Results for FINANCE

This course covers the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications that are vital for corporate managers. We will discuss many of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers, both within the firm and in their interactions with investors. Essential in most of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be an important emphasis of the course. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, capital structure choice, payout policy, the use and valuation of derivative securities (e.g., options and convertible securities), and risk management. This advanced course is targeted to those with a strong background in finance and solid quantitative skills.

This course covers the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications that are vital for corporate managers. We will discuss many of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers, both within the firm and in their interactions with investors. Essential in most of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be an important emphasis of the course. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, capital structure choice, payout policy, the use and valuation of derivative securities (e.g., options and convertible securities), and risk management. This course is targeted to those students who are new to finance and for those with little quantitative background.

This course covers the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications that are vital for corporate managers. We will discuss many of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers, both within the firm and in their interactions with investors. Essential in most of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be an important emphasis of the course. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, capital structure choice, payout policy, the use and valuation of derivative securities (e.g., options and convertible securities), and risk management. This accelerated course is designed for those students who are relatively new to finance but who possess solid quantitative skills.

This course, intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, covers the foundations of finance with applications in corporate finance and investment management. It discusses many of the major financial decisions made by managers and investors, emphasizing the process of valuation. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, risk and return, market efficiency, capital structure, and the valuation of derivative securities (e.g., options). The course also provides coverage of the major financial instruments issued by corporations including debt, equity, and convertible securities. Prerequisite: ability to use spreadsheets, knowledge of basic probability and statistics concepts, including random variables, expected value, variance, covariance, and simple estimation and regression. For registration questions about this course, please contact the Graduate School of Business at academic_operations@gsb.stanford.edu.

The focus of this course is the decision-making process of the corporate manager responsible for major financial decisions. Starting from theoretical foundations, we will analyze cases covering a wide range of topics such as capital structure, dividend policy, financial distress, private equity and venture capital, mergers/acquisitions, hostile takeovers and leveraged buyouts. These cases provide an opportunity to apply the newly acquired theoretical models and tools to real-life situations. Students are expected to develop their own spreadsheets and provide recommendations that serve to maximize shareholder value. An accelerated version of this course is offered as FINANCE 230.

Most financial transactions of firms are market-based transactions where the firm interacts with investors in financial markets. The aim of this course is to provide you with an understanding of the workings of financial markets. We will build on the basic concepts you learned in Managerial Finance to explore how investors make decisions about risk and return, how financial markets reach equilibrium, how market imperfections create challenges for investors and corporations, how financial innovations can be used to address some of these challenges, and how failed financial innovation can sometimes create new challenges. nnnWe use cases to develop these topics in the context of concrete practical decision-problems, such as asset allocation of a large endowment fund, fund management during financial crises, raising of outside capital, or the design of a risk management strategy using financial derivatives.

This course covers the foundations of finance with applications in corporate finance and investment management. It discusses many of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers and investors. Essential in many of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be an important emphasis of the course. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, market efficiency, and the valuation of derivative securities (e.g., options). The course also provides coverage of the major financial instruments issued by corporations including debt, equity, and convertible securities.

The main aim of this course is to enable students to apply the fundamental ideas of financial economics to problems in the area of corporate finance with all the complexities the real world entails. The main focus of this course is on the corporate financial manager and how he/she reaches decisions as to capital investments, dividends and financing of all sorts. We will cover many issues that are important to a modern financial manager including such topics as leveraged buyouts, hostile takeovers, private equity financing and venture capital, and financial distress and bankruptcy. The cases will be used to motivate our discussion of how to bridge the gap between rigorous finance theory and its application to practical problems in corporate finance.nnnThe course is case-based and more advanced than FINANCE224. The course is intensive and will require students to prepare carefully all cases, read and understand a lot of materials, and actively participate in the class discussion. The main teaching method is cold calling.

