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UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE COURSES

Finance coursework will challenge you, pull you into deep theories of financial strategy, and force you to confront real-world dilemmas facing financial professionals. Are you ready to start?

UNDERGRADUATE

All syllabi are from the previous year (or older). Not all information will be the same for the upcoming semester.

FIN 357 Business Finance

Instructor(s): Toprac, H; Poloskey, M; Miller, J; Lundqvist, S; Alves, G; Pancost, N

FIN 357 introduces concepts and analytical techniques to identify and solve financial management problems. It serves as the basis for all other courses in the area of finance and provides basic financial tools that every business student will need to be successful in his or her chosen career.

Prerequisites: Credit or registration for the following: Accounting 312 or 312H; and Business Administration 324 or 324H; and Statistics 371G or371H, or Statistics 235 or 235H and Decision Science 235 or 235H.

View an Introductory video

FIN 372 Financial Technology

Instructor(s): Fracassi, C

The course provides an overview of the most recent technological advances that are radically changing the financial services industry. Technological breakthroughs offer new ways for people to save, invest, borrow, and transact. We will analyze how new technologies create value in the financial industry, from reducing unit cost, increasing transparency, increasing competition, creating network effects, leveraging economies of scales, and lowering asymmetric information. We will also study the competitive landscape and the market opportunities and threats for incumbents and new entrants.

The course is divided into 4 modules. Module 1 will provide an overview of the FinTech industry; Module 2 will focus on distributed ledgers, blockchains, and cryptocurrencies; Module 3 will analyze application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to the finance industry, from credit scoring models in marketplace lending and crowdfunding, to algorithmic trading and robo-advising; Finally, module 4 will concentrate on internet of things, with a focus on insurance and electronic payments, including domestic mobile payments and international remittances.

Prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites may vary with the topic.

View an Introductory video

 

FIN 320F Foundations of Finance (Web)

Instructor(s): Duvic, R; Kocher, J

Foundations of Finance is a basic but comprehensive introduction to the two major question that all economic decision makers must address. What is it worth? Do the benefits of an action exceed the cost of taking that action? All elements of the course are related, with each part building on previous material. Part I shows how humans, following incentives, create business organizations that use scarce resources to produce the economic assets needed by society. Part II introduces a logical, quantitative system for valuing economic assets and making wealth-increasing decisions. Part III uses economic valuation techniques to value financial securities. Part IV uses economic cost-benefit analysis to evaluate non-financial assets such as technology, productive equipment, marketing campaigns, etc. Fin 320 is developed from the ground up as an online course for non-business majors. While the course focuses on profit-seeking businesses, all organizations must make decisions concerning valuation and cost/benefit analysis to accomplish its goals.

Prerequisites: Forty-five semester hours of college coursework and one ofthe following: Accounting 310F; Accounting 311 or 311H, and Accounting 312 or 312H; 6 semester hours of accounting coursework.

View an Introductory video

FIN 372 Quantitative Investment Management

Instructor(s): Johnson, T

Today's asset management industry uses quantitative approaches to evaluate and implement investment strategies. This course presents the economic, statistical, and computing frameworks behind these quantitative approaches, as well as the empirical evidence on their performance in multiple asset classes. You will also learn to apply the quantitative big-data approach by developing, pitching, and backtesting an original trading strategy.

While we will use Python to build and analyze investment strategies, no prior knowledge of Python is required for the course. I will cover some basic Python programming in a video series accompanying the course, and provide template code for the canonical strategies to help you develop and critically analyze investment ideas.

Prerequisite: Finance 367

View an Introductory video

FIN 374C Valuation

Instructor(s): Sury, M; Butler, J; Ring, M

This course is primarily focused on the initiation, evaluation, financing and hedging of major investments with a focus on the energy industry. The theory behind these decisions will be featured but practical issues involving application of the concepts will be emphasized, including scenario analysis and simulation.

Prerequisite: Finance 357 or 357H.

