Department of Finance
shu.edu/finance
Jubilee Hall, Room 645
(973) 761-9151
Faculty: Droussiotis; Itzkowitz; Lowe (Adviser); Schild (Adviser); Tang (Chair); Xie; Xu; Yönaç
Mission Statement
The mission of the Department of Finance is to enrich the educational experience of each student, from concept to practice, through a sustained commitment to excellence in teaching, the pursuit of high-quality research, and dedicated service to the community and profession, all within an ethics- centric, ESG framework.
Note to students: The following listing represents those courses that are in the active rotation for each department, i.e., have been offered in the past five years. Some departments have additional courses offered more rarely but still available – to find the complete list of all official courses for a department, please use the “Course Catalogue Search” function in Self-Service Banner.
Course Descriptions
BFIN 1003 Personal Money Management (1 Credit)
100% online, self-paced course focusing on the ABCs of personal money management, with emphasis on postgraduation credit and debt decisions. Topics include paychecks, credit cards, school loans, mortgages, stock investing, and income taxes. Short video clips with required light reading, including 10 online self-tests and one online final examination.
BFIN 1004 Student Portfolio Management I (SMIF) (1 Credit)
Student selection of securities and portfolio construction and management of $150,000 of the Seton Hall Endowment Fund in a faculty-student collaborative setting. Students apply equity valuation and portfolio management techniques to enhance practical knowledge in security valuation, portfolio management, and the dynamics of financial markets. May be continued for an additional one credit as BFIN 1005 in a subsequent semester. Prerequisite: Hall Street Fund participation. Recommended: Successful completion of BFIN 3211 and 4227. Offered: Fall, Spring. 1
BFIN 1005 Student Portfolio Mgmt II (1 Credit)
The class will be given responsibility for a $100,000 investment account of real money. They will act as the financial advisor making all buy/sell decisions for the portfolio during the term. The class will present to the endowment management committee their goals and services for the account early in the term as well as submit a final performance report summary at the end of the term. Grade is based on individual, team, and portfolio performance. (no tests, no textbook)
Prerequisites: BFIN 1004
BFIN 2001 Finance Apprenticeship - Trk A (1 Credit)
Skill acquisition courses focused on a specific task that can be out-sourced to students. The skills are taught by the corporate partner and then are repetitively exercised to improve expertise. Purposeful work with deadlines and quality review by the corporate partner are chosen for a real-world experience. A faculty member provides direction and the final grade for the course; the corporate partner provides an assessment of the work. Registration is subject to department chair approval, and may include a workshop training session. Each apprenticeship is expected to run 10 weeks per semester and is expected to require a commitment of 40 hours.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 2002 Finance Apprenticeship - Trk B (1 Credit)
Skill acquisition courses focused on a specific task that can be out-sourced to students. The skills are taught by the corporate partner and then are repetitively exercised to improve expertise. Purposeful work with deadlines and quality review by the corporate partner are chosen for a real-world experience. A faculty member provides direction and the final grade for the course; the corporate partner provides an assessment of the work. Registration is subject to department chair approval, and may include a workshop training session. Each apprenticeship is expected to run 10 weeks per semester and is expected to require a commitment of 40 hours.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 2100 Career Decisions (1 Credit)
BFIN 2111 Financial Planning and Risk (3 Credits)
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 2112 Wealth Mgmt - Investment Tax (3 Credits)
BFIN 2113 Retirement - Estate Planning (3 Credits)
BFIN 2114 Financial Plan Management (3 Credits)
BFIN 2115 Financial Plan Management (0 Credits)
BFIN 2201 Business Finance (3 Credits)
Introduction to the major finance principles: financial goals, financial instruments, time value of money, risk and return, asset pricing, and capital budgeting. Most sections are hybrid and meet in a classroom only on specific days to do review work with a professor with the pre-recorded lectures viewable online. Declared Finance students must earn at least a “C” to advance to any BFIN course above 3000. (Note: BFIN 4233, BFIN 4239, BFIN 4260, and BFIN 4265 require only BFIN 2201).