This seminar focuses on private equity investing, including buyouts and venture capital. Private equity investing activity has grown significantly over the past decade. This seminar explores selected topics in private equity investing for those MBA students who take the corequisite course FINANCE 321, Investment Management and Entrepreneurial Finance. Private equity includes both established and early stage companies. The course extends and deepens the entrepreneurial finance area for those with an interest in private equity, venture capital and principal investing, taking a global view. Utilization will be made of original case studies and lecture-discussions, building on the framework of FINANCE 321. The Seminar meets with outstanding investors.nnnAll those registered in F321.1 will also be registered in F319. See yellow Term Sheet put in MBA Boxes.nnnAll those registered in F321.2 will also be registered in F329. See yellow Term Sheet.

This course is intended for those who plan careers that may involve debt financing business or other investments, or involve trading or investing in debt instruments and their derivatives, including money-market instruments, government bonds, repurchase agreements, interest-rate swaps, mortgage-backed securities (MBS), corporate bonds, and credit derivatives. We will emphasize institutional features of the markets, including trading, pricing, and hedging. There is a special focus on distressed debt. Most lectures will start with a cold-called student presentation of an un-graded short homework calculation. There will also be a series of graded homework, an in-class mid-term, and about six 10-minute or 15-minute graded 'pop quizzes.'

Equity investment in companies, common stocks, early stage ventures, deals, partnerships, hedge funds, or other entrepreneurial opportunities will be immediately or eventually important for most MBAs. This investment course discusses many practical and conceptual factors influencing the analysis and value of companies and deals, including publicly listed and private equity investments, and on success of investment approaches. The focus of this course is on quoted and private equity investments and on entrepreneurial finance. The format of the class is primarily case discussions and lecture discussions led by the professor and principals who were involved in the case. This course enables MBA students to learn a broad investing skill-set and to study outstanding investors. HRO sessions are offered on some Wednesdays in Fall at 5:15-6:30pm. See yellow Term Sheet put in MBA Boxes.

This course is an introduction to options, futures and other derivative securities. The goal is to learn a core set of principles that underlie the pricing and use of derivatives. These principles are explored in a series of real-world examples that will help us to build intuition and familiarity with a broad spectrum of markets and risk-management applications. In particular, we will cover the valuation and use, both for risk management and for speculation, of forwards, futures, swaps, and options, including the Black-Scholes option-pricing formula; delta-hedging; credit derivatives; financial risk management; and the role of derivatives in financial crises.

"Global Principal Investing/Hedge Funds" is a seminar on selected topics in masterful investing in publicly traded and private equity/venture capital investments, with focus on the principal's point of view. We study hedge funds and meet with outstanding investors. The scope is global including emerging markets. The Seminar is taught by a founding director of one of the largest international investment fund.nnnAll those registered in F321.1 will also be registered in F319. See yellow Term Sheet put in MBA Boxes.nnnAll those registered in F321.2 will also be registered in F329. See yellow Term Sheet.

This course covers strategic and tactical asset allocation in investment portfolios as well as specific asset and manager selection. We consider challenges that are unique to the various asset classes that comprise broad-based portfolios, including: public equities, fixed income securities, private equity (both buyout and venture capital), hedge funds, and real assets (real estate, energy, timber, and commodities). We also consider challenges that are specific to various geographies (domestic versus developed international versus emerging markets) across the various asset classes. The portfolio optimization framework employed considers the perspective of different types of investors that vary along such dimensions as risk preference, liquidity preference/investment horizon, tax status, social objectives, and special asset-specific relationship, information or skill advantages.nnnMore specifically, our framework considers: tradeoffs between seeking diversification to control risks, and making concentrated bets where there appears to be outsized return prospects (whether due to one-off proprietary investment opportunities or the market appearing to value certain sectors improperly); tradeoffs between passive investment (at low administrative cost and complexity) and active investment designed to produce premium returns (despite the incremental cost and complexity); distinctions between investing as principals and delegating to managers, and the importance of aligning incentives among all parties; the role of "portable alpha" strategies, where expected outperformance sometimes comes bundled with other market sector exposures that are not desired and that can be neutralized with "overlay" strategies; the importance of liquidity in driving the pricing, risk and expected returns to various asset classes and the importance of identifying which parties are natural suppliers of liquidity and which the natural demanders; the importance of effective underwriting and ongoing monitoring of investment opportunities; the importance of tax considerations in the pricing and expected returns to various asset classes and the importance of identifying which parties form the natural clienteles in each asset class.nnnFor a number of the sessions, we will invite domain experts to add spice and depth to a portion of the class discussion.

