Finance
The Finance major is comprised of courses in two broad areas: Corporate Finance and Investments.
View the Curriculum Guide.
Corporate Finance
Students learn to analyze business opportunities to identify those that create value. Financial analysis boils down to sophisticated cost-benefit analysis for decision making in all aspects of business, and students majoring in Finance successfully pursue careers with major corporate and other organizations.
Investments
Students learn to structure portfolios of stocks, bonds and other financial assets that meet the objectives of institutional and individual investors. The curriculum helps prepare students who wish to sit for Level I of the CFA exam series, and many graduates in Finance successfully pursue careers in asset management and wealth advising.
Experiential Learning
The Investment Strategy Institute (ISI) is dedicated to investment analysis with more than 20 Bloomberg terminals, which bring together real-time data on every financial market, breaking news, in-depth research, powerful analytics and communications tools in one fully integrated solution. They are very powerful tools that are used extensively in the profession and are a significant part of the curriculum.
Finance students can participate in several Student Managed Investment Funds under the guidance of faculty and industry professionals. The total amount of funds available for students to manage is in excess of $1,000,000. The SMIF experience also provides opportunities for students to interact with investment professionals, many of whom work downtown just minutes from campus and who are Duquesne alumni.
Program Information
Students have the opportunity to analyze business opportunities to identify those that create value and to learn to structure portfolios of stocks, bonds, and other financial assets.
Program Type
Major, Minor
Degree
Bachelor's
Academic Department
Economics and Finance
Duration
4-year
Required Credit Hours
72
"Duquesne's Finance program provides students with a holistic approach to many
areas of study, anything from Investment to Financial management. The professors and
staff are always willing to help students with course materials and professional development
opportunities, such as career fairs and internship applications."
Required for all business students. Required Required Required Elective Elective Elective 3 credits Elective Elective Elective Elective 3 credits Elective Managing Investments II is the second course for students participating in the Student
Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) program. FINC 400 provides a capstone experience in
which students, under the guidance of an executive-in-residence and faculty, make
investment decisions for the Duquesne Values Fund (DVF). DVF is a portfolio of large-cap
common stocks selected by a process of fundamental equity analysis and valuation applied
to stocks meeting standards for environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.
As of March 2023, the value of the DVF was in excess of $1,000,000. While managing
DVF, students learn about the analysis and valuation of common stock and the management
of common stock portfolios. Technology in the Investment Strategy Institute, primarily
Bloomberg, is used extensively. At the end of the course, students present their management
decisions and investment results to members of the Investment Strategy Institute Advisory
Council. The Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) Program at Duquesne provides you with a compelling experience in money management and contributes
to your preparation for successful careers in finance and investment management. You
will learn to make evidence-based decisions investing in financial markets, which
will enable you to leverage the experience in interviews for internship and career
opportunities. The SMIF Program comprises three fund initiatives:
For more information contact Jennifer Milcarek at (412) 396-5642.
Certification is highly recommended in finance. For example, personal financial advisors
are encouraged and sometimes required to seek their Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
certification. The requirements include academic credits, passing a comprehensive
set of exams, and following a strict code of ethics. These are the most popular and
widely recognized certifications and licensures. From Our Students
Finance Minor
FINC 334—Investments
And two (2) required or elective courses in Finance
Students are encouraged to meet with their Student Success Coach for more information.
Course Descriptions: Business Core
3 credits
Business Finance is a core course required for all undergraduate business majors.
Students are introduced to the concept of shareholder wealth maximization through
the following topics: financial statement analysis, time value of money, capital budgeting,
cost of capital, risk and return, and impact of financial leverage on the value of
the firm.
Prerequisites: ACCT 214 and STAT 285Course Descriptions: Required
3 credits
3 credits
Financial Management provides the second part (with FINC 334) of the necessary conceptual
foundation for upper-level courses in Finance and is required for the major in Finance.
Topics include: financial statement analysis and financial forecasting, risk and return,
the cost of capital, capital budgeting, real options in capital budgeting, the corporate
valuation model and measures of financial performance.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
Investments is a required course for the Finance major. A particular emphasis is placed
on the theory behind constructing optimal investment portfolios and the implications
this theory has for asset pricing. A second theme of the course is to examine why
market prices are thought to be fairly priced or "efficient" versus the opposing view
(behavioral finance) that questions investor rationality and, therefore, efficient
market prices. Students use the technology in the Investment Strategy Institute.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
This course is a comprehensive examination of the evolving nature of the domestic
and international money and capital markets, as well as the underlying forces which
shape them. Attention is also paid to the clearing, settlements, and payment systems,
which play an important part in the markets' performance. The course is required for
the Finance major.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
Students draw on a wide range of concepts and tools from previous finance and accounting
courses to address a series of realistic case-based problems in financial analysis.
