Course Offerings

Futures, options and other derivative securities have become increasingly important in the world of financial management. This course investigates how these markets operate and the use of these instruments in corporate risk management.

This course will focus on valuation of both mid-size and large firms. In the context of valuation, discussions will include mergers and acquisitions, financing and capital structure, corporate restructuring through bankruptcy and capital restructuring, and corporate governance. In order to prepare students to assume effective roles as a manager or advisor in a corporate finance function, BU463/663 is designed to facilitate the development of the following:

• Understand the various valuation methodology, their uses, advantages and disadvantages.
• Understand the various issues associated with mergers and acquisitions and how the various valuation methodologies can be used to value these transactions.
• Understand the various issues associated with the capital structure decision, and their implications on the firm value.
• Understand the various issues associated with bankruptcy and corporate restructuring, and their implication on the firm value.
• Understand the various issues associated with corporate governance decisions, and their implication on the firm value.

This course is designed to help students understand the investment opportunities in the financial markets and the risk-return relations among securities included in investment portfolios. Securities analysis, portfolio management, and modem portfolio theories are the focus of this course.

The fixed income course covers the analysis of all fixed income securities including bonds, money market instruments, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Risk and return relationship of fixed income securities as well as the yield curve and interest rate risk management will be covered. The course will extend the analysis to cover the tools and techniques such as duration and convexity which are used to manage bond portfolio.

This course is a follow-up to the first (introductory) investments elective (BU673): the prerequisite course which provides introduction to different types of capital markets and financial securities thereof, investment opportunities in these capital markets, and the risk-return relations for these securities. The objectives of this advanced course are twofold:

1. Extend the basic concepts towards the understanding of multifarious investment opportunities in more intricate financial securities in the context of representative dynamic markets; and
2. Develop skills and tools to act as comprehensive professional investment managers on behalf of either individual or corporate investors.

This course focuses on the concepts, methods and uses of financial accounting information. It includes:

• An examination of the accounting theory that is the basis of current accounting practices and how it can be applied to emerging issues;
• The application of the procedures and practices under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; and
• An examination of how financial accounting serves the needs of external decision-makers: investors, creditors, and other interested individuals and groups including the public at large.

The course will specifically focus on the U.S. environment.

This course is a study of the Financial Reporting and Analysis component of the CFA© Level II examination. The viewpoint is that of an analyst who understands financial statements enough to use them in decision making. The course is not an accounting course, however it is expected that by the end you will have a fairly strong foundation in advanced accounting concepts.

This course covers the quantitative methods and economics theories and techniques required for financial analysis. The class covers all the topics included in the CFA Institute’s Level I Quantitative Methods and Economics exam. However the class is not restricted to these topics and will include additional applications that will involve the use of computer software such as Excel.

The course covers the CFA Institute’s Level 2 Quantitative Methods and Economics and its aim is to prepare students for the Level 2 CFA examination.

The primary focus of this course is:

1. To review fundamentals in corporate finance and investment management; and
2. Promote professional ethics in the capital market following the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

You will also be provided training in the use of:

1. Financial databases and Bloomberg terminals;
2. Excel for financial modelling; and
3. Visual Basic for financial modelling.

This covers all aspects of security analysis. Students take on the role of either equity analyst or portfolio manager. Their work will be reviewed and overseen by industry professionals and faculty members. Analysts will learn:

1. How to conduct in-depth research on an equity security;
2. How to develop, defend and present an investment thesis; and
3. How to prepare detailed financial forecasts and valuation models.

The course allows students to manage real money for the Laurier Graduate Students Investment Fund (LGSIF).

The course compares traditional finance to the expanding influence of behavioral finance. It examines both proof and anomalies of efficient markets. The evolution of various behavioral finance theories; types of investor biases; methods for identifying and correcting biases will be studied. Investor psychology relating to age; culture; and other factors will be discussed.

This course helps you prepare for the CFA level I exam in May. All topics covered in the level I exam will be reviewed.

This course focuses on the financial challenges confronting private businesses and in particular, early and mid-stage companies that are growing rapidly or aspire to rapid growth. We will concentrate on:

1. Becoming familiar with the many sources of funds for these firms with particular emphasis on angel investments, venture capital, franchising, bank loans, mezzanine financing and early public sources of equity;
2. Becoming familiar with laws and regulations relevant to such financing; and, most importantly,
3. Learning the key elements that enter into the structuring of the “deal” between private companies and their financiers.

A secondary focus of the course is on the special financing concerns related to management and ownership succession within family firms.

This course discusses several issues in the field of International finance. Five key topics will be discussed:

• Economics of the forex markets;
• International capital (debt and equity) markets;
• International corporate finance;
• Financing International trade; and
• Forex derivatives.

The course will feature several cases in International capital markets and risk management. Bloomberg training will be part of the course. The students will be required to use data and analytical tools from Bloomberg to conduct regression and statistical analysis using Python.

This course provides an overview of the main investment strategies and tools used by hedge funds and proprietary traders. There are three specific objectives in this course:

• To understand the risks and returns associated with different investment strategies.
• To develop an analytical framework to study investment strategies.
• To acquire data analyst skills required in the study and implementation of investment strategies.

The lectures present central concepts of investment strategies with special emphasis on the financial intuition underlying them. These concepts are illustrated in each class with exercises in which students conduct analyses and implement different methodologies.

The Laurier Start-up Fund course is a practicum that gives senior students a hands-on education in early stage investing. The course allows students to work with early stage technology companies that are growing rapidly or aspiring to rapid growth. In particular, students will learn how to assess the company’s:

1. Product development and testing;
2. Commercialization potential including size of addressable market and competitive position;
3. Sales strategy and planned steps to take market share;
4. Founders and key employees and their ability to plan and execute;
5. Financial prospects; and
6. Financing choices.

On the basis of this analysis, students will learn how “funding deals” are screened and structured between early stage companies and angel investors.

This course introduces students to diverse methods of machine learning (ML) and their practical implementation in Finance. The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of how some common problems in the financial industry can be tackled with machine learning tools.

The course is composed of different modules that take the student through the end-to-end process associated with the deployment of ML solutions. By overviewing key concepts in applied mathematics underlying ML and implementing ML solutions for selected financial problems, students will acquire the skills required to conduct financial analyses using machine learning. Throughout the lectures, illustrative exercises are carried out using a programming language like Python.

This course introduces students to the structure and the role of major bank and non-bank financial institutions in Canada and U.S., and the management of their operations and risk. The course is structured into three modules:

1. Introduction to financial institutions, their operations, performance, and regulations;
2. Measurement of various financial and non-financial risks faced by these institutions; and
3. Tools and instruments to manage and hedge of these risks.

Pair up with a faculty member and conduct research on a specific topic. You will learn how to use research techniques and tools to conduct empirical tests of a finance problem using finance databases. The Research Paper is not a thesis but requires more detailed and analytical work than an independent study.

This course provides detailed conceptual and practical knowledge of finance from a corporate perspective. The objective is to understand how corporate structure and corporate value are interrelated, and how they are dependent on two sets of factors:

1. Dynamic relationships between corporate management and stakeholders; and
2. Strategies and decisions undertaken by corporate managers (executives).