities, trends in capital markets, derivatives and management of financial and non-financial firms.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed and/or be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours of finance electives and have consent of supervising faculty member and Area Coordinator. Students work in the field of finance where they apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom. Professional development and obtaining specialized work experience are the primary goals. The student's program will be monitored by a finance faculty member with the student providing a formal written report at the end of the project.