CHRISTINE X. JIANG, PhD
Interim Chair
Room 402, Fogelman Admin Building
(901) 678-5930

LESLIE MATHIS, CFA
Finance Master's Program Coordinator
Room 446, Fogelman Admin Building
(901) 678-4642
lmathis@memphis.edu

MARK A. SUNDERMAN, PhD
Real Estate Master's Program Coordinator
Room 436, Fogelman Admin Building
(901) 678-5142
msndrman@memphis.edu

THOMAS H. MCINISH, PhD
Finance PhD Program Coordinator
Room 108F, Fogelman Executive Center
(901) 678-3006
tmcinish@memphis.edu

I. The Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate offers the Master of Science in Business Administration degree with concentrations in Finance and in Real Estate as well as the PhD in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

NOTE: Every graduate student must comply with the general requirements of the Graduate School (see Admissions Regulations, Academic Regulations, and Minimum Degree Requirements) and the program requirements of the degree being pursued.

II. MS in Business Administration Program

See the beginning of this College section for admission requirements and College Core requirements.

A. Program Requirements

1. Prerequisite of MATH 1830 or its equivalent. Students with the necessary pre-qualifications may have the prerequisite waived by the program coordinator.
2. Each candidate must complete a minimum of 33 semester hours of approved graduate courses. The 33 graduate credits include a minimum of 21 hours in the concentration (24 if a thesis is written; students electing to write a thesis should familiarize themselves with the Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Guide before starting to write).
3. Business Administration Core:
   FIR 7155, Global Financial Mgmt
   MIS 7650, Info Syst Global Enterprise
4. Finance Concentration: Four required courses (12 semester hours) and five elective courses (15 semester hours) approved by the program coordinator.
   Four required courses (12 semester hours)
   ACCT 7080, Financial and Managerial Accounting for Managers
   FIR 7410, Investment Theory and Portfolio Management,
   FIR 7810, Advanced Financial Management, and
   FIR 7840, Quantitative Applications for Finance
   
   Five electives courses (15 semester hours)
   Three elective courses (9 semester hours) must come from List A. The other two elective courses (6 semester hours) may come from List A, List B, or related courses approved by the program coordinator.
   List A:
   FIR 7170, Multinational Corporate Finance
   FIR 7171, International Financial Markets
   FIR 7173, Financial Analysis and Certifications
   FIR 7310, Sustainable Real Estate
   FIR 7350, Real Estate Finance and Investment Analysis
   FIR 7648, Evaluating and Financing New Projects
   FIR 7721, Financial Derivatives
   
