Overview

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Want to be ahead of your competitors? Learn to employ long-term strategic financial management tools to be years ahead of your competitors. Planning for your corporation's financial future brings value to today and tomorrow.

An organization’s long-term financial health and success depends on critical financial planning that spans multiple years. This course, part of the Accounting and Financial Management MicroMasters program, explores the long-term financial environment of corporations, including options and futures, capital budgeting, capital structure management, dividend and share re-purchase policies, and investment banking and restructuring. You will learn how financial managers analyze various types of long-term funding sources, including term loans, derivatives, debt an equity securities, and leases. Learners will evaluate alternate policies with regard to financial leverage, capital structure, dividends, and the issuance of preferred stock. You will examine mergers, leveraged buyouts, and divestitures as special situations to create value.

This course is part of the Accounting and Financial Management MicroMaster’s program from UMGC. Upon completion of the program and receipt of the verified MicroMaster’s certificate, learners may then transition into the full UMGC Master’s Program in Accounting and Financial Management. See the MicroMasters program page for more information.

Syllabus

Week 1: Weighted Average Cost of Capital
Learn how companies determine their cost of financing. A company may finance with debt, equity, or preferred stock. Further, companies may use retained earnings or a new stock issue to finance purchases and or expansions.
Week 2: Capital Investment Decisions
Learn how companies decide which new projects to invest in. In some cases companies may start multiple projects at the same time. In other cases they may have to choose between projects.
Week 3: Capital Structure and Leverage
Learn how companies minimize their cost of financing. Tax rates, stock market policies, and interest rates will all effect how companies finance their projects.
Week 4: Dividends and Share Re-purchase Agreements
Learn how companies decide if they should pay out dividends or buy back stock. Some companies pay high dividends, some no dividends. Issues such as country risk, accounting scandals, and tax policy all effect these decisions.
Week 5: International Financial Management
Learn how companies decide if they should invest overseas, and how they manage international risks. Currency values change, and many countries are unstable. Is the potential profit from international investing worth the risk?
Week 6: Introduction to Options
Learn how companies’ value and use, call and put options. Further, you will learn how options are used to speculate, manage risk, and give management incentives are discussed.
Week 7: Derivatives and Hedging Risks
Learn how companies use derivatives to manage risk. Futures and forwards can be used to help companies’ control their future costs, or to speculate in commodities, stocks, or currencies.
Week 8: Final assessment