View an Introductory video

 

FIN 357H Business Finance - Honors

Instructor(s): Hahn, J

Finance 357H introduces concepts and analytical techniques to identify and solve financial management problems. It serves as the basis for all other courses in the area of finance and it provides the basic tools that every business student will need to be successful in her/his chosen career. Students majoring in marketing, management and accounting, as well as those going further in the study of finance, will find this material to be an essential part of their business education. The analytical techniques introduced in the course will also provide the basic tools for making personal financial decisions.

Prerequisite: Economics 304K and 304L, and credit or registration for the following: Accounting 312H; and Business Administration 324H; and Statistics 371H, or Statistics 235H and Decision Science 235H.

FIN 372 Economics of Cybersecurity

Instructor(s): Canann, T

Prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites may vary with the topic.

FIN 372.10 Economic Principles of Decisions

Instructor(s): Lowery, R

Prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites may vary with the topic.

FIN 377.5 Energy Financial Risk Management

Instructor(s): Ronn, E

The objectives of this course are to give an introduction into the basics of energy trading as well as price formation mechanism in the oil and gas industry and to introduce students to the manner by which energy corporations manage their business risk (esp. price) exposures, and the derivative securities which can be utilized for this purpose.

Prerequisites: Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites vary with the topic. Additional prerequisite: Finance 367 or 367Q.

FIN 374S Entrepreneurial Finance

Instructor(s): Bohn, Bartholomew

Entrepreneurial finance is distinct from corporate finance. Whether the business is a small business or startup that is designed to potentially become a massive company, the early financial challenges, strategies and information is different. How does an entrepreneur go from a blank white board to repeatable revenues and early profits (hopefully)?

Prerequisite: Finance 357 or 357H.

FIN 372.1 Environmental/Social/Governmental Investing

Instructor(s): Starks, L

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing is also known by other terms including Sustainable Investing and Responsible Investing. ESG Investing is additionally related to Stewardship Investing, Socially Responsible Investing, Values-Driven Investing, Impact Investing, Social Investing and Green Investing. The purpose of this course is two-fold: (1) for you to understand and be able to analyze the conceptual and theoretical foundations for corporate ESG or sustainable finance policies and actions as well as investors’ preferences regarding such policies and actions; (2) for you to understand and be able to analyze how such policies and actions affect firm performance and investor reactions as well as portfolio risk and return.

Prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites may vary with the topic. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 367.

FIN 377.4 Financial Analysis

Instructor(s): Kamm, K

This course builds on the class investment management and exposes students to the fundamentals of portfolio management. Topics covered include investment in various asset classes, portfolio optimization, and management from the perspective of institutions such as endowments and pension funds. The course is quantitative in nature with emphasis as well on the analysis of performance evaluation. This course is particularly helpful for students interested in asset management and is good for anyone interested in learning more about managing money.

Prerequisites: Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites vary with the topic. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 367 or 367Q

FIN 377.2 Financial Risk Management

Instructor(s): Alexander, J

Prerequisites: Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites vary with the topic. Additional prerequisite: Finance 367 or 367Q.

FIN 322F Foundations of Personal Finance

Instructor(s): Poloskey, M

This course covers a number of topics that adults in our society face throughout their lives, including financial planning and investing, housing, taxation, cash management, credit, and insurance. Knowledge in these areas will greatly assist you in making important financial decisions not only now, but in your life after UT. At times, the material covered in this course will be challenging -- still, you will find that what you learn regarding personal financial management will be very useful to you as you continue your journey towards financial independence. Personal and Family Finance is a course that is applicable to everyone.

Prerequisites: Upper-division standing.

FIN 370 Integrative Finance

Instructor(s): Way, W; Parrino, R; Wiles, K; Martin, D

Integrative Finance enables you to apply what you have learned in previous finance courses to the solution of realistic business problems. You will employ the concepts and tools of finance to examine a wide range of business issues and explore potential solutions from the perspective of the chief financial officer of the firm. The goal of the course is to familiarize you with the process of analyzing problems, weighing alternative actions, and choosing the best possible solution(s) to enhance firm value. The course is designed to model the workplace and prepare you for a job as a financial professional. Much of the educational process takes place outside of the classroom and you are largely responsible for your own learning. The primary goal of the course is to enhance your analytical and problem-solving abilities. Through a combination of case analyses, readings, lectures, class discussions, and group presentations, students should: (a) improve their speaking and business writing skills, (b) gain exposure to issues frequently encountered by business decision makers, (c) develop personal and professional skills valued by employers (e.g., time management, planning, collaboration, responsibility, and integrity), and d) discover that success in the workplace requires a combination of quantitative and qualitative skills.

