Curriculum

The MiF Program at Sabancı University welcomes applicants with a university degree in any discipline or major and a strong interest in and motivation for a managerial career. Masters in Finance program is a rigorous and challenging one-year part-time program. In addition to attending the classes on a mandatory basis, the students are expected to participate actively in discussions held in classes. 

Common Outcomes of Masters Programs:

• Develop the ability to use critical, analytical, and reflective thinking and reasoning
• Reflect on social and ethical responsibilities in his/her professional life.
• Gain experience and confidence in the dissemination of project/research outputs
• Work responsibly and creatively as an individual or as a member or leader of a team and in multidisciplinary environments.
• Communicate effectively by oral, written, graphical and technological means and have competency in English.
• Independently reach and acquire information, and develop appreciation of the need for continuously learning and updating.

Common Outcomes for Institute:

• Develop, interpret and use statistical analyses in decision making.

Program Specific Outcomes:

• Demonstrate knowledge of financial theory as well as practice and to be able to display critical evaluation of the knowledge.
• Comprehend the international financial markets, practices, and accounting standards.

The MiF program is a non-thesis degree program comprised of a total of 30 credits in course work which starts in early September and runs 12 months until late August. 

First weeks in the program, Pre-Terms, are devoted to intensive remedial courses in Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis and Economics for Managers running 5 days a week. These remedial courses may be waived for students with demonstrated background in these topics.

Masters in Finance program at the Sabancı Business School is a rigorous and challenging 12-month part-time program. In addition to attending the classes on a mandatory basis, the students are expected to participate actively in discussions held in classes.

The practical application of finance theory will be demonstrated with in-class examples, simulation exercises, Students will spend a significant amount of time  to gain the necessary experience on the  software programs that are integral parts of any professional financial organization in the business world.

The graduates of the program will have taken 30 credit hours of master level courses. The students will have had official contact hours.

Degree Requirements

To continue in good academic standing, MiF students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.00 or above in each term. If the CGPA is below 2.00, the student will be dismissed. To graduate, the student must complete the program with a CGPA of 3.00 or above.

Graduation from the program requires a successful completion of the 10 courses in the program. A satisfactory grade from a project is also required for graduation.

PRE-TERM I (1 WEEK)

Accounting & Financial Statement Analysis

The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the basic concepts, principles, and standards of financial accounting with an emphasis on how financial information is reported to external users and how it is used in resource allocation decisions. The topics covered include the preparation and use of the financial statements, the recording cycle, liquid assets, inventories and cost of the goods sold, plant assets and intangibles, liabilities and owner's equity, and ratio analysis. Also The course focuses on how finance professionals use and interpreting financial tables. Creation and use of financial ratios are discussed. Assessment of the financial strength of companies is examined.

FALL TERM

Corporate Finance

Fundamental issues of finance are taught in this course. The course starts with financial statements analysis, introducing students with balance sheets and income statements of corporations. Time value of money, Net Present Value (NPV) and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis follows. Using these techniques, we go onto valuation of stocks and bonds. Capital investment decisions are examined as well. Course ends with an introduction to the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which is a neat depiction of the relation between risk and return. Also the course examines the analysis of capital structure of firms, which involves comparing the cost of debt and equity financing. Other topics include payout policy, options and futures, risk management, mergers and acquisitions and financial distress.

Quantitative Methods

This course includes the topics of probability theory, distributions, sampling, hypothesis testing, and regression methodologies. Also it aims to overview the essential econometric techniques used in applied financial analysis. Case studies from the academic finance literature are employed to demonstrate potential uses of each approach. The first course introduces basic classical linear regression model, panel data methods and qualitative dependent variables. 

Investments

This course introduces the structure of financial markets and the valuation of financial assets including stocks, bonds, forwards, futures, options and swaps. Among the topics to be covered are: fixed-income investments, yield-to-maturity, duration, yield curves, forward rates, mean- variance framework, portfolio construction and performance analysis, mutual funds and other investment companies, asset pricing models, equity valuation, fundamental and technical analyses, the use of derivatives in risk-management and their pricing.