Students with a semester level of Freshman may not enroll.
BFIN 3211 Financial Strategy (3 Credits)
Extension of basic financial principles with emphasis on corporate finance. Advanced topics include capital budgeting, capital structure and cost of capital estimation, and long-term financial policy.
BFIN 4227 Investment Analysis (3 Credits)
Coverage of the fundamental principles underlying investment decisions, including security market structure, asset pricing, portfolio theory, valuation of stocks and bonds, portfolio performance evaluation and an introduction to derivatives.
BFIN 4229 Financial Institutions (3 Credits)
Analysis of the structure and behavior of U.S. financial institutions, including products, regulation, and the management of assets and liabilities. Prerequisite: BFIN 2201. Offered: Irregularly.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4230 Portfolio Analysis (3 Credits)
Introduction to financial decision making from the perspective of efficient portfolio construction, including measurement and estimation of return, risk and portfolio performance. Offered: Spring.
BFIN 4233 International Finance (3 Credits)
Analysis of exchange rate behavior and the other factors important to managing the multi-country cash flows and financing of the multinational enterprise. Foreign direct investment and capital budgeting decisions of the firm in the global environment. Financial operations in foreign exchange and multinational markets.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4234 Futures, Options and Other Derivatives (3 Credits)
Examination of topics involving options, futures and swaps, including trading strategies, pricing fundamentals and models, risk management and other applications.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201 and BFIN 4427
BFIN 4239 Real Estate Finance (3 Credits)
Examination of residential and commercial real estate, including property valuation, mortgages, and financing arrangements.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4240 Multinational Corp Financl Mgt (3 Credits)
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4241 Mergers and Acquisition (3 Credits)
Examination of the financial aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions, including growth through acquisition, valuation issues, and tax and legal implications.
BFIN 4244 Securities Trade/Fin News (3 Credits)
BFIN 4248 Cybersecurity in Business (3 Credits)
Those who work in finance must have an understanding of the IT that enables their work and the security implications of its use. This course will provide an understanding of cybersecurity in the finance industry. Students will learn about cyber threats, risks, and vulnerabilities in the financial
sector. They will take away practical skills and knowledge to help them safeguard the sensitive information with which they will be entrusted in their professional lives.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4250 Fixed Income Analysis (3 Credits)
Analysis and valuation of fixed-income securities and markets, including pricing, yields, volatility and the impact of interest rate movements. The course covers traditional bonds and term structure concepts as well as fixed-income derivatives and interest rate modeling.
BFIN 4251 Financial Statement Analysis (3 Credits)
Understanding and interpreting public company financial statements. Examination of the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows to analyze the effects of routine and repetitive business transactions. Criteria for revenue and liability recognition. Impact of off-balance sheet financing, accounting for pension, income taxes and other business activities are also examined. Use of a sequential strategy that includes identifying key economic characteristics of the firm’s industry, key company strategies, assessing the quality of earnings, and analyzing risk and profitability.
BFIN 4255 Financial Modeling (3 Credits)
A practical perspective on the major finance models using Microsoft Excel, with a focus on the development and use of spreadsheet-based financial models, implementation of a concise and sound methodology, and utilization of financial theory over a wide range of applications used in corporate finance and capital markets. Examples of implemented theories and models include: financial statement models, portfolio selection and risk assessment, DCF valuation, bond pricing and duration, option pricing and applications, portfolio insurance and Value-at-Risk.
BFIN 4260 Finance and Technology (3 Credits)
Introduction to information technology concepts, techniques, and responsibilities that the finance business must address, with coverage of four disruptive technologies: elastic cloud computing, big data, augmented intelligence, internet -ofthings. The business models for commercial and investment banking, insurance and risk management, and market exchanges will provide the context for use of change methodologies. Topics include governance, financial services regulations, continuity of business, data privacy, and ethical decision making.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4262 Corporate Risk Management (3 Credits)
Coverage of the foundations of corporate risk management. Topics include risk management concepts and the practice of managing credit risk, market risk (including commodity, exchange rate, and interest rate risks), and operational risk. Students learn to use forward, futures, options, and swaps in the application of risk-adjusted returns on capital and Value at Risk. Case studies cover selected financial collapses. .
