Programs of Study
- Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) Program
- Master of Business Administration (MBA) Program
- Master of Science (M.Sc.) Program
- Doctoral (Ph.D.) Program
The Undergraduate Program in Finance
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:
- Management of the assets and liabilities of a publicly-owned
business enterprise ("corporate finance");
- Analysis and management
of financial assets ("securities") using modern portfolio theories
("investment management");
- The workings of Canadian capital
markets and the financial institutions that operate in those markets
("money and banking"); and
- The workings of international capital
markets and special skills required to manage corporate assets and
liabilities in an international environment ("international finance").
For additional information please also see the Sauder B.Com. Page,
or consult the on-line version of the UBC calendar.
For application information, please visit the Undergraduate
Office.
Undergraduate Courses in 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
The Finance Specialization in the MBA Program
- 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.
Divisional Course Offerings in the MBA Program
Courses in the Finance Specialization in the MBA Program include:
- 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)
The M.Sc. Program in Finance
The MSc program in finance offers a more technically advanced, quantitative and specialized
finance education than an MBA, without the considerable research component of a PhD.
The program is comprised of a combination of PhD courses and Master's courses. In accordance
with the Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements at UBC, students are required to complete
a major essay prior to graduation. However, with permission of the MSc advisor, students may
enroll in Comm 549 (MSc Thesis) as part of their course electives. Currently, there are two
streams offered in the MSc program: a general degree and a specialized track in Mathematical
Finance, offered jointly with the Department of Mathematics at UBC. The Finance Division also
offers an M.Sc. program for European students in conjunction with the Donau University Center
for Banking and Finance.
Graduates of the MSc program in finance typically proceed to challenging careers in business and
government. Some students use the MSc as a helpful stepping stone on the path towards a PhD.
Since space in the MSc program is limited, admission is highly competitive. Although there are
no formal entry conditions into the finance MSc, beyond those generally required by the
Commerce Master's Office, finance MSc students typically have very strong academic records and
undergraduate degrees (or even graduate degrees) in a quantitative discipline such as commerce,
economics, mathematics, statistics, science or engineering. Previous work experience is not
required.
The MSc program in finance usually takes two years to complete. Students normally take four courses
per semester, but may elect to enroll in only three courses during those semesters in which courses
with particularly heavy workloads are taken. Courses numbered 5xx cover more basic material at an
MBA or MA level, while courses numbered 6xx cover more advanced material at the PhD level. MSc
students take a combination of 5xx and 6xx courses.
The Ph.D. Program in Finance
- 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
M.Sc. / Ph.D. Course Description
- 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
|
|
|