Emphasis is placed on identifying problems and developing persuasively argued and
professionally presented solutions.
Prerequisites: FINC 333, FINC 334, ACCT 311, and ACCT 312 or ACCT 315Course Descriptions: Electives
3 credits
Fixed income presents the basic features of debt securities, embedded option provisions,
relationships among bond prices, spot rates, forward rates and yields, and it introduces
the fundamental notion of arbitrage pricing in the context of securities with fixed
cash flows. It describes various ways to measure the risks of investing in fixed income
securities and factors determining yield spreads. Additional coverage includes demand
and supply analysis of bond yields, theories of the term structure of interest rates,
asset securitization, and active and passive bond investment strategies.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
This course is an intensive study of the analytic techniques applicable to the selection
of the various securities of private as well as public entities. Consideration is
given to the markets in which these securities are traded and the type of information
necessary to the decision-making process of the investor as the attempt is made to
measure the value of a particular security. Several models are examined in seeking
appropriateness in establishing the relative worth of a security.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
This course is designed to develop an understanding of futures and options and other
derivative financial instruments. The main emphasis is on the reduction of asset and
liability risk for business and financial institutions through hedging operations
in debt and equity instruments, commodities and currencies.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
This courses is an introduction to concepts involving the valuation and financing
of real estate investments. The course is organized to sequentially walk students
through the real estate investment process. The curriculum includes the characteristics
of real estate returns compared to other asset classes, real estate investment opportunities,
theories of valuation, pros and cons of financing, and real estate law concepts.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
This course will focus on various analytical tools and techniques used to assess a
potential borrower for extending both short and long term credit. Comprehensive financial
statement analysis methods are stressed in the course. Students augment their financial
statement analysis with industry considerations, qualitative parameters and various
loan structures for credit details. Portfolio considerations will also be evaluated.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
The course provides the conceptual tools necessary to understanding and making international
financial decisions. Topics covered include: foreign exchange markets and exchange
rate determination, parity conditions, types of foreign exchange risk and measurement
and hedging techniques.
Prerequisite: FINC 313
3 credits
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods for the purpose of testing
economic and business theories. This course will introduce students to the skills
used in empirical research including, but not limited to, data collection, hypothesis
testing, model specification, regression analysis, violations of regression assumptions
and corrections, dummy variables and limited dependent variable models. Extensive
focus will be on the intuition and application of econometric methods, and as a result,
statistical software will be used extensively. Students will be required to complete
an independent research project involving the application of regression analysis.
Prerequisites: STAT 285 or MATH 302 or MATH 335
Managing Investments I is open to students who wish to participate in the Student
Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) program. FINC 200 provides a cornerstone experience
in which students, under the guidance of an executive-in-residence and faculty, make
investment decisions for the Duquesne Balanced Fund (DBF). DBF is a balanced portfolio
of ETFs encompassing broad asset categories of cash, bonds and stocks. Students learn
about investing while using Bloomberg terminals in the Investment Strategy Institute.
At the end of the course, students present their management decisions and investment
results to members of the Investment Strategy Institute Advisory Council. The course
does not count toward the Finance major.
By permission of SMIF Faculty Advisor.
3 credits
Prerequisites: FINC 313, ACCT 214, and ECON 201 or
ECON 202
By permission of SMIF Faculty Advisor.
Student Managed Investment Funds
The DVF is a long-only fund that invests primarily in large-cap stocks selected on
the basis of fundamental analysis and Spiritan values. The benchmark for the DVF is
the iShares KLD 400 Social ETF (Symbol: DSI). Fund value was approximately $1,400,000
in March 2024.
The DBF is an asset allocation fund that invests in ETFs for exposure across stocks,
bonds and cash. The benchmark for DBF is a 70/30 allocation to stocks and bonds accomplished
with the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (Symbol: IVV) and the iShares Core Aggregate Bond
ETF (Symbol: AGG). Fund value was approximately $170,000 in March 2024.
The DMF is a long-only fund that invests primarily in micro-cap stocks selected on
the basis of quantitative factors. The benchmark for the DMF is the iShares Microcap
ETF (Symbol: IWC). Fund value was approximately $128,000 in March 2024.
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