Prerequisites: Senior standing; Finance 357 or 357H, and 367 (or 367Q); credit or registration for one of the following: Accounting 353J, 366P, Business Administration 353, 353H, Finance 353, 366P, Management 347P, 353, 366P, 367P, 369P, Management Information Systems 353, 366P, Marketing 353, 366P, Operations Management 353, or 366P; and three additional semester hours of coursework in finance or real estate.

FIN 321K Intermediate Microeconomics for Business

Instructor(s): Snashall-Woodhams, N; Shamoun, D

The goal of this course is to provide you with the economic theory necessary to make better decisions as a manager. By the end of the course, you should thoroughly understand the foundational ideas of microeconomics, such as supply, demand, competitive equilibrium, and oligopoly. You should also grasp the advanced parts of microeconomic theory most relevant to making decisions as a business leader: game theory and information economics.

Prerequisites: Mathematics 408Q, 408D, 408L, or 408S with a grade of at least C-.

FIN 376 International Finance

Instructor(s): Martin, D

The course serves as an introduction to the fundamentals of international financial management and the challenges and opportunities that corporations and investors face in the global economy. The nature of exchange rates and their impact on corporate decisions provide a foundation for discussing corporate strategy and the decision to invest abroad, foreign exchange market equilibrium conditions, and managing exchange risk including hedging strategies. The nature and value of international trade and financial flows are evaluated and the balance of payments concept is discussed. The impact of global taxing regimes on business strategy will be analyzed. Ethical issues encountered in the international arena are also covered as well as principles of business strategy and use of derivative instruments.

Prerequisites: Finance 357 or 357H.

BA 353 Internship – Business Administration (Web)

Instructor(s): Toprac, H

The purpose of this course is to provide you with a format for reflection while you perform a professional internship. Intended outcomes include: Hands-on experiential learning supervised by an industry professional, immersion in a professional business environment, leading to greater understanding of business processes, increased accountability and professional skills, enhanced ability to recognize your preferences and abilities and match them with appropriate career-related choices, and opportunities to put your academic learning into practice

Prerequisites: Completion of forty-five semester hours of college coursework and consent of the BBA Internship Director.

RE 358 Intro to Real Estate/Urban Land Development

Instructor(s): Bowers, S; Sallis, L

In this course, we will introduce you to the basic principles of commercial real estate. The goal is to give you broad exposure to the financial, legal, and practical aspects of the real estate business, while at the same time introducing you to some of the analytical tools that will enable you to examine and evaluate commercial real estate projects and markets from a financial perspective.

Prerequisites: Accounting 310F or 311 or 311H; and Finance 357 or 357H.

FIN 172 Investment Banking Prep-WSFM

Instructor(s): Sztejnberg, X

M&A and valuation practicum course intended to prepare students for their investment banking internships. Course is only open to students in the WSFM program.

Prerequisites: Credit or registration for Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites may vary with the topic. Restricted to students in the Wall Street for McCombs leadership program.

FIN 367 Investment Management

Instructor(s): Donangelo, A; Sockin, M; Alves, G

This is an introductory course in the field of Investments. The course will focus on the application of financial theory to the issues and problems of investment management. Topics will include portfolio optimization and asset allocation, the basics of bond and derivative pricing, the theory of asset pricing models and their implications for investments, as well as evaluating investment management performance. The main objective of this course is to provide students with a framework for making financial decisions related to Investments. These decisions are relevant for institutional investors (pension, mutual, and hedge funds), individual investors, corporate treasurers, and anyone who seeks to use or understand domestic or international investing.

Prerequisite: Finance 357 or 357H.

