StudyQA — Master: Finance — University of California (Page 104)

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

The Master of Finance program at the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management is designed for recent graduates and experienced professional who aspire to launch or advance their professional careers in the field of finance. The program addresses the substantial unmet demand for sophisticated finance professionals.

The Master of Finance program can be completed in three-quarters of full-time and is also appropriate for part-time students. While most students start the program in the fall term, applicants with appropriate undergraduate study or professional experience can be considered for admission in the winter or spring terms.

By providing a comprehensive overview of the field of finance, with an emphasis on emethods and applications, the 48-quarter-unit program enables enable finance executives to gain the specialized expertise required for professional advancement, and prepares students who seek to pursue professional certifications in finance including all levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations.

Some possible career paths for MFin students:

Investment management
Investment banking
Corporate finance
Private wealth management
Risk management
Asset Management
Quantitative Research
Equities Trading

The Master of Finance program requires completion of 48 units for graduation. Students should be able to complete the coursework for the program in one academic year.

Required Courses (20 units)

NOTE: Students who demonstrate mastery of the material may waive required courses and replace them (with the help of an advisor) with elective courses that would be of most value to them.

MGT 201: Quantitative Analysis - Addresses the process of generating decision-making information from data and solving management problems using common computer tools. Covers problem identiﬁcation and formulation, model selection and use, and interpretation of the results of statistical analysis. Topics include estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, simple and multiple regression, time series, and forecasting. May not be taken for degree credit by students in statistics undergraduate or graduate programs.
MGT 202: Financial Management - Provides a foundation in theories of ﬁnance. Topics include time value of money, security valuation, ﬁnancial institutions, theories of risk measurements, managing a ﬁrm’s investment decisions, capital structure, and sources of ﬁnancing for a ﬁrm.
MGT 211: Financial Accounting - Covers ﬁnancial accounting concepts and the analytical tools needed to understand and interpret ﬁnancial statements. Examines the uses of ﬁnancial accounting information.
MGT 227: Fixed Income Securities and Markets - Covers analytical techniques related to ﬁxed-income securities. Includes basic analytical tools in ﬁxedincome markets. Topics include relative pricing of ﬁxed-income securities, yield-curve estimation, securities with embedded options, and trading strategies. Utilizes interest rate swaps, mortgage-backed securities, and credit derivatives.
MGT 231: Corporate Finance - An intensive analysis of the effects of corporate ﬁnancial policy decisions on ﬁrm value. Examines the interrelation of ﬁrm value, ﬁnancing policy, investment decisions, and other considerations. Provides an understanding of the theoretical issues involved in the choice of these policies.

Restricted Electives (2 of the following 3 courses - 8 units)

MGT 244: Corporate Risk Management - Provides an overview of derivative ﬁnancial instruments. Focuses on the use of derivatives to manage risk in a corporate setting. Utilizes the case-method to develop strategies and policies for managing the risk exposure of an enterprise, as well as to assess the relations between risk management and value creation.
MGT 252: Investments & Portfolio Management - Discusses standard asset pricing models, portfolio theory, and empirical uses of securities data. Addresses pricing in the capital markets and empirical issues in testing asset pricing models. Other topics include risk-adjusted portfolio performance, term structure, bond pricing, and bond portfolio management.
MGT 268: Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital - Covers financing of nonpublic and early-stage venture. Includes financial modeling, cash needs assessment, valuation, deal structure, financing alternatives, and harvesting.

Finance Capstone Seminar Courses (8 units):

MGT 295F: Seminar in Empirical Methods in Finance - Covers econometric approaches to analyzing common problems encountered when conducting empirical research. Focuses on hypothesis testing, speciﬁcation tests, general methods of moments estimation, the capital asset pricing model, multifactor asset pricing models, event studies, operating performance studies, simultaneous equations models, and enodogenity issues. Demonstrates programming in SAS and/or Gauss.
MGT 295G: Seminar in Corporate Finance - Deals with the contemporary issues in corporate ﬁnance. Focuses on selected classic and current empirical and theoretical research in corporate ﬁnance. Seeks to provide an advanced and rigorous background in the mainstream issues of modern corporate ﬁnance with an emphasis on empirical methodology.

Recommended Electives (3 courses - 12 units)

MGT 232: Derivatives and Asset Pricing - Explores the pricing of derivatives-based securities. Covers various topics in derivatives markets. Introduces pricing techniques for forwards, futures, options, swaps, and other derivatives. Utilizes empirical data and ﬁnancial modeling.
MGT 237: International Finance Management - Focuses on the nature, risks, and management of foreign exchange exposure in a corporate setting. Covers trade and international investment theories. Topics include the international financial systems, balance of payments, foreign exchange markets, measurement of foreign exchange risk, hedging, international asset pricing, and trade financing.
MGT 274: Special Topics in Finance - Explores the latest developments in theoretical and empirical finance. Topics include asset pricing, performance evaluation, derivative securities, market microstructure, corporate finance, and corporate control and governance.
MGT 276: Financial Strategy and Corporate Control - Covers the nexus among finance, strategy, governance, and corporate control. Examines the theory and empirical evidence for models of corporate financial policy and the market for corporate control. Emphasizes critical evaluation of the evidence for different models of corporate financial policy.
Other MGT electives may be taken with advisor approval.

Requirements

The Master of Finance program is open for admission to all students. The program is best suited for students with a sufficient quantitative background to enable successful completion of the program. The most appropriate undergraduate majors include business, engineering, mathematics, statistics, and physics, among others. Students with less quantitative backgrounds may also apply, but should expect to use electives to develop quantitative background or to take additional courses.

We consider each applicant's professional, academic, and life experiences in addition to character and personality. Admission to the program is based upon several criteria, including the quality of previous academic work, personal essays and letters of recommendation, and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)or Graduate Record Exam (GRE) performance. The GMAT or GRE is required for all applicants.