printer friendly pageFINANCE 321: Investment Management and Entrepreneurial 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.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
FINANCE 326: Derivative Securities
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.
Last offered: Winter 2012
FINANCE 329: Investment Seminar
"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.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
FINANCE 332: Finance and Society
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: * The financial system, from microfinance to global megabanks: how and why finance can benefit society as well as endanger and harm. * Financial regulation: why and how? * Other people's money: the challenge of effective control, governance, and trust. * The politics of banking and finance. * Ethical issues in finance.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Admati, A. (PI)
FINANCE 335: Corporate Valuation, Governance and Behavior
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.
Last offered: Spring 2012
FINANCE 336: The Finance of Retirement and Pensions
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.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
FINANCE 341: Modeling for Investment Management
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.nnThe 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.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Grenadier, S. (PI)
;
Watson, J. (SI)
FINANCE 345: History of Financial Crises
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.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Koudijs, P. (PI)
FINANCE 347: Money and Banking
This course is designed to help students understand the connections between money (the Federal Reserve), financial markets, and the macroeconomy. How are interest rates determined, and how does the Federal Reserve conduct monetary policy? What economic factors drive the yield curves in different bond markets? We will pay particular attention to the banking system, with an eye toward understanding the function and importance of banks. Topics will include the role of the Federal Reserve as a lender of last resort during the recent, and prior, financial crises, unconventional monetary policy tools such as quantitative easing and forward guidance. We discuss the role of the government in regulating the financial sector, paying particular attention to capital requirements for banks. We will often begin class with a discussion of current macro-financial market events in the context of our course coverage. The course is appropriate for anyone trying to gain a macroeconomic perspective on capital markets, from investors to bankers, or those simply interested in the linkages between interest rates, banks and the economy. Given the topics we cover, the course will also be interesting to those who want a better understanding of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the ongoing Federal Reserve experiment in unconventional monetary policy.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Krishnamurthy, A. (PI)
FINANCE 350: Corporate Financial Modeling
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. We will integrate theories presented throughout courses in the core, particularly accounting and finance, and take a hands-on approach to understand how the theory is implemented in practice. The focus of the course will be on developing critical financial modeling skills, understanding best practices, and recognizing common pitfalls. 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. [Note: This course is geared toward students relatively new to financial modeling; those with extensive financial modeling backgrounds may be better served by an alternative course.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
DeMarzo, P. (PI)
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