Finance

• BUS–F 255 Topics in Finance (1-3 cr.) Variable topic, variable credit course in Finance. Sample topics:
  • Introduction to Financial Careers/Concepts
  • Finance Diversity Program
• BUS–F 260 Personal Finance (3 cr.) Financial problems encountered in managing individual affairs: family budgeting, installment purchase, insurance, and home ownership. 

• BUS-F 262 Financial Markets (3 cr.) P: BUS-K 201, BUS-F 260 and BUS-A 200 or BUS-A 201 or BUS-A 202; not open to Business students. This course provides an overview of financial markets, including stock markets, bond markets, derivative markets, and active management markets. Specifically, it examines portfolio diversification, risk and return, mutual fund performance, market efficiency, bonds, options, and futures. No credit for juniors and seniors in the Kelley School.

• BUS-F 272 Global Business Immersion (3 cr., 8 wks plus travel) P: BUS-D 270 with a grade of C or higher, additional department consent required.  Students begin this course with eight weeks on campus, studying similar topics as those in Global Business Analysis. In addition, after completing this on-campus work, students spend approximately 10 days – with the class – in the country they have studied. There, they participate in cultural and business site visits while completing their assigned research. Sample topics:

  • Hong Kong: The Silicon Valley of Asia?: China’s massive, newly completed transportation infrastructure connects Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macau to create the “Silicon Valley of Asia.” You will meet with companies in Hong Kong, Macau, and the Guangdong Province which seek to export innovative hardware, artificial intelligence, and financial technologies throughout the world.
  • Hungary in Transition: This course will investigate Hungary’s economic, social, and political transitions from a post-war communist state with a planned economy to a democratic nation with a free market. 
  • Japan: The Forgotten Giant: Discover Japan’s rise as a world economic power and the unique features of Japan’s business environment.

• BUS–F 300 Introduction to Financial Management (3 cr.) P: BUS-A 200 or BUS-A 302 or BUS-A 205, or BUS-A 202 or BUS-A 207, not open to Business students, only for non-business majors.  Broad survey of finance for non-Kelley School students. Topics include the determinants of interest rates and the time value of money; the sources and uses of financial information; the structure, role, and regulation of financial markets; monetary policy; the pricing of risk in financial markets; goals of investors; and how firms manage their financial affairs, including planning, budgeting, and decision making. Not open to business majors. No credit toward a degree in business. Credit not given for both F300 and (F370, F304, or F301).

