This course is about investors: what they do, how they think, and what they care about. The course is, in places, quantitative. It makes use of basic concepts in probability, statistics, and regression analysis. Course topics include returns, risk, and prices; asset allocation; efficient markets; valuation and fundamentals-based investing; the capital asset pricing model (CAPM); quantitative equity investing; bond markets; evaluating money manager performance; futures and options; and investment errors and human psychology.

This course considers groups within the firm tasked to raise money from different sources as well as manage different aspects of those funds within the organization. Many of these functions are concentrated within the office of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), split between the Treasurer and the Controller. But many other functions are spread across the organization, principally in the hands of strategy groups and product managers. Topics include measuring corporate value creation; company valuation (discounted free cash flow, multiples); capital structure decisions (e.g., equity funding versus debt funding); capital budgeting (e.g., cash flow analysis, incorporating risk and taxes); the planning process; inputs for decision making; and performance evaluation.

This course focuses on financial management from the perspective inside the corporation or operating entity. It builds upon the concepts from the core finance courses, using lectures to develop the theory, and cases and problem sets to provide applications. Topics covered include capital structure, bankruptcy and restructuring, capital budgeting, the cost of capital, mergers and acquisitions, leasing, dividend policy, applications of option pricing to corporate finance, and risk management.

Course is designed for non-SOM students and not open to MBA, MAM or MMS students. This course helps you acquire basic accounting and finance knowledge that is extremely useful in the day-to-day practice of general management, consulting, investment banking—virtually any career path that you may pursue. Accounting systems provide important financial information for all types of organizations. Despite their many differences, all accounting systems are built on common foundations. Economic concepts, such as assets, liabilities, and income are used to organize information into a fairly standard set of financial information. Bookkeeping mechanics compile financial information with the double entry system of debits and credits. Accounting conventions help guide the application of the concepts through the mechanics. This course provides these fundamentals of accounting. The financial valuation part of the course helps students to understand the financial environment in which firms operate and the concepts that need to be mastered in order to make decisions that benefit the stakeholders of a typical organization. The time value of money and net present values and their application to the valuation of bonds and stocks, the trade-off of risk and return in financial markets, the computation of the cost of obtaining capital for investment, and how firms balance the use of equity and debt to finance their activities, are all topics to be considered in this class. The course has been specifically designed to provide the requisite fundamentals of accounting and valuation for students that do not currently have access to SOM’s core courses. The aim has been to provide an introduction to the material relied upon by elective courses.

Financial markets provide investors with a rich set of opportunities to hedge and speculate on a multitude of risks, offering significant potential benefits to asset managers, individual investors and firms exposed to such risks. In this course we develop the framework needed to understand the financial instruments investors can use to trade many macroeconomic and financial risks. We examine a variety of risks including those based on exchange rates, interest rates, commodities, real estate, weather events, systemic risk, crash risk, and volatility risk. We first develop the theoretical framework for pricing derivatives, and then study empirically the characteristics of risk and returns in the different markets. The course will have a substantial empirical component, analyzing the performance of equity-based and derivative-based trading strategies. The course will include guest speakers from industry that will illustrate applications of these speculation and hedging strategies in the asset management industry. Finally, this course also builds the foundations for two courses offered in the next semester (Spring): Capital Markets (Gorton) and Fixed Income (Majd and Rosenfeld).

This course is open to graduate students throughout Yale and to seniors in Yale College. The only prerequisite is an undergraduate or graduate course on macroeconomics. Please note that in order to enroll in the course, you must attend the first class meeting on Tuesday, September 3. Additionally, please note that there will be an assignment due prior to the first class. Course description: Finance can be likened to the circulatory system of the global economy, and we will focus on the past, present and future of that system. The course is designed to deal with questions such as these: What is the global financial system and how does it work? What are the pressures on that system including market, regulatory, political and social dynamics? What are the key challenges to that system? How can the system be strengthened? In this course we are defining the global financial system (GFS) as encompassing central banks, commercial banks, and other financial institutions such as asset managers and private equity firms, financial regulators and international organizations. Thus we will encompass subjects such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, Goldman Sachs and the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, the Carlyle Group and the BlackRock Investment Management Co., the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Financial Stability Board, the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund. We will take a broad view of the GFS including its history, its geopolitical framework, its economic foundations and its legal underpinnings. We will consider the GFS as a critical public good in the same way that clean air is a public good. We will look at a number of other key issues such as how the GFS deals with economic growth, economic and financial stability, distributional questions, employment issues, and long term investments in infrastructure. We will discuss how new technologies are affecting several of the biggest issues in global finance. We will examine the GFS as a large-scale complex network, thereby compelling us to see it in an interconnected and multidisciplinary way. The emphasis will be on the practice of global finance more than the theory.

