Curriculum
There are distinct course plans for the variety of students in the MSF program:
-
Combined Degree, current University of Florida students taking undergraduate and graduate courses simultaneously
- Combined Degree Plan - for students with two undergraduate years remaining
Accepted Combined Degree students must submit a Combined Degree form.
- Joint JD/MSF students graduate from the MSF Program at the same time they graduate from law school. Some of the credits will be shared between the two degrees, reducing the number of credits required for the MSF degree. These students will work out their individual course plans once accepted to the MSF program.
There are five informal sequences in the MSF program. Many of these courses depend on knowledge gained in the courses listed ahead of them in their sequence.
Program classes
-
Valuation / Corporate Finance:
- Measuring and Managing Value (significant overlap of material with the Corporate Financial Modeling courses)
- Financial Statement Analysis
- Corporate Financial Modeling I&II
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Financial Decision Making
- Study in Valuation
- Venture Finance
-
Real Estate:
- Introduction to Real Estate*
- Investment Property Analysis
- Secondary Mortgage Markets and Securities
- Real Estate Securities and Portfolios
-
Bonds:
- Fixed Income Security Valuations
- Interest Rate Risk Management
- Secondary Mortgage Markets and Securities
-
International Finance:
- International Finance
- Financial Management of Multinational Corporations
- Emerging Markets Finance Part I
- Emerging Markets Finance Part II
-
Derivative Securities and Computational Finance Sequence:
- Derivative Securities
- Computational Methods for Derivative Pricing (prerequisite: Derivative Securities)
- Advanced Topics in Derivative Pricing (prerequisite: Derivative Securities)
- Risk Management (prerequisites: Derivative Securities and Computational Finance)
This sequence will cover the pricing of standard and exotic derivative securities as applications of these models to risk management topics. Students will learn computer programming skills that will allow them to do Monte Carlo simulation analysis of real world problems covered in the course. The courses will be taught by Farid Ait Sahlia and Dan O'Rourke. Professor Ait Sahlia earned a PhD in Operations Research from Stanford University. Prior to teaching in this program, Professor Ait Sahlia has taught in the Industrial Engineering department at UF and worked at Financial Engines in Palo Alto California. Professor O'Rourke has an MBA from the University of Florida. Prior to teaching in the program Professor O'Rourke worked in various capacities in the options area at Goldman Sachs from 1989 to 2005 and then from 2005 to 2009 at Swiss Re where he served as managing director of an equity derivative internal hedge fund.
Notes:
Introduction to Real Estate is a precursor to other REE courses. It is not a required prerequisite. MSF student often take REE courses without the introduction course. However, MSF student deciding to take a course should take Investment Property Analysis.
The Asset Allocation project course (year long) is the only "required" MSF course.
Graduate courses not on these lists may be applied to the MSF degree if approved before registration.