FIN 371M Money and Capital Markets

Instructor(s): Leeds, S

This course will improve your understanding of the economy, stock market, bond market, monetary policy, and fiscal policy, help you become more conversant about the markets and the economy, and help you become a more informed person, better equipped to process financial news.

Prerequisite: Finance 357 or 357H.

FIN 373 Policy Research Lab

Instructor(s): Canann, T

The Policy Research Laboratory (PRL) is a semester-long course in statistics, econometrics, and data science to learn the tools necessary for policy and social science research. In parallel, the students will apply these tools to real-world data and answer crucial policy questions. Policy research is important, and appropriately using data, cutting-edge statistical tools and remaining skeptical are equally important. Students can expect to leave this class with a deep understanding of policy questions and a toolbox for evaluating them.

Prerequisite: Finance 357 or 357H, and consent of instructor.

FIN 377.1 Portfolio Analysis and Management

Instructor(s): Kamm, K

This course exposes students to the fundamentals of financial and security analysis, financing business growth, evaluating the effectiveness of management in the financials, and the valuation of various business combinations such as mergers and acquisitions. The course is quantitative in nature with emphasis as well on the analysis of inputs and the interpretation of results of the financial models. The course is helpful for students interested in investment banking, investments, consulting, or general finance.

Prerequisites: Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites vary with the topic. Additional prerequisite: Finance 367 or 367Q

RE 364 Real Estate Development

Instructor(s): Pope, M

The real estate development course provides students with an interdisciplinary experience related to the entire real estate development process including finance, branding, architecture, planning, entitlements, engineering, among others; and an opportunity to work with a multi-disciplinary team on a real-world commercial real estate project. The course includes various guest speakers from the development industry that represent different aspects and phases of the development process. Time in class is provided for project work sessions with teammates, faculty and professional mentors which will include progress reports, workshops and group presentations. The course will culminate in a presentation of each group's work, including branding, business plan and pro-forma along with site diagrams.

Prerequisites: Real Estate 358.

RE 378L Real Estate Finance and Syndication

Instructor(s): Hallman, G

This course’s primary objective is to examine real estate securities and real estate private equity investing. Students will learn about the various debt and equity securities available to investors, and will also learn about real estate private equity investing. Through lectures, readings, cases, and guest speakers, students will learn the benefits and risk of the various forms of investing in real estate securities and real estate private equity funds.

Prerequisites: Finance 367 or Real Estate 358.

RE 376G Real Estate Investment

Instructor(s): Sallis, L

This course provides an overview of commercial real estate. Upon course completion, students will be familiar with the various types of commercial real estate, commercial leases, property level financial and yield calculations, sources of institutional debt and equity as well as analysis of market cycles. In addition to the text-based learning there will be an additional focus on commercial real estate as a career. Class discussions will include guest speakers, practical information on job types, compensation, and skills requirements.

Prerequisites: Real Estate 358.

FIN 377.3 Security Analysis - FAP

Instructor(s): Cohn, J

This course exposes students to the fundamentals of financial analysis, important features of financial markets and the financial architecture, and analytical tools. Only open to FAP students.

Prerequisites: Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites vary with the topic. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 367 or 367Q, and consent of instructor.

FIN 377.3 Security Analysis - REIT

Instructor(s): Hallman, G

This course is designed to train the fund managers of the McCombs Real Estate Fund. In this first semester of the two-semester class, the goal is to train real estate fund managers in both the analysis of REIT stocks and in the construction of an active REIT portfolio designed to outperform the unmanaged Bloomberg REIT index of equity REIT stocks. REITs are an interesting and unique combination of real estate assets and financial securities, and provide a very good opportunity for student fund managers to gain analytical skills in core real estate valuation and analysis, security analysis, and active management portfolio construction.

Prerequisites: Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites vary with the topic. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 367 or 367Q,and consent of instructor. Restricted to REIT Fund students.

