11 - 20 of 46 results for: FINANCE

Equity investment in companies, common stocks, early/growth stage ventures, deals, partnerships, hedge funds, or other entrepreneurial opportunities will be immediately or eventually important for most MBAs--either on the investing side or on the fund-raising financing side. 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 investors/principals who were involved in the case. This course enables MBA students to learn a broad investing skill-set and to study outstanding investors. See yellow Term Sheet put in MBA Boxes in early May.

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. In particular, we will cover the valuation and use, both for risk management and for speculation, of forwards, futures, swaps, and options; the Black-Scholes option-pricing formula; delta-hedging; credit derivatives; financial risk management; and the role of derivatives in the recent financial crisis.

"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 mutual funds and meet with outstanding investors. The scope and context is global including emerging markets. The Seminar is taught by a founding director of one of the largest international investment funds. nn nnAll those registered in F321.1 will also be registered in F319. See yellow Term Sheet put in MBA Boxes in early May. nn nnAll 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 issues. 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 (e.g., domestic, developed international and 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, investment horizon, tolerance for illiquidity, tax status, social objectives, and special asset-specific relationship, information or skill advantages. More 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 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. For a number of the sessions, we will invite domain experts to add spice and depth to a portion of the class discussion.

This interdisciplinary course will discuss the role of the financial system within the broader economy and the interactions between the financial industry and the rest of society. The course will provide an overview of the financial system, cover the basic economic principles essential for understanding the role of finance in the economy, and discuss of policy issues around financial regulation. It seeks to mix students from GSB, Law School, Public Policy, Economics, Political Science, and other departments. Topics to be discussed include: nn* The financial system, from microfinance to global megabanks: how and why finance can benefit society as well as endanger and harm. nn* Financial regulation: why and how? nn* Other people's money: the challenge of effective control, governance, and trust. nn* The politics of banking and finance. nn* Ethical issues in finance.

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.

The financial economics of how retirement is financed, particularly in the US. Topics: basic finance concepts necessary for understanding individual retirement savings. Properties of financial instruments such as bonds and stocks. Optimization of individual retirement account or 401(k) portfolios. Defined benefit pensions. Measuring defined benefit pension liabilities. Impact of defined benefit pension liabilities on corporate, state, and local budgeting. The economics of national retirement policy including Social Security and government treatment of private retirement savings.

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.

Financial crises are as old as financial markets themselves. There are many similarities between historical events. The recent credit crisis, for example, is far from unique. More often than not financial crises are the result of bubbles in certain asset classes or can be linked to a specific form of financial innovation. This course gives an overview of the history of financial crises, asset price bubbles, banking collapses and debt crises. We start with the Tulip mania in 1636 and end with the recent credit and debt crises. The purpose of the course is to understand the causes of past crises and to develop a conceptual framework that ties common elements together. We will discuss the lessons that we can draw for financial markets today.