FINANCE CONCENTRATION

There has been a revolution in financial theory and institutions during the last 30 years. Three recent Nobel Prize recipients have been honored for their work in finance. Their theories are used with increasing frequency for structuring portfolios and valuing securities and options. Today no major financial services company can survive without them. The revolution in financial institutions has been equally powerful. Mortgage backed securities total over four trillion dollars in assets. Zero coupon bonds, securitized loans, exchange traded options, and junk bonds are a few of the financial innovations that expand alternatives available to borrowers and lenders and increase economic growth and standards of living.

The Finance concentration gives you a strong foundation in theory that enables you to continue learning and keep pace with new developments after you graduate. Through cases and projects you will develop skills in practical financial analysis and decision making. The introductory course, BSAD 180, Managerial Finance, is taken during the junior year. This course draws on economics and financial accounting to build a framework for asset valuation and management. In your advanced courses, you will extend and apply that framework to a wide range of financial management issues and problems.

Concentration Courses

Preferred Math Sequence: Math 19, 20 & 22 or Math 21&22

You should complete your Quantitative Methods requirement in the junior year. Consult with a finance faculty advisor regarding which course to take.

Required for the concentration:
181 - Intermediate Financial Management 
184 - Financial Institutions and Markets
282 - Security Valuation & Portfolio Mgt.
 

Plus one course in:
260 - Financial Statement Analysis
263 - Accounting & the Environment
268 - Cost Accounting
285 - Options and Futures
288 - Wall Street Seminar – by invitation only

Occasionally, special advanced topics in Finance courses are offered under the course numbers BSAD 195, 196, or 295.

All students in Finance must take Intermediate Financial Management (181), Financial Institutions and Markets (184), and Security Valuation & Portfolio Management (282). The other course you select to satisfy the requirements for a concentration in finance will depend upon your preferences and the nature of your interests in finance. For example, Cost Accounting (268) has a distinct managerial component, while Options and Futures (285) looks at the financial markets. They should be reserved for your senior year. Select the courses that reflect your individual interests with the advice of a faculty advisor.

When you graduate, you are prepared to embark on many career paths. Recent finance graduates are employed in organizations such as IBM, GE, Citibank, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Brothers, Banker's Trust, Bank of America, Lehman Brothers, Duff & Phelps, Bear Stearns and Union Carbide. Others have gone on to do graduate work at Berkeley, Cornell, Wharton, Harvard, NYU, and Northwestern.

Finance Faculty:

Professor James Gatti

302 Kalkin Hall

(656-8298)

Professor Michael Tomas III
305 Kalkin Hall
(656-8270)
Professor Kevin Chiang
315 Kalkin Hall
(656-0515)
Professor Hugh Marble
313A Kalkin Hall
(656-8273)