RE 360.1 Taxation Real Estate Investment

Instructor(s): Singer, S

The purpose of the class is to develop your ability to understand how U.S. tax law analyzes transactions involving investment in real estate assets and securities. The class is divided into five parts: (1) An introduction to the federal income tax; (2) a review of taxation of real estate acquisitions, operations and dispositions; (3) a study of the legal entities through which most real estate investments are made; (4) examination of the principal real estate investment securities (REITs and REMICs); and (5) a review of other significant real estate tax issues (including investments by foreigners, Qualified Opportunity Zones, tenancies-in-common and like-kind exchanges).

Prerequisites: Real Estate 358.

FIN 372 Titans of Investing

Instructor(s): Harris, T

Prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites may vary with the topic.

The Titans curriculum is not technical. Instead, it is practical and intended to provide an over-arching framework that brings all of the technical subjects which are taught so well elsewhere into a connected and more focused landscape. In essence, Titans “connects the dots”, explains why certain ideas are most important, and thereby brings to life all that a student has been separately exposed to during their academic progression. Titans emphasizes the ultimate preeminence of wisdom over technical competence, particularly in leadership and decision making. The class also focuses on helping students begin to grasp the importance of life’s most important questions.

Prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 357 or 357H; additional prerequisites may vary with the topic.

    

GRADUATE

All syllabi are from the previous year (or older). Not all information will be the same for the upcoming semester.

FIN 394.17 Advanced Valuation and Financial Modeling

Instructor(s): Butler, J

This is a course about financial modeling and it covers a range of topics in the field of financial economics. Each topic was chosen because it lends itself to financial modeling but there are modeling lessons that can be applied to other financial and non-financial areas of interest.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Additional prerequisite: Finance 286, 394 (Topic 1: Advanced Corporate Finance), and 397 (Topic 1: Investment Theory and Practice). 

View an Introductory video

FIN 294.5 Financial Technology

Instructor(s): Fracassi, C  

The course provides an overview of the most recent technological advances that are radically changing the financial services industry. Technological breakthroughs offer new ways for people to save, invest, borrow, and transact. We will analyze how new technologies create value in the financial industry, from reducing unit cost, increasing transparency, increasing competition, creating network effects, leveraging economies of scales, and lowering asymmetric information. We will also study the competitive landscape and the market opportunities and threats for incumbents and new entrants.

The course is divided into 4 modules. Module 1 will provide an overview of the FinTech industry; Module 2 will focus on distributed ledgers, blockchains, and cryptocurrencies; Module 3 will analyze application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to the finance industry, from credit scoring models in marketplace lending and crowdfunding, to algorithmic trading and robo-advising; Finally, module 4 will concentrate on internet of things, with a focus on insurance and electronic payments, including domestic mobile payments and international remittances.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

View an Introductory video

FIN 294.1 Advanced Corporate Finance

Instructor(s): Alti, A

The objective of this course is to develop an understanding of the decisions financial managers face. In this course we will approach problems from the perspective of the Chief Financial Officer. We will focus on decisions concerning raising money (equity, debt, convertible bonds, etc.), and spending money (project valuation, acquisitions). The first part of the course will deal with real investment decisions, while the second part will address decisions about how to finance those investments.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 286.

FIN 384.19 Econ Principles Mgr Decisions

Instructor(s): Lowery, R

The goal of this course is to equip you to think strategically about business decisions. The course is structured in two parts: The first part of the course focuses on using ideas from the study of economics (such as the principal-agent problem) to think strategically and thus make better managerial decisions. Readings will detail each concept; a case elucidating the application of that concept will then be considered. Topics will include game theory, moral hazard, adverse selection, strategic commitment, barriers to entry, and network effects.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

FIN 397.10 Environmental/Social/Governmental Investing

Instructor(s): Starks, L

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing is also known by other terms including Sustainable Investing and Responsible Investing. ESG Investing is additionally related to Stewardship Investing, Socially Responsible Investing, Values-Driven Investing, Impact Investing, Social Investing and Green Investing. The purpose of this course is two-fold: (1) for you to understand and be able to analyze the conceptual and theoretical foundations for corporate ESG or sustainable finance policies and actions as well as investors’ preferences regarding such policies and actions; (2) for you to understand and be able to analyze how such policies and actions affect firm performance and investor reactions as well as portfolio risk and return.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

