Finance

FIN 300. Personal Finance (3; AR)
Three hours per week. This course is designed to develop a realistic understanding of personal financial planning and management. Topics include personal budgeting, personal investment management, personal taxes, insurance, and estate and retirement planning. Note: FIN 300 cannot be used to satisfy any major or minor requirements in the College of Business.  

FIN 301. Corporate Finance (3; F, S)
Three hours per week. Prerequisites: ACCT 202, ECON 201, and ECON 202. A “C” or better is required for a student majoring or minoring in finance. This course examines principles and techniques applicable to the financial management of a firm. Topics include the time-value-of-money, risk and return, valuation of debt and equity securities, capital budgeting analysis, cost of capital, and financial analysis.

FIN 305. Financial Statement Analysis (3; F)
Cross listed with ACCT 305. Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301. This course is an in-depth analysis of financial statements and the accounting principles that underlie their preparation. Topics include the process of income determination, liability recognition, and asset valuation, along with financial ratio analysis and proforma financial statement preparation. Case analysis approach is used in addition to readings and problems. This course assumes a good background in financial accounting and in the principles of finance.

FIN 306. Real Estate (3; AR)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301 or consent of instructor. This course examines the principles and practices of real estate, including real estate valuation, real estate law, and real estate financing.

FIN 307. Risk Management & Insurance (3; AR)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301 or consent of instructor. This course examines risk management theory and concepts, including risk assessment, risk management techniques, the insurance industry and coverage, and benefit programs and issues.

FIN 310. Financial Markets & Institutions (3; F)
Cross listed with ECON 310. Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301. This course examines the economic role and operations of financial markets and institutions. Specific topics include an evaluation of the determinants of interest rates, the management of interest rate risk, the regulatory environment, operations of the Federal Reserve, and the intermediation role of financial institutions.

FIN 415. International Finance (3; S)
Three hours per week. Prerequisites: ECON 201, ECON 202 and FIN 301. This course examines the international risk and return issues facing both the domestic and multinational firm. Specific topics include the determinants of exchange rates, alternative exchange rate systems, the international flow of funds, the measurement and hedging of exchange rate risk, the instruments of international trade financing, direct foreign investment, and capital budgeting for the multinational corporation.

FIN/INB (FIN) 420. Investments (3; F, S)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301. This survey course examines the fundamental principles of investment analysis and management. The valuation of financial instruments, including both equities and fixed income instruments, will be explored within the context of efficient capital markets.

FIN 432. Security Analysis. (3; F)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite FIN 420. This course will focus on the concept of efficient capital markets and the implications for investors. Security selection and evaluation will be stressed. A new paradigm, behavioral finance will be explored as it relates to the efficient market thesis. Students in this course will participate in the management of a student investment portfolio established with funds provided by the J. E. Davis and A. D. Davis families.

FIN 435. Financial Management (3; S)
Three hours per week. Prerequisites: FIN 301, FIN 305, FIN 420. This course examines advanced topics in financial management of a profit-making firm, including capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital structure, dividend policy and working capital management. This course assumes a good background in the principles of financial management (especially the time-value-of-money) as contained in the prerequisite FIN 301.  This course is the capstone course in the finance curriculum and should only be taken the last semester of the senior year since learning outcomes will be assessed in this course.

FIN 440. Portfolio Management (3; S)
Three hours per week. Prerequisites: FIN 420 or FIN 432. This course is designed to introduce and critically examine the key principles of selecting investments, financing them, extracting value and managing the investment portfolio. Portfolio management techniques and strategies will include the use and valuation of derivative securities. Students enrolled in this course will also serve as portfolio managers for the student managed investment portfolio. The J. E. Davis and A. D. Davis families provided this fund.

FIN 450. Policy & Product Analysis (3; AR)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301. This course will teach the student basic components of an insurance contract. Students will study actual policies, learn common insurance vocabulary and the interpretation given to language and phrases through actual practice and court cases. The course will examine Property, Liability, Marine and Health contracts including personal and commercial lines. Regulatory and social issues that impact policy development will be presented to gain understanding of how new products develop.  

FIN 455. Insurance and the Law (3; AR) 
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301 The course examines legal issues arising from insurance operations and from the issuance of an insurance policy as a legal contract. The various legal exposures associated with the Insurer, the Agent/Broker and the Claims Handler as  well as Insured are presented and management of the exposure examined.
 
FIN 460. Risk Quantification & Financing. (3; AR) 
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301. This course examines the process for identifying and quantifying insurable risk. Various models used for quantifying risks (catastrophic, high frequency/low severity) are examined along with the  underwriting models for determining the cost and value of the risk to an  insurer. Risk management tools and strategy are examined in context of reducing risk and minimizing cost.

FIN 480. Special Topics in Finance (3; AR)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: FIN 301 and approval of a full-time finance faculty member. This course examines selected topics of major interest in finance not covered in other course offerings.

FIN 483. Venture Finance (3; AR)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite: Junior status or permission of the instructor.  Basic concepts of finance will be applied to the entrepreneurial venture, beginning with company start-up and concluding with the “harvest.” Entrepreneurial decisions and alternatives are analyzed in terms of their effect of firm value. The central focus of the course is to gain an understanding of the financing of entrepreneurial ventures, including ways investors identify and commit the necessary resources to create and finance ventures.  Lectures, in-depth discussions, and cases are used to address specific concepts and skills relevant to developing and financing a new venture.  These concepts will include: evaluating the opportunity, financing the venture, valuing the emerging company, and harvesting the venture by selling it or going public.