Family-controlled private and public companies are the dominant form of enterprise worldwide. Despite their prominence, teaching and research have traditionally focused on analyzing the widely-held model of the firm. The family business management and valuation course explores the unique challenges and opportunities faced by family firms. The course is taught by Leo Linbeck III, President and CEO of Aquinas Corporation, and Francisco Perez-Gonzalez, assistant professor of finance. The course balances managerial perspectives with academic tools. It is multidisciplinary: it combines relevant frameworks from management with the fundamental ideas of financial economics. The course is intended for four main audiences: (1) Students who seek to consult or provide professional services to closely held firms or their owners (wealth management solutions, management consulting, etc). (2) Students who are interested in acquiring a private firm either directly (search funds, minority investments, etc) or indirectly (private equity, etc). (3) Students whose family owns a business. (4) Students who are considering working for a family firm. The main objectives of this course are three. First, to understand the unique challenges and characteristics of family firms. Second, to provide a coherent and consistent set of tools to evaluate the most relevant decisions faced by family firms. Third, to focus on decision-making. The course uses a combination of case studies, lectures, and guest speakers to convey the central ideas of the course.

This course will develop a detailed knowledge of corporate valuation techniques, together with an understanding of the role such valuations play in a wide range of corporate financing decisions. First, the course will carefully consider different valuation techniques, the assumptions that underlie each of these methods, how they are applied in practice, how they are related to one another, and how to decide which method of valuation is appropriate for a given application. After developing these tools, they will then be applied to a wide range of corporate finance settings. Among the applications to be considered are mergers and acquisitions, international valuation, corporate governance, financial distress, agency conflicts, asymmetric information, and overvaluation. For all of these applications, this course will emphasize the central importance of valuation to understanding observed phenomena and to guiding optimal decision making, as well as the unique challenges to valuation posed by the particular application.

This course will combine practical and up-to-date investment theory with modeling applications. Understanding beautiful theory, without the ability to apply it, is essentially useless. Conversely, creating state-of-the-art spreadsheets that apply incorrect theory is a waste of time. Here, we try to explicitly combine theory and application.nnnThe course will be divided into 6 modules, or topics. The first day of each module will be a lecture on an investment topic. Also provided is a team modeling project on the topic. The second day of each module will be a lab. The lab day will begin with modeling concepts (tips) designed to help you use Excel to implement the module's investment topic. After the tips are provided, the remainder of the lab day is devoted to teams working on their modeling project and allowing for Q&A. On the third day of each module will be presentations and wrap-up.

This course addresses the interaction between financial markets and the macro economy. First, we will focus on the role and targets of the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed), the conduct of monetary policy, and the determination of interest rates. We further provide an overview of the instruments of the money market and their valuation, such as federal funds, commercial paper and treasury bills. We then discuss the role of financial institutions, the importance of regulation and the regulator's response to financial crises, followed by a detailed discussion of the major financial crises of the past century. The last part of the course will address the interaction between stock markets and the macro economy, including the countercyclical behavior of expected stock returns and how macroeconomic variables relate to the cross-section of stock returns.

The object of this course is to study the money management industry from the perspective of the user --- an investor who wants to invest money. This course will study the main components of the money management industry: mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds. It will also examine important users of the industry such as non profits, endowments and defined benefit pension funds. The emphasis of the course will not be on how fund managers make money, but rather on how the industry is organized, how managerial skill is assessed, how compensation is determined, and how economic rents are divided between managers and investors. The course will explore how competitive market forces interact with managerial skill and other market frictions to give rise to the observed organization of the industry.