   List B:
   FIR 6310, Real Estate Law
   FIR 6331, Stock Portfolio Management
   FIR 6340, Real Estate Appraisal
   FIR 6610, Cases in Managerial Finance
   FIR 6720, Management of Financial Institutions
   FIR 6810, Property and Liability Insurance
   FIR 6820, Life and Health Insurance
   FIR 7301, Contemporary Real Estate Theory and Practice
   FIR 7302, Real Estate Development and Sustainability
   FIR 7911, Internship in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate
   ACCT 7120, Strategic Accounting
   ECON 7100, Economics for the Global Executive
   ECON 7300, Economic Theory and Decisions
   ECON 7310, Advanced Microeconomics
   ECON 7313, Economics of Risk and Uncertainty
5. Real Estate Concentration: A real estate concentration requires you to complete 18 hours in real estate coursework, including one elective, plus 9 hours in a related field. Course substitutions may be permitted with the approval of your concentration advisor.
   Required (15 hours):
     FIR 7301, Contemporary Real Estate Theory and Practice
     FIR 7302, Real Estate Development and Sustainability
     FIR 7350, Real Estate Finance and Investment Analysis
     FIR 7910, Problems in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate
   FIR 7310, Sustainable Real Estate
   Electives (3 hours), choose one from:
     FIR 6310, Real Estate Law
     FIR 6340, Real Estate Appraisal
     FIR 7911, Internship in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate
     PLAN 6515, Geographic Information Science
   Multi-Discipline: In addition to 18 hours in real estate, the real estate concentration requires 9 hours be completed in fields including the areas of finance, architecture, civil engineering, urban ecology, and city & regional planning.  Possible courses from these areas include:
   Finance
     FIR 7173, Financial Analysis/Certification
     FIR 7170, International Financial Management
     FIR 7171, International Financial Markets
     FIR 7410, Investment Theory and Portfolio Management
     FIR 7648, Entrepreneurial Finance
     FIR 7710, Seminar in Invesment Theory
     FIR 7721, Financial Derivatives
     FIR 7810, Advanced Financial Management
     FIR 7840, Quantitative Applications for Finance
   Architecture
     ARCH 6023, Urban Design Seminar
     ARCH 6221, Determinants of Modern Design
     ARCH 6811, Parameters in Architecture Studio (3-6)
     ARCH 7211, Contemporary Architectural Theory
   Other Possible Architecture Electives:
     ARCH 6021, Architecture Independent Study (1-3)
     ARCH 6510-6519, Special Topics (1-3)
     ARCH 7021, Architecture Independent Study (1-3)
   Civil Engineering:
     CIVL 6162, Traffic Engineering
     CIVL 7991/8991, Projects               
   Biology
     BIOL 6055, Ecological and Environmental Issues  
     BIOL 6730, Urban-Wildlife Ecology and Management
     BIOL 7020/8020, Current Topics in Ecology (1-3)
     BIOL 7360/8360, Plant and Environment
     BIOL 7370/8370, Current Topics in Wetland Ecology and Management
     BIOL 7751/8751, Conservation Biology (4)
   Earth Sciences
     ESCI 6201, Urbanization and the Environment
     ESCI 6431, Urban Geography               
   City and Regional Planning
     PLAN 6502, Computer Cartography
     PLAN 6515, Geographic Information Science
     PLAN 7000, Introduction to Planning
     PLAN 7002, City Planning Principles and Theory
     PLAN 7004, Land Use Controls
     PLAN 7006, Comprehensive Planning Studio
     PLAN 7007, Special Projects Studio
     PLAN 7008, Site Planning
     PLAN 7011, Financing Community Development
     PLAN 7012, Methodology and Technique
     PLAN 7101, Regional Planning
     PLAN 7201, Community Facilities Planning
     PLAN 7202, Land Use Planning
     PLAN 7204, Urban Revitalization Planning
6. Candidates must pass a written or oral comprehensive examination.

III. PhD Program

The required course work for the Ph.D. concentration in Finance includes corporate finance, investments, and market micro-structure theory and applications. The student body is comprised of promising scholars from across the U.S. and around the world.

Doctoral students are involved in all phases of faculty research, including co-authorship of research papers and presentations at professional meetings. The research tools and opportunities available to our doctoral students are impressive. Students use financial databases such as CRSP and COMPUSTAT and data on all trades and quotes, time to the second or even millisecond.

Research interests of the doctoral faculty in Finance include: capital market theory, futures prices, capital budgeting and dividend policy, interest rates, international stock market returns, corporate debt policy, and domestic versus multinational risk and return. The faculty has a special focus on market microstructure.

The doctoral finance faculty have published in leading scholarly journals, including: Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Financial Markets, Journal of Financial Research, Financial Review, Journal of Futures Markets, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Journal of Portfolio Management, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Political Economy, and Management Science.

The program is quantitative and the course work includes a number of courses in economics such as microeconomics and econometrics.

For admission, prerequisites, and program information, see the college website at: www.memphis.edu/fcbephd/.

FINANCE (FIR)

FIR 6310 - Real Estate Law (3)
This course covers law and legal instruments as applied to real estate and is designed to serve the needs of property owners and those engaged in the real estate business.

FIR 6331 - Stock Portfolio Mgmt (3)
(Same as FIR 4331). Development and monitoring of investment portfolio by explaining possible investment alternatives; terminology and analysis techniques necessary to fulfull future financial goals. Undergraduate students will assist graduate students in managing a real equity portfolio of $500,000.

FIR 6340 - Real Estate Appraisal (3)
Basic terminology, principles, procedures, and issues; nature of value, principles of value, appraisal process, market approach, cost approach, capitalization of income approach, gross rent multiplier approach, and appraisal reports.

FIR 6610 - Cases Managerial Fin (3)
Application of tools and principles introduced in previous courses to develop up-to-date problem-solving techniques; cases approached from standpoint of top-level management, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative analysis. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7070 or equivalent.

FIR 6720 - Mgmt Financl Institutns (3)
Financial policies and decision-making peculiar to financial institutions in the United States; management of institutions consistent with adequate standards of liquidity and solvency. PREREQUISITES: FIR 3410 and FIR 3720.