This course develops, examines, and applies models for portfolio decisions by investors and the pricing of securities in capital markets. While developing portfolio theory, we will study the extensive empirical work that characterizes movements in security prices, evaluates alternative investment and asset pricing models, and attempts to test those models and interpret the implications of those tests. This is a research oriented course with practical implementation of quantitative methods in finance, aimed at highly motivated and technically proficient MBA and undergraduate students. This course is designed for students who want a more detailed and up-to-date treatment of academic asset pricing theory and empirical work and its application to the practice of quantitative finance. The course is especially appropriate for students contemplating analytical finance and quantitative money management, and provides many tools and concepts that are essential for a career in quantitative investments. The material is covered in a rigorous analytical manner, and students must be comfortable with some technical methodologies (i.e., calculus, linear and matrix algebra, and statistical theory). The course is meant to be challenging, but accessible. The expectation is that the average student spends 10-20 hours per week on the course, outside of class. A good fundamental background in economics and especially statistics is required. The course is highly quantitative because the field is, and so relies heavily on analytical tools and economic theory developed throughout the course. Students should be comfortable with probability, statistics, and regression analysis. Students should also feel comfortable with the concepts of risk aversion, utility functions, and budget constraints. Use of a statistical package or programming language will be vital for the course, saving time and aiding in understanding the material. Many of the applications will move beyond simple spreadsheet packages such as Excel. A good statistical programming language such as Matlab, SAS, Stata, Python is even more useful. I will supplement the course with programming help and the data assignments will be done in groups. Note: Section 02 of this course will not meet on August 31, 2017. The two sections will be combined into section 01 for that day. Please see Canvas site for details. This course develops, examines, and applies models for portfolio decisions by investors and the pricing of securities in capital markets. While developing portfolio theory, we will study the extensive empirical work that characterizes movements in security prices, evaluates alternative investment and asset pricing models, and attempts to test those models and interpret the implications of those tests. This is a research oriented course with practical implementation of quantitative methods in finance, aimed at highly motivated and technically proficient MBA and undergraduate students. This course is designed for students who want a more detailed and up-to-date treatment of academic asset pricing theory and empirical work and its application to the practice of quantitative finance. The course is especially appropriate for students contemplating analytical finance and quantitative money management, and provides many tools and concepts that are essential for a career in quantitative investments. The material is covered in a rigorous analytical manner, and students must be comfortable with some technical methodologies (i.e., calculus, linear and matrix algebra, and statistical theory). The course is meant to be challenging, but accessible. The expectation is that the average student spends 10-20 hours per week on the course, outside of class. A good fundamental background in economics and especially statistics is required. The course is highly quantitative because the field is, and so relies heavily on analytical tools and economic theory developed throughout the course. Students should be comfortable with probability, statistics, and regression analysis. Students should also feel comfortable with the concepts of risk aversion, utility functions, and budget constraints. Use of a statistical package or programming language will be vital for the course, saving time and aiding in understanding the material. Many of the applications will move beyond simple spreadsheet packages such as Excel. A good statistical programming language such as Matlab, SAS, Stata, Python is even more useful. I will supplement the course with programming help and the data assignments will be done in groups.

This course surveys the causes, events, policy responses, and aftermath of the recent global financial crisis. The main goal is to provide a comprehensive view of this major economic event within a framework that explains the dynamics of financial crises in a modern economy. The course will be blended between lectures (many online), panel discussions with major actors from the crisis, and small group meetings. Course requirements are the preparation of four memos and a final paper with either an extended analysis of a case or a literature review for a specific topic from the syllabus. The course is cross-listed at SOM, Yale Law School, and Yale College, but is open to all Yale students. Students enrolled outside of SOM should consult their registrar for details on receiving credit. The only pre-requisite is successful completion of a course in introductory economics.

This course is designed to help students develop skills in conducting in-depth industry and company analyses, writing reports, and presenting and defending results. Each team of two students analyzes and reports on one industry and three companies. Most of the class time is spent on presenting and discussing the reports. Students who take both terms have responsibility as portfolio managers to supervise teams of analysts and manage portfolios. There are a few invited speakers. Grades depend on the reports and insightful contributions to class discussion. Reports of exceptional quality are posted to the Internet for public downloading and comment with the authors’ names on them.

This course seeks to examine the green economy as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development in Africa. Governments and businesses in Africa face many new and different sustainable development challenges and expectations. These include the issues of climate change, green economy, energy, waste, business sustainability, corporate environmentalism and protection of human health. It is increasingly becoming clear that business executives, corporate managers, environmental professionals and the investment community need to understand these critical business and development challenges. The course focuses on the sustainable development of Africa, green economy and climate change in Africa. Other topics include climate change financing and innovations, corporate sustainability, private sector investment opportunities and innovations in green economy and climate change in Africa.