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Financial Analyst Program (FAP)
Beginning in the Fall Semester of 1997, the Department
of Finance introduced a new undergraduate business curriculum---The Financial
Analyst Program (FAP). Currently under the direction of Professor Kelly Kamm,
this one-and-a-half year program provides an opportunity for a select group of outstanding
finance undergraduates to work closely with finance faculty and industry
professionals to develop their skills and experience as analysts. Students are
offered intensive, "hands-on" experience in applying the concepts of
business analysis and valuation to decision contexts similar to those in the
business world
In the spring, the student analysts enroll as a cohort in a security analysis
course (FIN 377.3) designed exclusively for them. Cases are used to present practical
problems and issues in investments, corporate finance, and financial services
and to develop the students’ oral and written skills. Students learn to assess
the operating, financing, and investing performance of a company as well as make
financial projections, relative to both the company’s recent operating history
and its peer group of competitors. During the fall semester, the students serve as analysts
for the $15 million MBA
Investment Fund in order to increase their practical experience in the
fundamental analysis and valuation of companies and their industries.
Specifically, the student analysts are responsible for studying and presenting
their opinions on different equity investments (domestic and ADRs) to the
Fund’s MBA student managers and investment advisors. In the final spring semester,
an independent study under the supervision of a finance faculty member permits
each student to fashion an individual-specific project that further enhances
his/her financial skills in a particular area of interest such as credit
evaluation, industry structural analysis, or business valuation.
Skills developed in the program include:
- measuring financial performance using financial statements, cash flows,
and related market data;
- developing pro forma forecasts of sales, earnings, dividends and financial
statements;
- estimating investment risk and quality;
- analyzing capital expenditures projects;
- estimating the cost of capital;
- valuing financial assets such as common stock.
This program represents a major, one-and-a-half year commitment that requires a
significant amount of time outside the classroom. To be eligible, a student must
be classified as a senior before the fall semester program begins. In
addition, candidates must have completed the following courses prior to the
spring
term: FIN 357, ACC 311 and ACC 312. The course FIN 367 shall
be completed prior to the start of the program or may be taken concurrently with
FIN 377.3. Interested
students are encouraged to submit a written
application by October 15. Each application is evaluated by a faculty
committee, and those candidates who best satisfy the initial screen are then
interviewed by the committee. Final selections are announced by the beginning of
January.
Application forms may be obtained from the Department of Finance office, CBA
6.222.
Students interested in further information about the FAP should contact Professor
Kamm. | |
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