Finance

This is a two-part course, and part of the MicroMasters® Program in Finance. It provides a rigorous and comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of modern finance and their applications to business challenges in valuation, investments, and corporate financial decisions under a unified framework.

Completing this first course and program will help you prepare for a career as a financial analyst, financial advisor, vice president for finance, chief financial officer, and more.

Finance provides a core function in any productive economy by providing a mechanism for savings, investment, and liquidity. Whether the learner is in a industrialized country or a developing country, financial services are essential for smooth functioning of the economy.

Many of the most important financial decisions in business are done under uncertainty. This is the second course in the Foundations of Modern Finance series of courses, as part of the MicroMasters® Program in Finance. It provides you with the science behind making financial decisions under uncertainty.

We build on the core set of basic principles taught in the first part, and continue to develop a powerful and general framework for making financial decisions in business and in personal financial planning. We introduce financial derivative securities, and their valuation models, discuss the capital structure decision of firms, and explore the interaction between investing and financing.

At the center of financial decision making is the valuation problem. How much value does a business investment create? What is a fair price to pay for a financial asset? We develop models and analytics for measuring risk and for valuing financial assets. We apply valuation models to financial securities, including stocks and bonds, and to project valuation and capital budgeting.

Modern finance is the science of decision making in an uncertain world, and its language is mathematics. As part of the MicroMasters® Program in Finance, this course develops the tools needed to describe financial markets, make predictions in the face of uncertainty, and find optimal solutions to business and investment decisions.

This course will help anyone seeking to confidently model risky or uncertain outcomes. Its topics are essential knowledge for applying the theory of modern finance to real-world settings. Quants, traders, risk managers, investment managers, investment advisors, developers, and engineers will all be able to apply these tools and techniques.