The course will take the perspective of a mid-level manager or decision-maker who is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and utilizing financial information in the context of a major transaction. The class will integrate theories presented throughout courses in the core, particularly accounting and finance. In addition to providing an important context for application of these theories, the seminar will also incorporate various methodologies that will enhance a manager's ability to develop and review financial models. Students will work on a series of cases and build models that can be used for earnings and pro-forma financial statement forecasts, valuation, the assessment of financing needs, merger analysis, and LBO evaluation. Students will also gain experience presenting financial models and critically assessing them. By the conclusion of the course, students will develop the skills to construct complex financial models and the logical frameworks to utilize them for various organizational applications.

Need approval from sponsoring faculty member and GSB Registrar.

This 2 unit elective in the MBA Program is an analytical review and simulation of a private equity transaction from the viewpoint of the private equity partnership. The course looks at all aspects of a "deal" and may be of interest to five groups of students: (i) students who may be interested in working in private equity as a career; (ii) students who plan to be employed by operating companies that are owned by private equity firms; (iii) students who may invest in private equity partnerships as a limited partner; (iv) students who find private equity to be an interesting part of the financial community in general (v) students who expect to participate in corporate business development or mergers and acquisitions. The course will meet for nine classes, most for a duration of 90 minutes. Two classes will be replaced by team presentations to mock investment review committees.

This course is an introductory PhD level course in theoretical financial economics, with an emphasis on the basic theories of asset pricing. We being by dealing with individual choices under uncertainty, including expected utility theory, risk aversion, stochastic dominance, and two-period consumption-portfolio problems. We then move on to equilibrium pricing theories, including implications of no arbitrage and stochastic discount factor, risk sharing, aggregation, and consumption-based pricing in complete markets, mean-variance efficiency and the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory. We also explore the relation between these various pricing theories. We will then explore models of pricing and portfolio choice in a multi-period setting.

This course continues F620 in covering some of the main concepts in asset pricing. Among the topics are: (i) Dynamic asset pricing models in discrete and continuous time (i) Rational Expectation models and their foundation (iii) strategic trading models.

This course is an introduction to multiperiod models in finance, mainly pertaining to optimal portfolio choice and asset pricing. The course begins with discrete-time models for portfolio choice and security prices, and then moves to a continuous-time setting. The topics then covered include the Black-Scholes model of asset pricing and some of its extensions, models of the term structure of interest rates, valuation of corporate securities, portfolio choice in continuous-time settings, and finally, general-equilibrium asset pricing models. Students should have had some previous exposure to general equilibrium theory and some basic courses in investments. Strong backgrounds in calculus, linear algebra, and probability theory are recommended. Problem assignments are frequent and, for most students, demanding. Prerequisite: F620 or permission of instructor.

This course considers a wide range of topics in theoretical corporate finance (broadly interpreted). Topics include capital structure decisions, agency conflicts in the firm, dividend policy, security design, optimal financial contracting, the theory of the firm, the market for corporate control, and banking and financial intermediation, among others. The primary focus is on how asymmetric information, agency conflicts, strategic interactions, and incomplete contracting affect corporate financial decision-making. The course aims both to familiarize students with influential papers and current research, and to promote new research ideas in the area.

This course is an introduction to empirical research in finance. The focus of the course is on applications of econometric methods in finance. We cover applications of time-series (macro) econometrics (much of asset pricing), but also some key issues in panel data (micro) econometrics (mostly corporate finance). Topics include tests of asset pricing models, return predictability in time-series and cross-section, empirical studies of asset market imperfections, studies of individual and professional investor behavior, and identification and specification issues in empirical corporate finance. The aim is to familiarize students with essential econometric methods and with important empirical facts and areas of current research interest.

