MBA Concentration

FINC 680: Islamic Finance and Financial Institutions 

This course covers the basic concepts of Islamic Finance and the functioning of Islamic financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment funds. After reviewing the basic concepts of economics from an Islamic perspective, the course introduces and analyzes the financial instruments and techniques developed and used by Islamic financial institutions in the process of collecting savings and making investments.  Islamic financial products, such as murabaha, musharaka, mudaraba, Istisna’a, Bai Salam, and Ijara will be introduced and discussed. This course covers also special topics such as the worldwide development of the Islamic finance industry, its challenges and opportunities and the regulation and governance of Islamic financial institutions.  

FINC 670 : Risk Management 

Managers with financial responsibilities are expected to have a working knowledge of the principles and practices of pure and financial risk management. Financial reporting is now seen as less important than skill in financial decision making. The volatility in financial and commodity markets clearly shows that firms face risks. Financial risk management aims to analyze, control, and if necessary, reduce those risks to an acceptable level. This is an essential aspect of financial management and one increasingly sought by practitioners. The course focuses on the application of risk management to the issues and problems of financial theory. Topics will include risk exposures (pure and speculative), methods of risk handling, interest rate risk and gap analysis, linear and nonlinear products, capital risk and Basel II, the VaR measure of market risk, credit risk and probability of default measures, operational risk, model risk and liquidity risk, and currency risk. The course will build upon the analytical skills developed in Financial Management and Corporate Strategy. 

FINC 650: International Finance and Banking  

The focus of this course is on the unique problems encountered by the international treasurer or chief financial officer of multinational corporations. It is the international sequel of a corporate finance course and as such it revisits the same funding/financing and investment questions within a multi-currency setting. This course is designed to provide a foundational knowledge of the international business environment as well as introduce ideas on how financial management helps multinational firms operate optimally in that environment. Emphasis is on international financial decision-making through the extensive use of cases and real-world examples.

The course specifically aims to have students (1) understand the evolving macroeconomic environment of multinational firms, with emphases on national income accounting and nature of financial institutions and markets in the context of an open economy, (2) apply the concepts of time value of money, risk, and investment return to international business management, and (3) appreciate the effects of exchange rate fluctuations on the cash-flow and profitability of companies, with an eye to acquiring some knowledge (both technical and general) for managing these important effects. Since this course focuses on factors that influence the financial management of multinational corporations and banking institutions, the main topics that are included in the course are: Global financial environment, balance of payments, currency regimes of countries, international financial crisis, foreign currency Options, Futures and Swap contracts, measurement and management of exposure to exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, hedging of exposure techniques, currency and interest rate risk management and issues related to capital budgeting and financing from the perspective of a global view. 

FINC 660: Investment and Portfolio Management 

This course introduces the students to the analysis of investment information, evaluation of risks and returns, and principles of portfolio selection in investment decisions. This course offers an analysis of investments in financial securities, with an emphasis on portfolio theory and provides the theoretical and operative framework for portfolio and advanced investment management in the securities markets. This course focuses on securities markets, investment risk-return tradeoff, asset pricing models, and stock price behavior in relation to capital market efficiency hypotheses.

Particular emphasis is placed on stocks, bonds, mutual funds and financial futures and options contracts. Special prominence will be given on the study of the operations of securities markets, investment policies, valuation of individual securities, and techniques of investing in securities. A large array of applications and case studies is used to support the practical side of the different topics of this course. At the minimum the course should include the following topics: the purpose and operations of security markets; investment instruments and their characteristics; introduction to portfolio and capital market theory; theory of valuation of stocks, bonds and the term structure of interest rates; options, commodity and financial futures, investment companies and mutual funds; and international investments.