Finance Electives in Fall 2014 (days/times subject to possible change)
MBA 231 – Corporate Finance
Susan Cheng
3 units
Mondays, 6:00-9:30 pm
This course is meant to provide a solid understanding of major issues confronting financial managers in companies large and small. It covers techniques for valuing projects and corporations, topics in capital structure (payout policies, distress, mergers and acquisitions, public financing), topics of interest relating to small companies (working capital management, private equity financing, venture capital), and an introduction to real options.
MBA 236B – Investment Strategies and Styles
Bob O’Donnell
2 units
Mondays, 4:00-6:00 pm
We will study a wide variety of investment strategies, including those of investors such as George Soros, Warren Buffett and Richard Thaler, as well as passive index funds -- plus strategies of the instructor and four or five active investment managers as guest speakers. The management of large pools of assets with a long-term focus will be emphasized. Since the first rule of enhancing wealth is not to lose it, risk mitigation will be addressed. We will also discuss manias, financial disasters, endowment management, and ethics. This course may be of value especially to those considering careers in investment management.
MBA 236D – Portfolio Management
Sam Olesky
3 units
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-3:30 pm
We will explore the broad range of portfolio management across asset classes in practice. Presentations will be given by seasoned managers of mutual funds, exchange traded funds, bond funds, emerging markets funds, real estate investment trusts, hedge funds, venture capital funds, leveraged buy-out funds, and pension funds. Each presentation will be preceded by one lecture that will familiarize students with the strategies, financial instruments, and market characteristics relevant to each fund type. Guest speakers will include Q&A and encourage active engagement. This course can provide direction to students with professional aspirations in investment management and financial markets, and it is also valuable to students who desire to become better managers of their own investments.
MBA 237.1 – Corporate Risk Management and Valuation using Derivatives
Nicolae Garleanu
2 units
Tuesdays, 6:00-9:30 pm (shortened semester)
This course studies derivatives from the point of view of corporations, which face risks that they may wish to reduce and have risky opportunities they want to value. Derivatives offer tools for hedging business risks. Whether an exporting firm is concerned about specific foreign currencies losing value, an oil producer about the price of oil decreasing, or a borrower about interest rates rising, the easiest way to protect the firm’s profit against such adverse developments is to take an appropriate derivatives position. The most common derivatives are forwards and futures, swaps, and options. The course will define these derivatives, study how to use them for hedging, and examine their valuation and its uses for corporations. Derivatives represent the largest asset class worldwide. Much of the volume is driven by corporate hedging needs, as well as for investing, and for example options used in incentive employee contracts.
MBA 237.2 – Fixed Income
Randy Wedding
2 units
Wednesdays, 4:00-6:00 pm
Fixed Income might be regarded as the boring stepchild in the family of investments compared to its more glamorous siblings, equity and alternatives. However, market professionals and students of this course understand that the party doesn’t get started without fixed income and the ability to leverage. While the course is firmly grounded in a quantitative and analytical approach, as a practitioner the instructor places subject matter in the relevant real world context. Each lecture will begin with a discussion of current market/economic conditions and how they relate to the topic at hand. For example, the discussion on leveraged finance will cover not just the structure and credit analysis of a typical high yield bond or bank loan but also real-time investment decisions relating to an LBO currently in the market. We will survey the basics of fixed income, including terminology, security types, debt and money markets. We then move into the valuation of cash flows, the term structure of interest rates and the modeling of credit risk. Building on that foundation, we examine the unexpectedly important role fixed income plays in the global financial system, other asset classes and derivatives.
MBA 237.3 – Private Equity: from LBOs to Emerging Markets
Asiff Hirji and Ted Kuh
2 unit
Mondays, 4:00-6:00 pm
This course will focus on how the private equity industry attempts to create value for its investors through careful selection of its investments, financial structuring and effecting operational improvements. What are the investment attributes that make for an attractive investment? How are potential investments valued? What are the key value levers? A key part of the course will be focused on the LBO transaction, the largest category of private equity transactions. In addition, growth capital investments and transactions in international markets, including emerging markets will be reviewed. The course will also cover the evolution of the industry and the current issues faced by the industry. Students will make a simulated presentation to an investment committee on a prospective acquisition of a company -- reviewing the investment thesis, valuation, financing, business plan, potential returns and exit considerations. The course is designed for a broad audience, including those interested in careers in private equity, investment banking and investment management, as well as management consulting, entrepreneurship, and operations.