Important Electives for Graduate Finance Students
- Financial Modeling
- Corporate Accounting
- Hedge Fund Analysis
- Financial Ethics
- Psychology
Completing an MBA in Finance is a tough venture characterized by:
- a lot of studying
- numerous exams
- important certifications
Nevertheless, those who decide to pursue this career path will be exposed to a plethora of invaluable concepts taught in graduate classes. At some point, however, students need to select a number of electives to complete their degree program. So, what are the top five extracurricular courses that graduate students in finance should consider?
Related Resource: Top 40 Best Online MBAs in Finance
Financial Modeling
As one of the basic requirements of having a successful career in finance, one must know how to utilize software for complex calculations. The software programs typically used by companies range from basic MS Excel packages to highly advanced valuation models that employ rigorous algorithms. By taking a financial modeling course, students will become familiar with how to operate most of those tools. This will increase their marketability by a noticeable amount. Not to mention that they will learn the basics of business valuation and pricing.
Corporate Accounting
An incredibly high amount of investing originates from the corporate spheres, whether it is based on venture capital or regular stocks. Knowing corporate accounting is borderline mandatory. A course in this area will teach you everything you should know about:
- corporate taxation
- internal operations
- factors that impact business decisions, and more
By learning those concepts, students will be in a better position to determine if a certain investment is worthy of their client’s capital or not.
Hedge Fund Analysis
A form of investing that utilizes a more complicated asset is known as a hedge fund. In layman’s terms, these tend to be groups of partners who use high-risk strategies to get a hefty return on another person’s capital. At the end of the process, they keep the fees as well as a percentage of earnings for themselves. Although it may sound relatively simple, there is a lot more that goes into hedge fund investing. Unfortunately, a typical MBA in Finance program will not go into a lot of depth with these assets due to their limitless amount of information and data. Thus, having an extra course that focuses in on the topic can be very useful.
Financial Ethics
Maintaining the client’s safety is one of the most important aspects of enjoying a lucrative career in finance. According to Forbes, many professionals fail to take into account the significance of understanding how ethics work in the finance profession. In translation, knowing when certain purchases may be legal yet unethical and vice-versa is not something that finance majors spend a lot of time covering. Luckily, there will always be a class that teaches ethics to those who want to work directly with capital.
Psychology
Realizing the highest rate of return is often impossible without strategic negotiation methods. MBA in Finance programs often require group work of students, as it translates to how the real world operates. Students, therefore, must have sophisticated communication skills and an impeccable ability to derive a compromise to be successful. To this end, taking a psychology course to better understand how humans interact, and why they are the way they are, will increase one’s ability to achieve favorable transactions.
Conclusion
The list of important electives goes on. In fact, one could probably spend an additional year or two simply covering all of the relevant coursework that may not be mandated for their degree plan. Nevertheless, getting an MBA in Finance and going through at least a few of the aforementioned electives will set you up for a bright career.
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