Master in International Finance (MIF)
Course Outlines MIF
Advanced Asset Management
This course aims at enhancing your understanding of recent developments in asset management. The focus is on advanced asset management techniques, such as dynamic asset allocation strategies, performance measurement, and style analysis. In addition, the latest research on alternative investments, such as hedge funds and private equity, will be reviewed.
Advanced Corporate Finance & Valuation
The first part of this course provides an advanced treatment of corporate valuation methodology (e.g., Pro-forma Forecasting, APV, FTE, WACC, Economic Profit, Multiples). We will apply valuation techniques to a variety of business contexts, including M&A, leveraged buy outs, and international project finance. The second part of the course reviews theories of capital structure and payout policy. It also provides a discussion of recent empirical research on the value impact of capital structure decisions.
Advanced Financial Econometrics
The aim of this course is to model and explain financial returns and financial risk using advanced econometric techniques that are applied in risk management and portfolio analysis. The main topics are predictability of returns and the efficient market hypothesis, common trends using co-integration methods, and time-varying volatility using ARCH and GARCH.
Advanced Valuation & Financial Analysis
This course covers advanced issues in corporate valuation, accounting, and financial analysis. The focus is on understanding and dealing with the complexities that arise in the implementation of valuation models and analysis of financial statements. Topics covered include, among others: review of enterprise and equity valuation methodology, treatment of pension deficits, minority interests, and leases, advanced issues in pro forma forecasting and cost of capital estimation, valuing M&A, cross-border valuation, and valuation of financial institutions.
Computational Finance with MATLAB
This course provides an introduction to MATLAB, an interactive programming environment that is widely used in the financial services industry. The course deepens your knowledge and understanding of finance theories by developing MATLAB applications and building financial models in areas such as portfolio management, derivatives pricing, and risk management.
Financial Accounting (pre-course training)
This course provides an introduction to financial accounting. Topics covered include, among others: accounting principles and financial statements, accounts, debits, and credits, income and cost recognition, current assets (accounts receivable, inventory), long-term assets (PPE, investments, and intangibles), current liabilities, long-term obligations, and corporate equity accounting, statement of cash flows, and financial and ratio analysis.
Financial Derivatives
Derivative products have a profound impact on financial markets, and there is extensive interaction between academic research and business practice. This course seeks to find a balance between theory and practice by examining the fundamental principles of the valuation of derivative securities and structured products, and discussing a series of case studies and applications.
Fixed Income
This course provides an advanced treatment of fixed income securities and their derivatives. The focus is on bond portfolio and interest rate management, duration and convexity, immunization, term structure modelling, interest rate derivatives, and the valuation of corporate fixed income securities.
Fundamentals of Finance (pre-course training)
This course provides an introduction to corporate finance and investments. Topics covered include, among others: principles of valuation and financial decision-making, time value of money, interest rates, and loan amortization, investment decision rules, valuation of bonds and stocks, capital budgeting, portfolio selection, pricing of risk, and the Capital Asset Pricing Model, debt and taxes, cost of capital estimation, and capital structure.
International Financial Management
The aim of this course is to provide you with a deep understanding of financial management issues in an international setting. Topics covered include international debt and equity markets, cross-border capital budgeting and financing, foreign exchange risk measurement and management, international taxation and transfer pricing, and international portfolio investment and global asset allocation.
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
This course is designed to develop an in-depth understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from a user perspective. The course will enable you to apply a number of key standards to practical situations and to critically review the effects of IFRS reporting on economic decision-making. The course will also provide an appreciation of likely future developments in standard setting.
Investments
This course provides an advanced treatment of modern investment theory, asset pricing, and portfolio management. The course reviews fixed income valuation and portfolio management, optimal portfolio selection and capital asset pricing theories, empirical tests of asset pricing theories, performance evaluation, and market efficiency. It also provides a discussion of recent developments in asset pricing research, including behavioral finance.
M&A, Restructuring, and Corporate Governance
The first part of this course provides in-depth coverage of M&A, bankruptcy, and corporate restructuring. It strikes to seek a balance between theory and practice by reviewing the conceptual underpinnings of M&A and corporate restructuring as well as discussing a number of case studies. The second part provides a discussion of international corporate governance, including the role of large shareholders and boards in governance, the market for corporate control, pyramids and cross-holdings, and protection of shareholder and creditor rights.
Real Estate Finance
This course analyzes the role of real estate assets for portfolio decision making. It provides a framework to analyze the different vehicles of real estate investments (such as, REITs, CMBS) and their financing, to describe the international real estate marketplace, and to address the challenges of performance measurement for real estate assets.
Risk Management & Financial Institutions
This course examines the role of banks and financial markets in the funding of corporations, and it provides an in-depth analysis of the ways in which risks are quantified and managed by financial institutions. Among the topics covered are the nature and economic role of banks, the measurement and management of market risk, credit risk, operational risk, and liquidity risk, and the regulation of financial institutions. We will also review the economics of securitization and other structured finance techniques. All major concepts will be directly linked to the 2007-2009 credit crisis and to other major financial crises in the past.