FIN 490. Internship in Insurance & Risk Management (3; AR)
The student works in a position directly related to the field of insurance and risk management during the course of study. Typically, the student will work 15 hours per week during the term for each 3 hours of credit.  The College may waive this requirement for students currently working in or having prior work experience in risk management or insurance equivalent to 15 hours per week for the course of a term.

FIN 490. Internship in Finance (var. 1-6; F, S)
Five to 15 hours per week. Prerequisites: Junior or senior status; an overall GPA of 2.5 or better, and 3.0 or better in the major. For additional information, see the introduction to the Davis College of Business section in this catalog.

FIN 500. Essentials of Finance (2, F, S)
Prerequisites: ACCT 201 and ACCT 202, or ACCT 500 or equivalent. Designed specifically for MBA students needing a finance prerequisite for graduate course work, this is an accelerated, 8-week, MBA foundation course in financial management. This course examines the principles and analytical techniques applicable to the financial management of a firm. Topics include the time-value-of money, risk and return, valuation of debt and equity securities, capital budgeting, cost of capital and financial analysis.

FIN 534. Optimizing Financial Performance (3)
Prerequisites: FIN 500, and ACCT 500 or equivalent. Examines the theory and practice of financial management. It is assumed that all students have taken the prerequisites, which provide a working knowledge of time-value-of-money, financial analysis, modern portfolio management, valuation of debt and equity securities, capital budgeting analysis and cost of capital. Students gain an understanding of the principles and analytical techniques used by a financial manager, including decision-making responsibilities in the areas of capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy and working capital management.

FIN 545. Optimizing Corporate Finance (3)
Offered in the Executive MBA Program only. Corporate financial decisions are explored from the perspective of the chief financial officer. Given the goal of increasing firm value, students explore several key financial decisions related to capital investment, financing and risk management. Investment topics include portfolio selection and allocation decisions, as well as capital budgeting under risk and M&A. Financing topics examine decisions about optimal capital structure in terms of debt/equity; how companies return value to shareholders through dividends; and other “payback” strategies.

FIN 546. Executive Incentives & Financial Planning (2)
Offered in the Executive MBA Program only. Managing executive compensation and incentives, as well as an executive’s own personal finances, has become increasingly challenging. This course provides an overview of the latest concepts, tools and practices associated with these topics. Students are provided several tools and resources for improving organization incentive practices and their own personal financial planning.

FIN 587. Special Topics in Finance (var. 1-3)
A study of selected topics of major interest in Finance not covered in other course offerings.

FIN592.  Independent Studies in Finance (var. 1-3)
A study of related Finance topics that is closely supervised by a faculty member. Activities will normally be conducted by students out of the classroom with periodic meetings and evaluation by the faculty member who is mentoring the project.

FIN 610. Practicum in Portfolio Management (3)
Prerequisites: FIN 534. Investigates the various investment alternatives available to individuals in the capital markets and develops the concepts of risk and return in a portfolio context. Major topics include portfolio theory, performance evaluation, market efficiency, equity and bond management strategies, the use of derivative securities in portfolio management, and mutual funds. The course investigates the entire process of investing in financial assets, from the analysis of individual securities to the final combination of securities into portfolios. This practicum provides students valuable hands-on experience in securities research, valuation of risky assets, and asset allocation by managing actual investments in the Davis Family Endowed Investment Fund.

FIN 620. Financing New Ventures (3)
Prerequisites: FIN 534. Basic concepts of finance are applied to the entrepreneurial venture beginning with company start-up and concluding with the “harvest.” Entrepreneurial decisions and alternatives are analyzed in terms of their effect on firm value. The central focus of the course is to understand the financing of entrepreneurial ventures, including ways investors identify and commit resources to create and finance them. Lectures, in-depth discussions, and cases are used to address specific concepts and skills relevant to developing and financing a new venture. These concepts will include: evaluating the opportunity, financing the venture, valuing the emerging company, and harvesting the ventures by selling it or going public. An integral part of the course pedagogy is participation in the Springboard Angel Investor Capital Fund.

FIN 640. Analyzing Financial Performance (3)
Prerequisite: ACCT 522 with a “B” or better, or permission of the Accounting Coordinator. Students will critically analyze financial statements with an emphasis on identifying items that may indicate unrecognized value, undisclosed or inadequate disclosure of problems, and aggressive accounting. Classes will primarily use case studies with an emphasis on current events. Students will conduct a detailed company examination and prepare a report using public information such as annual reports, 10-Ks, 10-Qs and other SEC filings. Although not a prerequisite, it is highly recommended that a student have as a background a course in Intermediate Accounting or equivalent work experience.  

FIN 650. Advanced Managerial Accounting & Financial Modeling (3)
Prerequisites: ACCT 522 with a “B” or better, or permission of the Accounting Coordinator. Students will design financial models to facilitate strategic decision-making. The modeling process will allow students to analyze a wide range of financial issues and incorporate the notion of risk in strategic decisions. Major topics include investment analysis, performance evaluation, product mix decisions and valuation techniques.

FIN 660. Enterprise Risk Management (3)
Prerequisites: ACCT 522 and FIN 534. Students will acquire the concepts and techniques available to corporations, non-profit organizations, and other organizations to manage enterprise risks, including risk assumption, prevention, diversification, and transfer via insurance and non-insurance market mechanisms. The costs associated with such risks as product liability, environmental impairments, property losses, work-related injuries, and employee benefits (e.g., pensions, health insurance, etc.) affect the daily management of all organizations. Likewise, a fall in demand for its product, a sudden rise in production or financing costs, or a technological failure or destruction of information, can impair the value of the enterprise. Managers who make decisions without appropriate consideration of risk management issues can jeopardize the long-term survival of their organizations.