Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) Program

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Master of Business Administration (MBA) Program

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Master of Science (M.Sc.) Program

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Doctoral (Ph.D.) Program

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The finance program is designed to provide broad professional competence for students entering management positions in financial departments of business enterprises, in investment management and services, in banking or other financial institutions, or in government agencies concerned with private finance. In addition, the student can acquire specific technical skills required in an increasingly quantitative environment.

Specific skills and general management principles can be obtained in the following subject matter areas:

1. Management of the assets and liabilities of a publicly-owned business enterprise ("corporate finance");
2. Analysis and management of financial assets ("securities") using modern portfolio theories ("investment management");
3. The workings of Canadian capital markets and the financial institutions that operate in those markets ("money and banking"); and
4. The workings of international capital markets and special skills required to manage corporate assets and liabilities in an international environment ("international finance").

COMMERCE 297 (3 credits): Capital Markets and Institution

Economic environment in which busines operates, including the role of the Bank of Canada, analysis of domestic and international money markets and institutions and the basic capital asset valuation models.
 

COMMERCE 371 (3 credits): Theory of Finance

Basic concepts of corporate finance, including security valuation and financial decisions by the corporation. Prerequisites: Commerce 397
 

COMMERCE 374 (3 credits): Security Market

Introduction to theories and evidence concerning the structure of security markets and the valuation of stocks, bonds, options, and futures contracts; the role of portfolio management in informationally efficient security markets. Prerequisites: Commerce 397
 

COMMERCE 376 (3 credits): Financial Institution I

The financial systems in Canada; the practices of the major financial institutions; and theories of financial processes.
 

COMMERCE 377 (3 credits): International Financial Markets and Institutions

Structure, nature and institutions of foreign exchange markets, private including spot, forward, futures, options, and offshore currency markets. Factors affecting effects of exchange rates on the firm. Prerequisites: Commerce 397
 

COMMERCE 378 (3 credits): Risk Management

Management of personal and business risk. The insurance mechanism, life and non-life insurance, group benefits, pensions and social security. Prerequisites: Commerce 397
 

COMMERCE 379 (3 credits): Fundamentals of Actuarial Science

Actuarial methods, life contingencies. Introduction to insurance and pension mathematics. Determination of permiums and reserves. Valuation of assets and mathematics. Rate-making. Prerequisites: Commerce 378 or permission of instructor
 

COMMERCE 397 (3 credits): Business Finance

Examination of the corporate enterprise decisions including working capital management, capital budgeting; capital structures and dividend policy. Prerequisites: Commerce 297
 

COMMERCE 471 (3 credits): Financial Management

Advanced problems of financial management. Debt policy and capital structure planning; capital costs, capital budgeting, dividend policy, valuation, megers and acquisitions. Prerequisites: Commerce 397
 

COMMERCE 472 (3 credits): Quantitative Analysis of Financial Decision

Application of modern quantitative techniques to the formulation of financial decisions under conditions of both certainty and uncertainy. Prerequisites: Commerce 371
 

COMMERCE 475 (3 credits): Investment Policy

The management of security portfolios for individual and institutional investors; relation of investment policy to money markets and business fluctuations. Prerequisites: Commerce 374
 

COMMERCE 478 (3 credits): International Financial Management

International financing, hedging and investment activities. Sources of funds, asset pricing, bond markets, equity markets and capital budgeting. Topics include working capital management, financial control, transfer prices, taxation, and growth of multi-national coporations. Prerequisites: Commerce 377

Purpose

The purpose of the Finance specialization in the MBA program is to prepare students for superior achievement in the highly competitive, complex and rapidly changing field of finance. Our students will acquire the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to solve the strategic and tactical problems that finance executives face today and will face in the future in the international business world.
 

Audience

Our audience is students who are interested in an applied, yet rigorous, education that prepares them for careers in investment banking, money management, corporate finance, securities trading, commercial banking, and financial research and consultancy.
 

Faculty

The members of the Finance Division at the UBC Faculty of Commerce are internationally renowned scholars of Financial Economics. We are at the forefront of teaching and research in Finance. Our strength in teaching was recognized by the UBC Commerce Graduate Society when the teaching excellence awards for 1994 for the first and second year of the MBA program were given to members of our divisions. Out of five faculty members nominated for these awards, four were members of our division. In terms of research, we are easily ranked first in Canada. Our strength in research feeds into our courses which are designed to put you among the best-trained Finance graduates anywhere in the world. The members of the Finance Division also have a continuously expanding relationship with the financial industry in Canada and abroad.
 

Potential Employers

Employment opportunities for UBC Finance graduates exist all over the world. Potential employers include: investment banks, corporate finance and treasury departments of national and multi-national firms, money management firms, trading and brokerage firms, specialized finance boutiques, commercial banks, management consulting firms, the federal and provincial governments, provincial securities commissions, Bank of Canada, Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation and securities exchanges.
 

Internship/Projects

Students will either participate in an internship or complete an applied finance project. In the past, interns have worked with a variety of corporations and institutions such as BC Gas, BC Tel, Transmountain Pipelines, the Bank of Canada, B.C. Securities Commission, Vancouver Stock Exchange, and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
 

Study Abroad

With the approval of the Specialization Coordinator, students may be allowed to take suitable courses in Finance at other institutions, although required modules will not be waived.

