Finance Course Descriptions

323. Financial Management (3 credits)
Fall and Spring. Prerequisites: BUAD 203 and BUAD 231 or equivalents.
An examination of the finance function in the firm. Topics include the theory and practice of valuation, current and long term financing, working capital management, capital budgeting and multinational finance.

324. Money & Debt Markets (3 credits)
Fall and Spring. Prerequisite: BUAD 323.
An examination of the operation and importance of global money and debt markets including market characteristics, regulation, international differences, international interest and exchange rate behavior, bond analysis and valuation, and risk management with interest rate and currency options and futures.

325. Equity Markets & Portfolio Management (3 credits)
Fall and Spring. Prerequisite: BUAD 323.
An examination of the operation and importance of global equity markets including market characteristics, regulation, international differences, investor behavior, portfolio theory and capital asset pricing, asset allocation, security analysis, mutual funds, performance measurement, and equity options and futures.

328. Management Control Systems (3 credits)
Fall or Spring. Prerequisite: BUAD 203 or the equivalent.  Not offered 2011-2012
An examination of the interrelationships between financial information flows and behavior in organizations. Cases and readings introduce management control processes in responsibility centers. Topics include goal formulation; performance measurement, reporting and evaluation; systems of reward and punishment.

417. International Finance (3 credits)
Fall and Spring. Prerequisites: ECON 101, ECON 102, or the equivalent.
A study of the foreign exchange markets, the relation between interests rates and exchange rates, and the current international monetary system.  Specific course topics include borrowing and lending opportunities in international financial markets, international trade finance, the management of risks associated with exchange rate fluctuations, the analysis or currency crises, and the assessment of sovereign risk.

419. Valuation (3 credits)
Spring. Prerequisite: BUAD 323.
A study of enterprise valuation both from an academic and industry perspective.  Topics include an analysis and application of multiple valuation approaches and an exploration of differences in valuation approaches from public, private, and distressed firms.  The goal is to develop insight into how financial managers can create value for their shareholders, understand other value drivers, and how to incorporate them in the enterprise valuation process.

421. Student Managed Investment Fund (3 credits)
Fall and Spring. Prerequisites: BUAD 323 and instructor permission. This course may be repeated one time.
The purpose of this course is to provide portfolio management and security analysis experience through the management of the Mason School Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF). Students select companies from an S&P stock universe, do research on their business model and competitive environment, make forecasts of future financial performance and perform valuation analyses, write an investment report and present orally a recommendation to their colleagues and faculty for inclusion in a real endowment portfolio of common stocks.

423. Corporate Financial Strategy (3 credits)
Fall. Prerequisite: BUAD 323.
Advanced topics in the theory and practice of financial decision-making. Cases and readings are used to examine the tools and techniques of financial strategy formulation and implementation under various environmental settings.

434. Management of Financial Institutions (3 credits)
Fall or Spring. Prerequisite: BUAD 323.  Not offered 2011-2012.
A study of the management of financial institutions, with particular emphasis on depository institutions. The basic themes of the course are asset/liability management, including spread management; capital adequacy; and liquidity requirements.