FIN 397 Investing in Philanthropy

Instructor(s): TBD

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

FIN 294 Investment Banking Prep-WSFM

Instructor(s): Sztejnberg, X

This course is intended to prepare Wall Street for McCombs (WSFM) students for their summer internships in investment banking. The course is split into three sections: (1) a formal classroom‐type practicum instruction on key topic of corporate valuation, (2) the creation, as part of a team of BBAs and MBAs, an investment banking pitch book valuing GAP Corporation (“GAP”) from soup‐to‐nuts and presenting a strategic alternative (either an acquisition or divestiture/sale) to a group of McCombs finance faculty and (3) a speaker series where McCombs alumni in the financial services and alternative asset management industries discuss their fields of expertise and career trajectories.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Restricted to students in the Wall Street for McCombs leadership program.

FIN 297.1 Investment Theory and Practice

Instructor(s): Brown, K

To become a successful investor, an individual must command a considerable amount of financial market knowledge as well as a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative skills. This course is designed to provide students with a solid conceptual and analytical basis for making investment decisions. In addition to establishing a background for evaluating and managing financial risk and return dynamics, as well as how global capital markets are organized and function, the focus of the course will be on the examination and valuation of the major investment vehicles and strategies popular today. In particular, we will consider how investors allocate their financial assets by forming, managing, and evaluating the performance of portfolios consisting of instruments such as stocks, bonds, alternative assets, futures and option contracts, exchange-traded funds and mutual funds. Although the ultimate objective will be to develop a theoretical background upon which the student can expand his or her knowledge of the field of investments, the topical treatment will be rather practically oriented. This course is also appropriate for anyone contemplating a career as professional investment advisor, portfolio manager, or security analyst.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 286.

FIN 397P Investments Practicum-IF

Instructor(s): Sialm, C

Project-based study with a focus on the application of finance principles to practical investment problems.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing. Restricted to MBA Investment Fund students.

FIN 397P Investments Practicum-MIINT

Instructor(s): Kothare, M

Project-based study with a focus on the application of finance principles to practical investment problems. This practicum is an experiential course designed to give students a practical experience in impact investing.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing. Restricted enrollment; contact the department for permission to register for this class.

BA 284S.2 Managerial Economics

Instructor(s): Coronado, J

Microeconomic and macroeconomic forces that influence an organization's decisions, such as interest rates, business cycles, financial systems, input demand and supply, industry factors, market structure, and externalities. Macroeconomic forces that influence an organization's decisions, including interest rates, business cycles, and financial systems.  

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

FIN 394 Mergers and Acquisitions

Instructor(s): Almazan, A

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

FIN 394.10 New Venture Finance

Instructor(s): Alexander, J  

Explore the process to building a new venture from idea to liquidation event from the perspectives of both the founders as well as sophisticated venture investors. Develop a common financial framework toparse financial instruments through which we can demonstrate the salientpoints of a new venture's value proposition to its stakeholders. Use this framework to scale the model to express managerial controls, confidence, and ultimately the core values such that the founding team could reasonably expect to raise sophisticated capital.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

FIN 397.2 Portfolio Management and Security Analysis

Instructor(s): Sialm, C

This course is designed exclusively for MBA students accepted as analysts to assist in the management of portfolios under the care of Texas McCombs Investment Advisors, LLC (hereafter, TMIA). These students are responsible for the active management of various portfolios managed by TMIA. This course will explore a step-by-step approach to instill best practices consistent with active money management. Successful completion of the course provides students with comprehensive knowledge of the subject and a set of tools designed to assist them in the investment decision-making process at the portfolio manager level.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Additional prerequisite: Finance 286 and 397 (Topic 1), and credit or registration for Finance 394 (Topic 1: Advanced Corporate Finance). Restricted to MBA Investment Fund students. 

FIN 397 Quant Methods/Investment Analysis

Instructor(s): Schneider, J  

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. 