FIR 6721 - Financial Derivative Markets (3)
Introduction to futures, options, forwards, and swaps (widely used by investment firms and corporations to manage financial risks), with primary emphasis on their practical application in financial and commodity markets. PREREQUISITE: FIR 3710.

FIR 6770 - Security Analysis/Port Mgmt (3)
Development of techniques for finding actual worth of securities, primarily stocks and bonds; selection, timing, diversification, and other aspects of supervising investment funds. PREREQUISITE: FIR 3710.

FIR 6810 - Prop & Lbility Insur (3)
Forms and functions of fire, marine, automobile, general liability, and other types of property and liability insurance; emphasis on business and industrial applications.

FIR 6820 - Life & Health Insurance (3)
Functions of life and health insurance; emphasis on economic security needs, human behavior, and problems related to death and dying; individual life, health, and annuity contracts and social insurance; concepts in risk selection and regulation.

FIR 7070 - Financial Conc/Business (3)
(7010). Discounting, risk measurement, valuation, capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital structure, dividend policy, working capital, financial instruments, and markets.

FIR 7155 - Global Financial Mgmt (3)
Theory and practice of modern financial theory as currently practiced in an interdependent global economy by corporate financial managers, financial consultants, and managers of financial institutions.

FIR 7160 - Executive Financial Mgmt (2)
Advanced capital budgeting theory and practice including different types of cash flow estimation and analysis, equivalent annual annuity, levelized and unlevelized costs, and product pricing; covers theory and practice of a firm's capital structure, divident policy, stock repurchasing decisions, and financial planning and forecasting.

FIR 7170 - Multinational Financial Mgmt (3)
Covers financial management practiced by multinational enterprise with emphasis on balance of payments, foreign exchange risk management, global money and capital markets, multinational treasury functions and political risk analysis.

FIR 7171 - Intl Financial Markets (3)
Analysis of operation and regulation of international financial markets for derivatives (options, futures, and swaps), equities, debt, and currencies.

FIR 7173 - Financial Analys/Certification (3)
Course is desinged to accomplish three objectives: (1) Prepare students for careers in financial markets, (2) Develop investments skills for person financial planning such as savings and retirement, and (3) Familiarize students with certifications such as CFA, CFP and the content for such exams.

FIR 7301 - Contemp Rles Thry/Prac (3)
Overview of significant topics in real estate finance, investments, and valuation; lecture and group discussion of key issues in real estate theory and practice.

FIR 7302 - Rl Estate Dvlpmt & Sustainblty (3)
Analysis of methodologies and market strategies in the evaluation of investments in commercial and industrial land development; identification, conceptualization, and execution of action programs associated with developing energy efficient and sustainable real estate projects, industrial parks, warehouse-distribution centers, and related land uses.

FIR 7310 - Sustainable Real Estate (3)
course will examine the decisions to minize present and future energy needs, as well as the societal collective decision to promote technological change for lower energy consumption, and to foster market forces that will sustain our environment and our economy.

FIR 7320 - Financing Real Est Trans (3)
Economic, institutional, and legal issues associated with real estate finance; emphasis on investor and developer financing, and secondary mortgage market.

FIR 7350 - Real Est Invest Analys (3)
Analytical tools, concepts, and decision rules for real estate asset acquisition and disposition; ownership forms, tax structuring, cash flow forecasting, risk analysis, and decision making.

FIR 7410 - Invst Thry Portfol Mgmt (3)
Introductory graduate level course in the area of investments and portfolio management; considers qualitative and quantitative risk and return characteristics of various investment opportunities, fundamental valuation models, timing techniques, efficient markets, speculation and hedging, and portfolio theory and practice. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155 or equivalent.

FIR 7648 - Entrepreneurial Finance (3)
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of how new business ventures are conceived, planned, financed and harvested. The course is taught primarily from the vantage point of the entrepreneur, but will also view things from the perspective of investors (Angel investors, Venture Capitalists, etc.).

FIR 7710 - Sem Investment Thry (3)
Current literature in investment theory and portfolio analysis; topics include statistical techniques of analysis, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, investor perceptions, efficient markets, investigation of risk measurements, portfolio theory and applications, and speculative markets. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7410 or permission of instructor.

FIR 7721 - Financial Derivatives (3)
Understanding futures, options, forwards, and swaps (widely used by investment firms and corporations to manage financial risk), with primary emphasis on their practical application in financial and commodity markets. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155 or equivalent.

FIR 7724 - Micro-Structure Theory (3)
Market microstructure theory; empirical underpinnings, empirical research, and critical contemporary issues.

