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Suggested Course Plans

MSF Curriculum

Core Courses

Couched within the highly rigorous Master of Science in Finance, the general course sequence is as follows:

In addition to the course sequence above, there is a 3-semester hour quantitative course requirement usually satisfied by either EC 570 (Mathematical Economics) in the weeks prior to the fall semester or EC 513 (Economic Forecasting) in the fall.  If accepted to the program, please contact the MSF program to find out how to register for this requirement.

As of the 2006-07 academic year, all MSF students have been required to participate in a brokerage-sponsored portfolio competition.  This requirement satisfies the remaining 3 semester hours to complete the program.

**Students who received undergraduate degrees in Finance from an accredited university may choose to opt-out of this course and replace it with an elective.  Please contact the MSF program for inquiries about this option.

http://www.cba.ua.edu/finance/grad/tracks/financial_policy.php

MSF Curriculum

Concentration in Financial Policy

With the increasing importance of financial decision making, the demand for people with the ability to make these decisions and to convincingly present them to upper level decision makers or corporate clients has grown. Responding to this demand, The University of Alabama's Department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies offers a full year sequence of classes focusing on modern techniques for solving business and financial problems.

The Financial Policy Track within the Master of Science in finance is available to students with a strong quantitative background. This track is designed to offer advanced applied expertise in financial decision making. The main focus of this track is analyzing and solving financial and strategic business problems. Students selecting this concentration will have the opportunity to apply financial concepts to real world business problems focusing on areas of business finance that are often not addressed in undergraduate finance curricula. This program is designed to provide students with the more advanced background necessary to work in the problem solving area in a major corporation, in the business consulting area with an investment banking firm, or in setting up and running the financial aspects of a small business enterprise.

In addition to the program’s core courses, the general concentration course sequence for the Financial Policy track is as follows:

FI 505 Financial Policy provides the opportunity to apply finance theories to practical corporate financial issues. Emphasis is placed on analyzing issues dealing with corporate finance; and then making decisions to resolve the issues or problems involved. The cases involve actual companies which provide "hands on" experiences dealing with "real world" financial problems, analysis, and decisions.

FI 506 Mergers and Acquisitions introduces students to the world of megadeals and hostile takeovers. In addition to giving the student an overview of mergermania, the course also begins to prepare the student to participate in the financial aspects of takeover contests. Each student prepares a series of papers which applies concepts learned in class to a real world takeover contest. Toward the end of the semester, the students are separated into groups with some groups representing target company board of directors and other groups representing bidding companies. These groups then participate in a mock takeover battle.

http://www.cba.ua.edu/finance/grad/tracks/financial_risk_strategy.php

MSF Curriculum

Concentration in Financial Risk Strategy

With the explosive growth of derivative securities such as options, futures and swaps, as well as an ever expanding set of newly designed securities such as mortgage-backed securities and structured notes, the demand for people with distinct competencies in this subject area has grown. Responding to this demand, the University of Alabama's Department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies offers a full year sequence of classes focusing on modern techniques for managing financial risk.

The Financial Risk Strategy Track within the master of science in finance is available to students with a strong quantitative mathematics background. This track is designed to offer advanced applied expertise in financial engineering. The main focus of this track is mastering modern techniques for managing financial risk. Students selecting this concentration will have the opportunity to be trained in state-of-the-art techniques in valuing and using derivative securities, with a particular emphasis on mortgage-backed securities, structured notes and computer-based solution design within an object-oriented framework.

In addition to the program’s core courses, the general concentration course sequence for the Financial Risk Strategy track is as follows:

FI 519 Financial Engineering covers the basic characteristics of options, futures and swaps. Attention is given to fundamental pricing technologies such as arbitrage, binomial lattices, and methods involving geometric Brownian motion. General institutional details are given in a global context. Many valuation problems, such as pricing interest rate swaps, are illustrated using spreadsheet technology.

FI 520 Advanced Financial Engineering extends the FI 519 material by introducing the object-oriented approach to problem solving using the computer language C++. Attention is given to lattice technologies of interest rate contingent claims such as Black, Derman and Toy, Hull and White, and others. This course also illustrates valuation procedures involving Monte Carlo simulation. This procedure is widely used to value mortgage-related securities.

http://www.cba.ua.edu/finance/grad/tracks/real_estate.php

MSF Curriculum

Concentration in Real Estate

The real estate track is designed to provide students interested in real estate related careers with a rigorous background in real estate fundamentals, including real estate finance, valuation, real estate taxation and investment analysis. Students will also be introduced to property management and land use and development concepts in order to support multiple career development paths.

Interdisciplinary courses covering asset and portfolio analysis, banking, quantitative methods, and economics support the real estate track, which is structured to encourage analytical thinking, creative problem solving, and strategic decision making.

In addition to the program’s core courses, the general concentration course sequence for the Real Estate track is as follows:

FI 534 Graduate Seminar in Real Estate covers real estate fundamentals, including real property law, the structure of commercial real estate transactions, basic real estate financing methods, real estate brokerage, property management, and real estate market analysis. Taught primarily as a survey course, classroom lectures are supplemented with frequent presentations and seminars by leading real estate executives. Such professional and practitioner participation results in a focused integration of theory and practice.

FI 535 Real Estate Investment focuses on the measurement of risk and return to real estate investments, with an emphasis on investment performance criteria and the techniques used to analyze and finance income-producing properties. Real estate equity and debt securitization, REITSs, and other real estate related investments topics will also be covered. Class lectures will be supplemented by case studies and real estate investment analysis software applications.

Recommended electives include LGS 407 Real and Personal Property Law and FI 432 Real Estate Appraisal.