• BUS–F 303 Intermediate Investments (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher. Part of the finance major core. Rigorous treatment of the core concepts of investments for finance majors. Covers portfolio optimization; examines the pricing of equity, fixed income, and derivatives; and analyzes the degree of market efficiency. Makes extensive use of spreadsheet modeling to implement financial models. Serves as a foundation for all 400-level finance electives.  Minimum grade of C- required to proceed to 400-level electives.
• BUS–F 304 Financial Management: Honors (3 cr.) P: Business Honors student; completion of all I-Core prerequisites, must have Junior standing. C: BUS-J 304, BUS-M 304, BUS-P 304, and BUS-I 304. Part of Honors I-Core; qualified students enroll in BUS-BE 304. Broad survey of finance for all honors business students. Provides a conceptual framework for a firm’s investment, financing, and dividend decisions; includes working capital management, capital budgeting, and capital structure strategies. Credit not given for both F304 and (F370 or F301 or F300).
• BUS–F 305 Intermediate Corporate Finance (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher. Part of the finance major core. Rigorous treatment of the core concepts of corporate finance for finance majors. Covers capital budgeting, the valuation of firms, and capital structure and payout policies. Makes extensive use of spreadsheet modeling to implement financial models. Serves as a foundation for all 400-level finance electives. Minimum grade of C- required to proceed to 400-level electives.
• BUS–F 307 Working Capital Management (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher. Emphasizes the set of decisions and problems that financial managers face in determining short-term financial policy, financial diagnostics, and operations of the company. Major topics include identifying working capital elements and their relationships to company operations, financial analysis, cash forecasting, banking relations, cash-flow systems, and short-term investment and borrowing strategies.
• BUS–F 317 Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Finance (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher. Covers the private equity and private debt markets that service smaller entrepreneurial firms. Specific topics include: (1) the financial contracting associated with the provision of external finance to a small informationally opaque firm, (2) angel finance and the formal venture capital market, (3) commercial banks and commercial finance companies, and (4) the financial issues associated with a leveraged buyout.
• BUS–F 335 Security Trading and Market Making (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher. Theory and practice of securities trading at exchanges around the world; how trading and the design of markets affect liquidity, informativeness, transparency, volatility, and fairness. Analyzes alternative trading strategies and the cost of trading. Examines innovations in security exchanges and regulatory policy, and provides hands-on trading experience using realistic trading simulations.
• BUS-F 355 Topics in Finance (1-3 cr.) Variable topic, variable credit course in Finance. Sample topics:
  • Investment Banking and Capital Markets
• BUS-F 365 Personal Financial Planning (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher. General course oriented towards theory and application of personal financial planning topics, with focus on the process of accumulating and protecting wealth, towards the goal of obtaining financial independence. Time value of money exercises and money management tools are utilized. Other topics examined include personal insurance issues, investments, in private and public securities, retirement planning, and estate planning.
• BUS-F 369 Insurance, Risk Management, and Retirement Planning (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher. Studies principles of insurance, risk management, and retirement planning as they apply to personal financial planning. Students will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to formualate financial plans to help individuals and families address needs in these areas.
• BUS–F 370 Integrated Business Core—Finance Component (3 cr.) P: Completion of all I-Core prerequisites; must have Junior standing. C: BUS-M 370, BUS-P 370, BUS-Z 370, and BUS-T 375. Students enroll using BUS-BE 375. Cross-functional survey of business management. The finance component provides an introduction into basic principles and perspectives of financial thought. Covered topics include the time value of money, risk and return, interest rates and debt risk, capital budgeting, security pricing, and portfolio concepts. Includes a cross-functional case done in teams. Students may not receive credit for both F370 and (F304 or F301 or F300). 
• BUS–F 402 Corporate Financial Strategy and Governance (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 303 and BUS-F 305 with grades of C- or higher. Advanced treatment of corporate financial management. Covers all major areas of corporate financial decisions: capital budgeting, dividends, capital structure, cash-flow projections, mergers, and acquisitions.
• BUS–F419 Behavioral Finance (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 303 and BUS-F 305 with grades of C- or higher. How human psychology influences the decisions of investors, markets, and managers. Learn how to avoid systematic investment errors, critically evaluate evidence of apparent anomalies in financial markets, and how to escape decision traps that afflict corporate managers.
• BUS–F 420 Equity and Fixed Income Investments (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 303 and BUS-F 305 with grades of C- or higher. A detailed examination of the management of equity and fixed income investments. Covers analysis of individual securities, formation of these securities into portfolios, and use of derivative securities to modify the return/risk profiles of more traditional stock and bond portfolios.
• BUS–F 421 Derivative Securities and Corporate Risk Management (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 303 and BUS-F 305 with grades of C- or higher. Advanced treatment of options, futures, and other derivative securities. Detailed description of the entire spectrum of derivative products. Theoretical and numerical valuation of derivative securities. How corporate risk managers use derivatives to hedge exchange rate risk, interest rate risk, commodity risk, credit risk, etc.
• BUS-F 424 Private Wealth Managment (3 cr.) P:BUS-F 303 and BUS-F 305 with a grade of C- or higher. This course develops the framework and analytics necessary for the practice of private wealth managment. Topics include portfolio management, asset allocation, fund managment and analysis, building client relationships, detecting fraud and conflicts of interest. 
• BUS–F 428 Workshops in Finance I (1.5-3 cr.) P: Department consent required. Variable topic. This course provides students with intense preparation for specialized careers in finance. Each section of this course will be devoted to a specific career pathway. Examples of such specialized careers are investment banking, investment management, commercial real estate and financial planning. The course will introduce students to the special characteristics, trends and challenges of the industry, cover academic content relevant to the industry, and provide experiential activity such as pitch book competitions, client pitches, financial plan development, stock selection, and business plan development. In addition, the course will develop the skills necessary to prepare for interactions with professionals in the field and with the kind of work conducted in professional settings. Specific skills addressed will vary depending on the specialized field. Students will be expected to attend industry networking sessions and participate in company visits. No credit towards finance major requirements.
• BUS–F 429 Workshops in Finance II (1.5-3 cr.) P: Department consent required. Variable topic. This course continues the intense preparation for specialized careers in finance started in Workshop I. Each section of this course will be devoted to a specific career pathway. Examples of such specialized careers are investment banking, investment management, commercial real estate and financial planning. The course will further develop skills relevant to the industry, and provide experiential activity such as pitch book competitions, client pitches, financial plan development, stock selection, business plan development. In addition, the course will emphasize professional development skills for success in the chosen career. Specific skills addressed will vary depending on the specialized field. Students will be expected to attend industry networking sessions and participate in company visits. No credit towards finance major requirements.
• BUS–F 446 Banking and Financial Intermediation (3 cr.) P:BUS-F303 and BUS-F 305 with grades of C- or higher. The main topics are: (1) the economic role of financial intermediaries, with an emphasis on commercial banks; (2) the evolution of markets in which banks and other financial intermediaries operate; and (3) the regulation of commercial banks and other financial institutions.
• BUS-F 455 Topics in Finance (1-3 cr.) Variable topic, variable credit course in Finance. Sample topic:
  • Financial Data Analytics: This course covers new data analytical tools including data mining, web scraping, predictive analytics etc. It will teach you to the analyze  real-world financial data in a variety of settings. You will learn to apply textual analysis to large documents, identify sentiment in Google search data, conduct financial analysis of SEC filings, and back-test trading strategies, to name just a few applications. You will develop the skills necessary to both collect and prepare data for analysis.
• BUS–F 490 Independent Study in Finance (1–3 cr.) P: Consent of department chairperson and of instructor. Supervised individual study and research in student’s special field of interest. The student proposes the investigation desired and, in conjunction with the instructor, develops the scope of work to be completed. Comprehensive written report required.
• BUS–F 494 International Finance (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 303 and BUS-F 305 with grades of C- or higher. Covers the international dimension of both investments and corporate finance. Develops strategies for investing internationally, including hedging exchange rate risk, adjusting to client preferences and home currencies, evaluating performance, estimating a corporation’s exposure to real exchange rate risk, strategies to hedge risk or to dynamically adjust to shocks, and reasons for a corporation to hedge. Also covers international capital budgeting, multinational transfer pricing, and international cash management.