FIR 7725 - Eqty Mkts:Trad/Struct (3)
Trading technologies, measuring and controlling trading costs, competition between exchanges and alternative trading systems, global market developments, trading strategies, impact of networks and regulation; simulation software provides hands-on experience making tactical trading decisions in different market structures.

FIR 7810 - Adv Financial Mgmt (3)
The most significant contributions to the advanced literature on managerial finance. Topics include capital budgeting under risk, capital rationing, cost of capital, capital structure, dividend policy, firm valuation, and working capital management. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155 or equivalent.

FIR 7840 - Quantitative Finan App (3)
Application of statistical and quantitative tools to problem solving and decision making in all disciplines of finance. The tools include, but are not limited to, spreadsheet analysis, linear programming, and regression analysis. Extensive use of computer software packages. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155 or equivalent.

FIR 7910 - Problems In Fir (1-6)
Directed independent reading and research projects in the finance, insurance, or real estate areas selected by the student with approval of supervising faculty member and Faculty Director. Program of study must be approved prior to enrollment. Grades of A-F, or IP will be given.

FIR 7911 - Internship in FIR (3)
Internship in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate to gain on-the-job experience in real-life environment. Project to be approved and supervised by department faculty. Credit allowed only after acceptance of report. Prerequisite: 3.00 overall GPA and completed 15 hours of coursework.

FIR 7996 - Thesis (1-6)
Candidates desiring to write a thesis must fill out an application on the approved form after consulting with the major professor. Grades of S, U, or IP will be given.

FIR 8170 - Intl Financial Mgmt (3)
(7620). Selected problems in international finance, foreign investment, and the international payments system; gold movements; foreign central banking, and international aspects of money markets; the impact of international financial cooperation. PREREQUISITES: FIR 3410; ECON 3610; or permission of instructor.

FIR 8410 - Invst Thry Portfol Mgmt (3)
Introductory graduate level course in the area of investments and portfolio management; considers qualitative and quantitative risk and return characteristics of various investment opportunities, fundamental valuation models, timing techniques, efficient markets, speculation and hedging, and portfolio theory and practice. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155 or equivalent.

FIR 8710 - Sem Investment Thry (3)
Current literature in investment theory and portfolio analysis; topics include statistical techniques of analysis, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, investor perceptions, efficient markets, investigation of risk measurements, portfolio theory and applications, and speculative markets. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7410 or permission of instructor.

FIR 8721 - Financial Derivatives (3)
Understanding futures, options, forwards, and swaps (widely used by investment firms and corporations to manage financial risk), with primary emphasis on their practical application in financial and commodity markets. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7410 or 3710 or equivalent.

FIR 8724 - Micro-Structure Theory (3)
Market microstructure theory; empirical underpinnings, empirical research, and critical contemporary issues.

FIR 8725 - Eqty Mkts:Trad/Struct (3)
Trading technologies, measuring and controlling trading costs, competition between exchanges and alternative trading systems, global market developments, trading strategies, impact of networks and regulation; simulation software provides hands-on experience making tactical trading decisions in different market structures. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155 or equivalent.

FIR 8810 - Adv Financial Mgmt (3)
The most significant contributions to the advanced literature on managerial finance. Topics include capital budgeting under risk, capital rationing, cost of capital, capital structure, dividend policy, firm valuation, and working capital management. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155 or equivalent.

FIR 8820 - Thry/Prac Finan Mgmt (3)
Study of the more recent advanced literature of managerial finance and its applications; intensive pursuit of approved individual topics; oral presentations of research papers and cases. PREREQUISITE: FIR 8810.

FIR 8840 - Quantitative Finan App (3)
Develops an understanding of fixed income markets and interest rate derivatives. Topics include bond mathematics, interest rate models, fixed income securities, corporate debt, and interest rate derivatives; also applies statistical and quantitative methods to solve problems in derivative securities. PREREQUISITE: FIR 7155.

FIR 8850 - Seminar In Finance (3)
Emphasis on current issues in private sector finance; designed to encourage students in finance to develop a firm understanding of the important theoretical and empirical contributions to the literature; course will draw on readings and the research projects of individual students.

FIR 8910 - Problems In Fir (1-6)
Directed independent reading and research projects in the finance, insurance, or real estate areas selected by the student with approval of supervising faculty member and Faculty Director. Program of study must be approved prior to enrollment. Grades of A-F, or IP will be given.