Prerequisites: BFIN 3211
BFIN 4263 Algorithmic Trading (3 Credits)
This course provides an in-depth understanding of algorithmic trading and the application of robotics in finance. The course covers the fundamentals of algorithmic trading and provides hands-on experience in developing trading strategies. Students will also explore the use of robotics in trading and the ethical implications of automation in finance.
BFIN 4264 Blockchain for Business (3 Credits)
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4265 Behavioral Finance (3 Credits)
Blending psychology with financial decisions, the course examines the rationality behind financial decisions and market behavior. The impact of cognitive biases in financial decision making is central to the course. Discussions, based on blending selected readings with in-class experiments, reveal how behavioral finance both complements and challenges the predictions from rationally-grounded economic and financial models.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4266 Alternative Investments (3 Credits)
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4267 Financial Software Skills (3 Credits)
This course aims to provide students with comprehensive skills to use various software programs that are in high demand in the financial industry, including analytical, business intelligence, financial modeling, database, development, application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud computing, data privacy, cybersecurity, and other software. The course will cover the latest trends, innovations, and challenges related to software and how they are shaping the future of finance. Moreover, students will gain practical experience in using these tools and techniques to solve real-world financial problems. Prior knowledge of financial, mathematical, statistical, and programming tools is necessary.
BFIN 4290 Seminar in Finance (3 Credits)
Topical coverage of corporate financial management, financial markets, institutions and/or investments. Prerequisite: BFIN 2201. Offered: Irregularly.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4293 Field Research in Finance (1 Credit)
Course will involve participation in a field study and/or survey in a finance-related area. Students will also be required to attend preparatory meetings in advance of the field or survey work. No prerequisites required. Offered: Irregularly.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4294 Finance Internships I (3 Credits)
See Internship adviser. Internship courses are counted as general electives.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4295 Finance Internships II (3 Credits)
See Internship adviser. Internship courses are counted as general electives.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4296 Finance Internships III (3 Credits)
See Internship adviser. Internship courses are counted as general electives.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4297 Directed Research/Finance (1 Credit)
Individual research in the area of finance independent of a formal course structure. Directed research courses can be counted as finance concentration electives. Prerequisite: permission of supervising faculty member prior to registration. Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4298 Directed Research/Finance (2 Credits)
Individual research in the area of finance independent of a formal course structure. Directed research courses can be counted as finance concentration electives. Prerequisite: permission of supervising faculty member prior to registration. Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4299 Directed Research/Finance (3 Credits)
Individual research in the area of finance independent of a formal course structure. Directed research courses can be counted as finance concentration electives. Prerequisite: permission of supervising faculty member prior to registration. Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4300 Finance Corporate Internship I (1 Credit)
See Internship adviser. Internship courses are counted as general electives.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4301 Finance Corporate Internship II (1 Credit)
See Internship adviser. Internship courses are counted as general electives.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4302 Finance Corporate Internship III (3 Credits)
See Internship adviser. Internship courses are counted as general electives.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4303 VITA (3 Credits)
BFIN 4310 Intro Portfolio Management (1 Credit)
Collaborative course on team-based student-managed portfolio with real money: security valuation, security selection, and portfolio management, with focus on U.S. markets. Final grade based on class participation and research paper.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
BFIN 4320 Finance Department Internship (0 Credits)
Finance Internship courses may be recorded on a student transcript without university credit. The corporate internship should end within the semester enrolled in BFIN 4303. Basic information about the internship must be recorded to complete the one course assignment.
BFIN 4361 Financial Software Skills (3 Credits)
BFIN 4399 Directed Research (3 Credits)
Individual research in the area of finance independent of a formal course structure. Prerequisite: permission of supervising faculty member and department chair prior to registration. Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
Prerequisites: BFIN 2201
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