Finance

General Stream

Students must complete 12.00 credits total, consisting of:

• 12.00 credits of Elective Courses

Elective Courses (General Stream)

• FINE 6050 3.00 PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
  Students learn the concepts and techniques of personal financial management in a thorough and rigorous finance framework. Topics include: goal setting, budgeting, financial intermediation, income tax, risk management, insurance, debt management, home valuation, investments, retirement planning, estate planning and strategic use of personal financial planning in financial institutions. Prerequisite: SB/FINE 5200.030
• FINE 6100 3.00 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
  This course focuses on key issues in corporate financial management. It covers working capital management, capital budgeting, capital structure decisions, dividend policy, mergers and acquisitions, leasing and the impact of inflation on financial decisions. Extensive use may be made of case studies. Prerequisite: SB/FINE 5200.030
• FINE 6150 3.00 ADVANCED CORPORATE FINANCE
  Building on the concepts, models and decision situations presented in FINE 5200 3.00 and FINE 6100 3.00, this course exposes the student to more advanced, complex and specialized decision situations in the areas of corporate investment, financing, financial planning and financial management. Applications and case analyses are important aspects of the course. A term research paper is usually required. Prerequisite: SB/FINE 6100 3.00
• FINE 6200 3.00 INVESTMENTS

  The course begins with an overview of the investment environment in developed markets, followed by a more in-depth analysis of key investment topics. These topics include modern portfolio theory, asset pricing models, term structure of interest rates, stock and bond portfolio management, evaluation of portfolio performance, and behavioural finance. This course serves as a useful introduction to the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) curriculum.
  Prerequisite: FINE 5200 3.00

• FINE 6280 3.00 FINTECH: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

  This course is designed for students interested in the emerging and evolving field of Fintech and the digital transformation of financial services. Students will study the different verticals in the Fintech ecosystem, the current landscape, pain points of consumers, sources of financing and exit for Fintech start-ups, open banking, the disruption to incumbents, and computing technology for Fintech.

  Prerequisite: FINE5200 3.00 or MFIN5100 3.00 or permission of the instructor.

• FINE 6310 3.00 APPLICATIONS OF DATA SCIENCE IN FINANCE

  The focus is on using modern programming to perform statistical analysis as used in finance. Applications include assessing properties of asset returns, testing asset pricing models, conducting event studies, understanding simulation methods and panel data analysis, and modelling volatility, value-at-risk, and time-varying correlations. Students will learn about empirical methods in finance by performing statistical analysis on financial data.

  Co-requisite: FINE 6200 3.00

• FINE 6400 3.00 MANAGING RISKS IN A CHANGING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

  Investors and businesses with access to global markets often need to make decisions in response to unpredictable global changes and risks. In this practical course, we will discuss the major risk issues relevant to international markets and explore measures to manage and mitigate them. We will also cover topics such as valuation, trade finance and capital markets in international context.

  Prerequisite: SB/FINE 5200 3.00

• FINE 6500 3.00 BEHAVIOURAL FINANCE
  Classical finance incorporates fully rational, unemotional agents; financial decisions are made without the influence of emotions or personal characteristics. Much recent study contradicts this view. By examining psychological factors known to influence individual choice and financial decision-making we can identify behavioural biases that are both reliable and exploitable. With care, many of these biasis can be avoided. Prerequisite: FINE 5200 3.0
• FINE 6600 3.00 CORPORATE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
  This course uses principles of economics, finance and accounting to examine problems in topics such as cash flow analysis, ratio analysis, strategic financial planning, interpretation of annual reports and prospectuses, economic modelling and business valuation. Students must deal with multi-faceted, ambiguous problems similar to real-world situations. The well-behaved data and simplifying assumptions used in theory courses are discarded in favour of the realistic, complex data in annual reports and other sources of financial information. Prerequisites: MBA/IMBA: ACTG 5210 1.50, FINE 5200 3.00, and OMIS 5120 1.50 or equivalent MF: MFIN 5200 3.00 Corequisites: One of SB/FINE 6100.030, SB/FINE 6200.030, SB/ACTG 6120.030 or SB/FNEN 6210.030. Course credit exclusion: SB/ACTG 6250.030 (either SB/FINE 6600.030 or SB/ACTG 6250.030, but not both, may be taken for credit)
• FINE 6720 3.00 MANAGEMENT OF RISK IN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

  Risk is the fundamental element that influences the behaviour of financial institutions. FINE 6720 provides a comprehensive introduction to risk management. Presented within the framework of financial institutions, the course covers the design and operation of a risk-management system, modeling and the interplay between internal oversight and external regulation. The theory of risk management (market, credit and operational risk) comes alive through practical case evaluation and presentations from the senior executives in the risk management field. The course provides the essential analytical foundations of risk management in a way appropriate for those who do not have a mathematical background.

  Prerequisite: SB/FINE 5200 3.00

• FINE 6775 3.00 CREDIT MARKETS: CORPORATE AND PROJECT FINANCE

  Managing credit risk is, perhaps, the fastest growing discipline in financial services due to its global complexity and dynamic nature. Focusing on how global credit markets work, regulatory reforms and products, this course will explore these markets, stakeholders and credit portfolio management theory and practice in Global Financial Institutions.

  Prerequisite: SB/FINE 5200 3.00

• FINE 6800 3.00 OPTIONS, FUTURES & OTHER DERIVATIVE SECURITIES

  This course explains the way in which derivative securities such as options, futures contracts, forward contracts, swaps and interest rate caps can be valued. It discusses arbitrage relationships, risk neutral valuation, the creation of options synthetically, numerical procedures and the evaluation of credit risk.

  Prerequisite: MFIN 5600 3.00 (MF students)
  Co-requisite: FINE 6200 3.00 (MBA and IMBA students)
  Course credit exclusion: SB/FNEN 6810.030 (either SB/FINE 6800 3.00 or SB/FNEN 6810 3.00, but not both, may be taken for credit)

• FINE 6880 3.00 SUSTAINABLE FINANCE AND IMPACT INVESTING

  Sustainable finance exhibits one of the strongest trends in capital markets around the world. At the end of 2020, professionally managed sustainable investment strategies encompassed approximately 36% (US$35.3 trillion) of all total global assets under management. The course provides an overview of the global sustainable finance market and its different variations and explores how financial players (institutional investors, asset managers, and corporations) can manage capital and generate value through Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) lenses. It provides insights into the sustainability challenges and how finance can address these challenges with sustainable investing. Sustainable finance integrates ESG criteria into financial decisions to allocate funding to its most productive use, whereas traditional finance focuses solely on financial return and risk. Students will gain a foundation in understanding the principles underlying sustainable and responsible decision-making in finance, the guidelines on how to apply them in business and investment practice, and how regulations and market forces provide incentives that encourage desired corporate and investor behaviors.

  FINE 5200 3.0, or MFIN 5100 3.0, or permission of the instructor.

^{NOTE: Not all courses required to fulfill a specialization are offered each term. Course offerings are based on factors such as student demand and instructor availability. The office of Student Services & International Relations is available to provide advising on course sequencing and the fulfillment of program and specialization requirements within a student’s period of study. For current course offerings and details, please view the Schulich Course Offerings Database.}