• Basic Accounting (BAAC 500)
• Basic Statistics (BABS 500)
• Empirical Investigations in Finance (BABS 520)
• Basic Finance (BAFI 500)
• Security Pricing (BAFI 511)
• Managerial Economics (BAPA 500)
• Financial Institutions (BAFI 501)
• Capital Budgeting I (BAFI 502)
• Capital Budgeting II (BAFI 503)
• Financial Planning (BAFI 505)
• Financial Strategy (BAFI 506)
• Corporate Governance (BAFI 507)
• Options and Futures (BAFI 512)
• Institutional Investment (BAFI 514)
• Dynamic Portfolio Strategies (BAFI 515)
• Financial Engineering (BAFI 516)
• Fixed Income Securities (BAFI 518)
• International Financial Management (BAIM 510)
• Central Banks and Monetary Finance (BAIM 511)
• The International Economic Environment (BAIM 512)

Overview

Judging by the standards of research achievement, graduate placement, publications, and research grants received, the PhD program in finance at The University of British Columbia stands at the top of Canadian business schools and among the first rank of North American programs. Recent placements of students in the program have included positions at such schools as the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles, Carnegie Mellon University, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Calgary, and The University of Colorado at Boulder. Entrants into the program can expect to join a stimulating research environment where interaction with fellow students and faculty members plays a key role in creating outstanding research.
 
An active group of skilled junior and senior researchers is a distinguishing feature of the finance faculty at UBC. This translates into a rich and heterogeneous portfolio of research interests ranging from game-theoretic models of corporate finance, to applications of Bayesian analysis in empirical finance, to theoretical modeling of equilibrium asset pricing. The wide research interests of the Division allows substantial flexibility for the PhD student in selecting a thesis research topic.
 
Undergraduate and perhaps graduate training in economics, mathematics, engineering, or other quantitative disciplines is a typical background for qualified applicants. Students are accepted only if the Division believes that they have the ability to succeed in the program. Once a student is admitted, the faculty members are intensely interested in guiding the new researcher through the stages of the doctoral program and in assisting him or her in creating independent research. Except for those funded from outside sources, at least three years of funding is guaranteed to all admitted students.
 

Program of Study

Students are required to take a cross-divisional course in research methods, a course in teaching methods, and the following five courses in the finance division:
 
Commerce 671: Theory of Finance
Commerce 672: Advanced Topics in Theoretical Corporate Finance
Commerce 673: Advanced Topics in Theoretical Asset Pricing
Commerce 674: Advanced Topics in Empirical Asset Pricing
Commerce 695: Advanced Topics in Empirical Corporate Finance and Accounting
 
The remaining course-work is selected with the guidance of the PhD advisor from other divisions and departments such as Accounting, Management Science, Economics, and Mathematics.
 
Students begin active research in the first year of their program by completing a summer research project. Most students write their comprehensive examination after their second year of course-work and spend the remainder of the program working on their dissertation research.
 

Sample Program Sequence

A typical schedule for a PhD student in finance may look as follows. Selection of elective courses will depend on the interests and background of the student.
 

Year 1

COMM 693 (Research Methods)
COMM 671 (Theory of Finance)
COMM 672 (Theoretical Corporate Finance)
COMM 695 (Empirical Corporate Finance)
and a selection of

COMM 581 (Statistical Methodology)
COMM 583 (Time Series)
ECON 500/600 (Microeconomics)
ECON 502/602 (Macroeconomics)
ECON 526/626 (Econometrics)

Summer research paper

 

Year 2

EPSE 506 (College and University Teaching)
COMM 673 (Theoretical Asset Pricing)
COMM 674 (Empirical Asset Pricing)
and a selection of

COMM 581 (Statistical Methodology)
ECON 522 (Game Theory)
ECON 546 (Monetary Theory MATH 605 (Mathematics in Finance)
COMM 651 (Information in Markets)

Summer Comprehensive exam

 

Year 3

Preparation and presentation of thesis proposal

 

Year 4

Preparation and defense of thesis

COMMERCE 671 (3 credits): Theory of Finance

Theories of decision making under uncertainty, valuation, continuous time models in finance, portfolio theory and options.
 

COMMERCE 672 (3 credits): Advanced Topics in Theoretical Corporate Finance

Advanced analysis of decision making at the corporate level. Topics include, investment evaulation and implementation, the issuance of corporate securities, corporate governance, capital structure, and dividend policy. Special attention will be paid to the importance of asymmetric information, taxes, and contract enforcement costs in corporate decisions. Some market microstructure will be covered, time permitting. Prerequisites: Commerce 671
 

COMMERCE 673 (3 credits): Advanced Topics in Theoretical Asset Pricing

Theoretical asset pricing with an emphasis on continuous time asset pricing. Prerequisites: Commerce 671
 

COMMERCE 674 (3 credits): Advanced Topics in Empirical Asset Pricing

Topics include empirical testing of static and dynamic asset pricing models, including the CAPM, the APT, consumption and production based dynamic general equilibrium models, and dynamic models of the term structure. Prerequisites: Commerce 671 and an advanced level econometrics course.
 

COMMERCE 675 (3 credits): Research Seminar in Finance

 

COMMERCE 695 (3 credits): Advanced Topics in Empirical Corporate Finance

Topics chosen emphasize econometric procedures for testing various restrictions delivered by competing theoretical models of corporate behavior. Topics that may be covered include the impact of accounting and other regulations on corporate financial decision making, capital structure choice and corporate control. Prerequisites: Commerce 671