This is a course on contemporary theoretical and empirical issues in corporate finance. Building upon the first-year courses in corporate finance theory and empirical methods in finance, we will examine issues in asset pricing applications to corporate finance, dynamic capital structure (dynamic financing decisions), financial distress, financing and investment interactions, and behavioral corporate finance. Both conceptual economic frameworks and econometric methods will be developed as needed. A requirement for this course is that students complete two written projects, one theoretical and one empirical, and at least one of these projects will be presented to the class.

Finance Pre-Seminar Reading

This course is offered for students requiring specialized training in an area not covered by existing courses. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the reading.

This course is elected as soon as a student is ready to begin research for the dissertation, usually shortly after admission to candidacy. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the research.

With a daily volume of more than $1.8tr the foreign exchange market is by far the largest financial market in the world. It is also one of the most important ones as it is impossible to avoid exchange rate risk in the global economy. nnnWe will examine various aspects of the foreign exchange market. First, we will examine the role of governments and central banks. We will then focus on the markets for spot exchange, currency forwards, options, swaps, international bonds, and international equities. For each of these markets, the valuation of instruments traded in these markets and, through cases, the application of these instruments to managing exposure to exchange rates, financing in international capital markets, and international capital budgeting.

The main aim of this course is to enable you to apply the fundamental ideas of financial economics to the problems in the area of corporate finance with all the complexities the real world entails. The main focus of this course is on the corporate financial manager and how he/she reaches decisions as to capital investments, dividends and financing of all sorts. We will cover many issues that are important to a modern financial manager including such topics as leveraged buyouts, hostile takeovers, private equity financing and venture capital, and financial distress.nnnThrough cases and discussions of topical issues, the course will give you the opportunity to analyze practical financial situations and problems, on the assumption that you are already familiar with basic concepts from the core course F220 (valuation, CAPM, capital structure, option pricing). The course is thus applied, but within a rigorous theoretical framework.

This course both extends and deepens the materials covered in FINANCE 224/230. Major topic areas include: capital structure, distribution policy, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, pricing of selected financial instruments, and financial contracting and security design under adverse selection and moral hazard. The course will be conducted on a "quasi seminar" basis, so enrollment is limited. Cases deal with applications, and approximately 50% of the sessions involve case discussions for at least part of the session. Full lecture, mini lectures on a variety of topics, and guest speakers fill out the menu. Prerequisite: The coures is open to all second year MBA students and Sloan students who have taken FINANCE 229. All others should have experience and/or course work that covers, capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital structure, short-, intermediate- and long-term financing, including convertible securities, and financial analysis and forecasting (pro-forma and other forecasting devices). This course assumes such background and should be considered advanced. First year MBA students and non-GSB students need the instructor's permission.

The credit crisis which began in mid-2007 brought to an end a period of around ten years of dramatic innovation and volume growth in many credit markets and in credit derivatives in particular. This period of growth also saw financial institutions of all types greatly increase their attention to credit sensitive instruments. It is too early to say when the crisis will end or how credit markets will be affected in the long run but it seems safe to say that many of the developments of the past ten or so years will still be with us.nnnThe objective of the course is to provide an introduction as well as an in-depth understanding of issues in credit risk, its modeling and analysis as well as credit related instruments such as default-prone debt and credit derivatives. The objective is to provide a balance between developing, on one hand, a sound conceptual framework and, on the other, market understanding and insight. Both are essential to the informed practitioner.nnnThe topics covered in the course will include:nn- Introduction to credit risk. Historical default experience nn- Valuing corporate bonds and other defaultable assets. Structural models of credit risk nn- Applications of structural models of credit risk to default prediction and hedging; the KMV model nn- Historical recovery experience nn- Credit default swaps. Valuing CDS using default-intensity models nn- Correlation modeling and applications nn- Basket default products: index tranches and CDOs nn- Institutional features and liquidity issues relevant to credit derivatives nn- Reflections on the subprime crisis.