FIN 394.7 Raising Capital

Instructor(s): Almazan, A

The objective of this course is to develop a better understanding of firms’ financing decisions with a special focus on the decision and the process of raising capital. We will analyze the factors that inform treasurers and CFOs’ choices of capital raising techniques and sources of funds. More specifically, we will consider issues relative to the public equity markets (e.g., IPOs and SEOs) and private equity including venture capital. We will examine debt financing at length. Corporate bonds, bank financing, short-term finance (e.g., commercial paper and credit lines) and other forms of debt financing will be studied. In addition, we will discuss bankruptcy and financial restructuring and the financing decision in mergers and acquisitions.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Prerequisite: Finance 286, 394 (Topic 1), and credit or registration forFinance 397 (Topic 1). 

RE 386.2 Real Estate Investment Decisions

Instructor(s): Smitheal, J

This course examines the commercial real estate acquisition and development processes from the perspective of direct equity investors. This course will be a mix of lecture, case studies, and guest speakers. The first half of the course focuses on the fundamentals of real estate due diligence to establish a basis for analyzing real estate markets and individual property investments. The course starts with a discussion of the principles of urban economics; the determinants of real estate supply and demand; the evaluation of risk and return in equity investment analysis, debt financing and financial structuring decisions; and mortgage underwriting. The second half of the course will focus on the analysis of development and acquisition opportunities in the commercial property markets. The disciplines and processes involved in evaluating various types of commercial property, as well as the debt and equity financing of those properties, will be highlighted through the use of case analysis and class discussion of both new development projects and the rehabilitation/repositioning of existing properties.

Prerequisite: Business Administration 285T or 385T, and credit or registration for Finance 286. Additional prerequisite: Real Estate 386 (Topic 1).

RE 288 Seminar in Real Estate Valuation

Instructor(s): Titman, S

Prerequisite: Graduate standing. Restricted to students in the MBA Program.

FIN 397.6 Special Topics in Investment - REIT

Instructor(s): Hallman, G

This course is designed to train the fund managers of the McCombs Real Estate Fund. In this first semester of the two-semester class, the goal is to train real estate fund managers in both the analysis of REIT stocks and in the construction of an active REIT portfolio designed to outperform the unmanaged Bloomberg REIT index of equity REIT stocks.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Additional prerequisite: Finance 286 and 397 (Topic 1), and credit or registration for Finance 394 (Topic 1: Advanced Corporate Finance). Restricted to REIT Fund students.

FIN 397 Titans of Investing

Instructor(s): Harris, T

The Titans curriculum is not technical. Instead it is practical and intended to provide an over-arching framework that brings all of the technical subjects which are taught so well elsewhere into a connected and more focused landscape. In essence, Titans “connects the dots”, explains why certain ideas are most important, and thereby brings to life all that a student has been separately exposed to during their academic progression. Titans emphasizes the ultimate preeminence of wisdom over technical competence, particularly in leadership and decision making. The class also focuses on helping students begin to grasp the importance of life’s most important questions.  

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

FIN 286 Valuation

Instructor(s): Kang, A

This course covers business valuation, equity valuation, and option valuation. The goal of the course is to provide students with practical tools and methods to value a broad range of assets. While the course is designed first and foremost to be practical, the tools and methods covered in this course are presented in the framework of generally accepted financial theory.  

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T.

FIN 394.14 Venture Capital Fellows Program

Instructor(s): Nolen, J

Fin 394.14 Venture Fellows Program is a restricted course and is not open for general enrollment. Students in this practicum are selected from Full-Time MBAs in in the first semester of the MBA program through a competitive application process in the fall of each year. The students selected will serve as Fellows and perform internships in the Spring and Fall Semesters of their second and third semesters of the MBA program.  

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and Business Administration 285T or 385T. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Finance 286 and 394 (Topic 1).

COURSE CATALOGS, SCHEDULES, AND SYLLABI

  • Finance Course Descriptions can be found in the Course Catalogs. http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/
  • The Registrar has the latest Course Schedule. http://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules/
  • Course Syllabi: Access the official Syllabi and CVs System. https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/student/coursedocs/nlogon/

Let us know if you require a copy of a course syllabus from a semester not provided. It may be best to contact the faculty member directly for graduate syllabi.

Finance Department Contact