Derivatives and Risk Management

This course serves as a comprehensive introduction to derivative securities and financial risk management. Naturally, forward contracts, futures, options, and swaps are the focal point of the course. While the main emphasis is on the use of derivatives as risk-transferring/minimizing devices, valuations of such contracts are also included. A solid coverage of no arbitrage based pricing is provided as the common underlying premise to valuing derivative securities. Therewith, cost-of-carry valuation of forwards and futures, , binomial pricing of options, the Black- Scholes option pricing formula, and swap pricing are introduced. Also, the emphasis is on how derivative securities are used against common risk factors such as interest rates, exchange rates and credit risk. In addition to hedging strategies to be created by any of the derivative securities, various other trading strategies involving options (spreads and combinations) are presented. Topics such as delta- hedging and portfolio insurance are also covered.

PRE-TERM II (1 WEEK)

Economics for Managers

This course covers economic principles and their implications in competitive environments. The course is taught in two parts, allocated to macro- and microeconomics. The objective of the course is to familiarize the students with the economic environment and develop an understanding of economic reasoning. 

SPRING TERM

Valuation, Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Restructuring

The principal objectives of this course are to provide students with the conceptual basis, intuitive reasoning, and analytical framework for making sound valuation decisions. Also the course deals structuring, leveraged buyouts and corporate structuring. 

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Private equity (PE) refers to investment funds organized as limited partnerships that invest in public and private firms using various strategies such as leveraged buyout, growth capital, mezzanine capital, venture capital etc Typical investors in PE are large institutional investors and wealthy individuals. Venture capital (VC) is a subcategory of PE concentrating on investments made in less mature, early stage companies. The PE market has grown significantly since 1980s and has become one of the most important financial markets globally. This course will introduce the methodologies used in PE finance and employ the case method to study PE deals. PE is a great lab to study important topics in finance such as capital structure, corporate governance, valuation, asset allocation, organizational restructuring. Throughout the course, PE market is going to be discussed from the perspective of different agents including entrepreneurs, PE fund managers, and the investors in PE funds. The course is going to start with early stage investments in VC market. The objective in this section is to analyze a VC opportunity from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Later, we will discuss private equity and leveraged buyout investments in large companies. In the last part of the course, we will study investments in PE funds and issues related to structuring PE funds. 

Special Topics in Finance I

These courses focus on particular topics and / or perspectives within their respective domains. The aim is to provide an in-depth review and assessment of the research and conceptual literature within chosen topics and / or theoretical perspectives. Students are expected to gain a thorough appreciation of the past developments in and the current state of research within the central foci of the course and be able to develop research agendas to motivate and guide their future work.

Project

The program requires the conduct and completion of a project. The project topic and content is based on the interest and background of the student. It is to be approved by the faculty member serving as the project supervisor. At the completion of the project, the student is required to submit a final report. The report is to be approved by the project supervisor.

Venture Capital and Private Equity
Private equity (PE) refers to investment funds organized as limited partnerships that invest in public and private firms using various strategies such as leveraged buyout, growth capital, mezzanine capital, venture capital etc Typical investors in PE are large institutional investors and wealthy individuals. Venture capital (VC) is a subcategory of PE concentrating on investments made in less mature, early stage companies. The PE market has grown significantly since 1980s and has become one of the most important financial markets globally. This course will introduce the methodologies used in PE finance and employ the case method to study PE deals. PE is a great lab to study important topics in finance such as capital structure, corporate governance, valuation, asset allocation, organizational restructuring. Throughout the course, PE market is going to be discussed from the perspective of different agents including entrepreneurs, PE fund managers, and the investors in PE funds. The course is going to start with early stage investments in VC market. The objective in this section is to analyze a VC opportunity from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Later, we will discuss private equity and leveraged buyout investments in large companies. In the last part of the course

Wealth Management

The course offers a hands-on experience about the practical aspects of financial portfolio management. Along with the concepts covered in the class, students are expected to build a portfolio management notion by thinking on real world problems. The main themes are investment decision making process and investment policy statement, management of individual and institutional portfolios, integrating capital market expectations and asset allocation, technical and practical aspects of portfolio management in traditional asset classes and alternative investments. 

Financial Analytics

An introduction to methods and tools useful in decision-making in the financial industry, including: macroeconomic event studies, analysis of term structures, Morningstar equity data, style analysis, credit card receivables, trading analytics, execution algorithms, etc. This course blends easy-to-use statistical tools with complex machine learning tools and algorithms to equip the participants with the requisite skill set in analyzing data.