FN-Finance Courses

FN 101. Personal Finance. 3 Hours.

Selected aspects of finance encountered by an individual during his or her lifetime. Lower-level elective credit only. Not applicable to the finance major. Open to all UAB students.

FN 103. Money Management 101. 1 Hour.

Covers selected aspects of financial planning encountered by an individual during his or her lifetime. Cannot count as credit toward the finance major. Cannot be taken if FN 101 has been taken.

FN 104. Debt Management 101. 1 Hour.

Covers selected aspects of managing credit and insurance needs that an individual might encounter during his or her lifetime. Does not count toward the finance major. Cannot be taken if FN 101 has been taken.

FN 105. Saving and Investing 101. 1 Hour.

Covers selected aspects of managing investments that an individual might encounter during his or her lifetime. Does not count toward the finance major. Cannot be taken if FN 101 has been taken.

FN 201. Investigations into Financial Inclusion. 3 Hours.

This course applies a structured process of change to individual and societal issues of financial inclusion. Students co-investigate what constitutes financial stability personally and in relation to their broader community. Assessment, analysis, and planning for change are key components of the course. This course satisfies Blazer Core City as a Classroom requirement and Justice flag.

FN 310. Fundamentals of Financial Management. 3 Hours.

This course provides an introduction to the essential principles and practices of financial management. Students will explore the core concepts of finance, including financial analysis, planning, and control, capital budgeting and financial statement analysis.
Prerequisites: BUS 302 [Min Grade: C]

FN 320. Financial Research Methods. 3 Hours.

This course is an eclectic mixture of financial economics, econometrics, computer programming, and information systems. Students learn through interactive practice with multiple commercial and publicly available databases and gain confidence in the core principles of evaluating a company’s financial health through balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow analysis.
Prerequisites: BUS 302 [Min Grade: C]

FN 325. Financial Analysis & Forecasting. 3 Hours.

This course provides the student with a broad study of the basic concepts and tools of finance statement analysis from the point of view of the corporate financial manager. It is a decision-oriented course designed to present a working knowledge as well as a theoretical understanding of the essentials of financial statement analysis and forecasting.
Prerequisites: FN 310 [Min Grade: C]

FN 330. Financial Modeling. 3 Hours.

This course provides an an overview of the tools and skills required to build financial and valuation models. Students will develop a three-statement (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement) model, project a firm's future financial data, and use this information to then build valuation models, focusing on the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model.
Prerequisites: FN 310 [Min Grade: C]

FN 350. Investments. 3 Hours.

Discover strategies for building and managing a diversified investment portfolio and gain insights into how financial markets operate and how to analyze market trends. Emphasis is on equity and fixed-income securities.
Prerequisites: BUS 302 [Min Grade: C]

FN 351. Bond Portfolio Management. 3 Hours.

Dive into the world of fixed income investing with this comprehensive course on Bond Portfolio Management. Students get to construct and manage a fixed income portfolio comprised of twenty corporate bonds. Course topics include valuation and portfolio strategies and derivatives of fixed income securities.
Prerequisites: BUS 302 [Min Grade: C]

FN 357. Securities Analysis. 3 Hours.

Investment theory with emphasis on valuation of equity investment instruments. Students take a quantitative approach to security analysis, including the theory of financial statement analysis and valuation of the firm. The course also includes analysis of business and economic conditions, industry analysis, and ratio analysis.
Prerequisites: BUS 302 [Min Grade: C]

FN 358. Green and Gold Fund Financial Analyst. 1 Hour.

The Green and Gold Fund is UAB's innovative, student-managed investment portfolio. Students gain real-world portfolio management and security analysis experience through the application of professional investment strategies and sound risk management principles. Students enrolled in FN 358 must hold the position of Analyst.

FN 359. Green and Gold Fund Portfolio Management. 1-3 Hour.

The Green and Gold Fund is UAB's innovative, student-managed investment portfolio. Students gain real-world portfolio management and security analysis experience through the application of professional investment strategies and sound risk management principles. Students enrolled in FN 359 must hold the position of CIO, Chief Economist or Portfolio Manager. Permission of the Green and Gold Fund faculty advisor required.
Prerequisites: BUS 302 [Min Grade: C]

FN 370. Principles of Real Estate. 3 Hours.

This course offers a comprehensive overview of the real estate market, investment strategies, and the financial principles that drive this exciting field. Students learn how to analyze real estate markets, assess property values, and identify investment opportunities.

FN 410. Advanced Financial Management. 3 Hours.

Analysis of long-term corporate financial management; detailed stock and bond valuation, cost of capital, capital budgeting, cash-flow analysis, capital structure, and dividend policy.
Prerequisites: (FN 310 [Min Grade: C])

FN 412. International Financial Management. 3 Hours.

A comprehensive exploration of the international financial arena including foreign exchange theory and practice, interest rate risk management, international investment decisions, and import/export financing and funds management. Learners will convert currencies using spot, future, and cross rates, forecast exchange rates based on the congruence between inflation and interest rates, and identify opportunities for trade in a global economy.
Prerequisites: BUS 302 [Min Grade: C]

FN 429. Short-Term Financial Management. 3 Hours.

This course covers the principles of short-term financial management. Specific topics include liquidity, management of working capital, corporate cash management, and short term investing and borrowing.

FN 430. Financial Modeling. 3 Hours.

Students will learn Excel skills used within the finance profession, as well as how to build financial and valuation models from scratch. Emphasis is on topics such as time value of money applications, capital budgeting, risk and return, capital asset pricing model, cost of capital, asset pricing, and portfolio analysis. Students gain knowledge and skills to apply the theories and applications in a real-world setting.
Prerequisites: FN 310 [Min Grade: C]

FN 452. Management of Financial Intermediaries. 3 Hours.

Students discover the essential roles that banks, insurance companies, investment firms, and other financial intermediaries play in the global economy and get to explore how these institutions manage various types of risks, including credit, market, and operational risks. The interrelationships of these financial institutions is a key focus of this course.
Prerequisites: FN 310 [Min Grade: C]

FN 453. Derivatives. 3 Hours.

Domestic and international risk management issues. Tools to measure and manage interest rate; exchange rate and commodity price risks.
Prerequisites: (FN 350 [Min Grade: C] and FN 410 [Min Grade: C])

FN 460. Finance Internship. 1-3 Hour.

Work experience designed to enable students to better integrate academic knowledge with practical applications and to enhance students' educational experiences by making subsequent study more meaningful. Permission of the instructor required.
Prerequisites: FN 310 [Min Grade: C]

FN 470. Real Estate Finance. 3 Hours.

A study of the instruments, techniques and institutions of real estate finance and the use of financial analysis in real estate decisions.
Prerequisites: (FN 370 [Min Grade: C])

FN 475. Real Estate Investment Analysis. 3 Hours.

A study of investment analysis for real estate decisions, including taxation, risk, financial leverage, land use and market analysis will be covered in depth.
Prerequisites: FN 370 [Min Grade: C]

FN 490. Advanced Topics in Finance. 3 Hours.

Issues and problems in selected areas of finance.

FN 499. Directed Readings in Finance. 1-3 Hour.

Supervised study of specific areas of finance.