Real Estate

• BUS–R 300 Principles of Real Estate (3 cr.) P: Sophomore standing required, not open to Business students. For students who plan to take only one course in the area of real estate. Topics include real estate law, brokerage, property management, appraising, mortgage finance, and investment analysis. No credit for juniors or seniors in the Kelley School.
• BUS–R 305 Introduction to Real Estate Analysis (3 cr.) P: ECON-E 201 or ECON-S 201 with a grade of C or higher, only open to current Bussiness students. Designed for students who may intend to take additional real estate courses. Topics include real estate law, brokerage, property management, appraising, mortgage finance, and investment analysis. Emphasis is placed on the analytical techniques applicable to real estate.
• BUS–R 440 Real Estate Appraisals (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher, and R305. Offered in fall semester only. This course provides an understanding of the theory and techniques of income property valuation. It covers the material required by the Appraisal Foundation for general appraiser certification as well as material that is included in more advanced courses that prepare students for an appraisal designation.
• BUS–R 443 Real Estate Finance and Investment Analysis (3 cr.) P: BUS-F 370 or BUS-F 304 with a grade of C or higher, and R305. Offered in spring semester only. Case studies in effective techniques of real estate analysis by managers of business firms or real estate specialists. Selection, development, financing, and investment analysis of commerical, industrial, and residential real estate.
• BUS–R 490 Independent Study in Real Estate and Land Economics (1–3 cr.) P:  Consent of department chairperson and of instructor. Supervised individual study and research in student’s special field of interest. The student proposes the investigation desired and, in conjunction with the instructor, develops the scope of work to be completed. Comprehensive written report required.