The required core courses have no pre-requisites for MSF students.
ACTG 612 Financial Accounting (3 credits) This course develops an understanding of the most fundamental accounting concepts and provides key building blocks necessary for intermediate and advanced financial statement analysis. It is designed to provide a basic but practical application of financial analyses commonly performed by industry professionals.
FIN 612 Fundamentals of Finance (3 credits) Covers the fundamental theories and tools of financial analysis. Topics include valuation, capital budgeting, risk and return, market efficiency, and financial policies.
FIN 615 Quantitative Methods in Finance (3 credits) This course provides an introduction to quantitative methods that are applicable in several areas of finance; presents concepts and methodologies from probability theory, statistical inference, regression analysis, and time series analysis; emphasis is placed on software applications of real data on stock returns, CAPM and Fama-French models, and cross-section firm data.
FIN 683 Concepts of Investments (3 credits) This course covers the foundations of investment management: theory and empirical evidence related to portfolio theory, market efficiency, asset pricing models, factor models, and option pricing theory. Students are expected to combine market research results and electronic information sources to create optimal investment strategies.
FIN 607 Seminar: MSF Professional Development (1-2 credits) Embedded in your academic program is the recognition that self assessment, industry knowledge and engagement, networking, and presentation skills are also critical to your success. This seminar will build your confidence and career management skills over four terms with activities both in and out of the classroom that are designed to enhance your self-marketing tools and to aid your future job search. Quarterly seminar enrollment is a requirement for all MSF students.
FIN 609 Practicum: Applications in Investment Management (3 credits) This course is envisioned as a capstone course. Students work in teams on an applied finance project. This project should be associated with the area of focus of the students’ electives as it will illustrate the students’ knowledge and expertise that students can reference when speaking to potential employers.