Full-Time Specialization in Financial Management

The objective of this course is to describe the theory and practice of the main topics in financial management at the postgraduate level. The course is organized into three parts. The course starts with an overview of the time value of money, valuing bonds, equity valuation, and cost of capital. The second part pertains to capital budgeting and the financial criteria used for making investment decisions. Finally, we consider issues related to payout policy, leverage and capital structure.

The past few decades have been characterized by an extraordinary growth in the use of quantitative methods in the analysis of various asset classes; be it equities, fixed income securities, commodities, and derivatives.In addition, both financial economists and practitioners have routinely been using advanced mathematical, statistical, and econometric techniques in a host of applications including, asset pricing, portfolio management, investment decisions, and risk management, among other.This course attempts to provide an introductory-level basis for the learning of such techniques.The purpose is twofold, to provide research tools in financial economics and comprehend investment designs employed by practitioners.

The primary objective of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts of financial accounting based on international financial reporting standards. Upon successful completion of the course, the students will be able to understand the structure and key line items of the main financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, and statement of changes in equity) of the firms. They will also familiarize themselves with the accounting treatment for cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, inventories, and non-current assets.

The course aims at providing a solid understanding of the global financial environment. Both theoretical and practical aspects are analysed, which are important for comprehending global financial markets, and how these operate under different currency regimes. The goal is to highlight the importance of working an internationalized market for the purposes of financial management and provide specific examples related to the industry.

The course objective is to develop special issues in the field of corporate financing, covering the recent developments in the field of corporate finance. During the course, certain subjects drawn from corporate finance theory & practice will be analyzed such as, Different types of debt, Private Equity & Venture Capital, Convertible Bonds, Operating and Financing Lease, Mergers and Acquisitions and Securitization.

Accounting for Corporations II builds on and extends the contents of Accounting for Corporations I. The course aims to help students develop a strong foundational understanding of financial accounting concepts, methods, and uses. It places a great emphasis on critically analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating corporate financial statements and related disclosures. The students will appreciate how different accounting rules, financial reporting choices and the use of estimates and judgment affect financial statements. The course has a practical orientation and employs “real world” financial statements to apply the knowledge gained from the application of accounting rules.

This course examines the most important issues in the theory and practice of modern portfolio management. Topics include efficient capital markets, risk and return, asset pricing models, valuation, equity portfolio management strategies, bond portfolio management strategies, the professional asset management industry, evaluation of portfolio performance, main investment decision biases, investor contrarian and momentum strategies, and herd behavior.      

This course intends to cover fundamental issues related to accounting treatments for financial instruments and the disclosure requirements for financial instruments. It covers the fundamental differences between equity and financial liabilities, financial assets, and accounting for hedging transactions. Also looks at the characteristics of basic financial instruments and complex financial instruments. Furthermore, addresses issues related to fair value accounting, revenue recognition and accounting for leases. Finally, discusses the underlying conceptual framework. Relevant research papers will be analyzed throughout the course.

The principal objective of this course is to develop students’ capabilities to efficiently and effectively read, interpret and analyze financial statements. This is a course on fundamental analysis and has a very practical emphasis based on a series of class exercises and cases involving listed companies. Although the primary focus is on equity valuation, lending and other investment decisions are also discussed. Students learn how measurement and reporting rules determine and possibly restrain the information implied in accounting data and how reformulation and adjustments to the financial statements allow for better informed decisions.

The course studies the pricing and use of derivative securities (forward/futures contracts, swaps and options), i.e., financial instruments whose value depends on the price of other basic underlying variables (such as stock prices, indices, foreign currencies, interest rates or commodities). The no-arbitrage pricing principle and its use in pricing forward, futures and swap contracts and in deriving option pricing restrictions is first developed together with the Binomial-tree valuation approach and the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. Then, various extensions of the theoretical option models (adjusted for dividends and early exercise) are presented and various applications are provided, in the pricing of options on stock indices, currencies, or futures and in the risk management (e.g., hedging stock market, foreign currency and interest-rate risk exposure).

The course objective is to present many trends and developments in corporate and project financing that have attracted considerable interest and activity in the real economy, in the recent years. The course will examine the main features of financing real economy assets and address the cash-flow modelling steps and methods for project financing. Moreover, different topics of corporate finance which are currently under global consideration will be presented during the course, such as: ESG investment criteria, Responsible Investing, Sustainable Finance, Fintech, Crowdfunding, Peer-to-peer lending, and Microfinancing including Microloans.

The course describes the function of banks and the related risk management models, as well as the regulatory environment of financial institutions. Students familiarize with the various models of risk measurement such as interest-rate, market, and credit risk models, and are introduced to stress testing, operational and liquidity risk, economic capital and RAROC.

The course aims to examine corporate financial needs and ways to cover them. Financial planning is an issue of primary importance when it comes to short-term and long-term business development and sustainability.

The aim of the course is to present basic concepts in terms of sustainability principles. In addition, the application of sustainability reporting requirements to corporate financial statements is discussed. Finally, financial reporting management practices related to sustainability issues are presented.

The course introduces students to the main types of occupational fraud, i.e. asset misappropriation, corruption, and fraudulent financial statement schemes. Through numerous case studies of real firms, students are able to understand the importance of anti-fraud and internal controls for the prevention, detection, and deterrence of fraud. They also familiarize themselves with fraud investigation techniques and anti-money laundering compliance programs.

This course aims to provide an integrated, conceptual, current and comprehensive way of analyzing M&As. The course has a very practical emphasis based on a series of contemporary, real business cases involving listed companies. M&As are approached both from a finance and an accounting perspective. Under the finance perspective, we analyze different M&A strategies, the economics of the transaction, the acquisition motives, the deal making process etc. Under the accounting perspective, we focus on the scope and the process of consolidation, the definition of control, the purchase price allocation process, the accounting for goodwill and noncontrolling interest etc.

The course introduces the fundamental tax concepts that are necessary for global investment decisions. The evaluation of alternative tax jurisdictions adopts a full-cost approach where both explicit and implicit taxes are considered. Specific tax issues that influence investment decisions are covered, such as: sources of taxable income, residency, permanent establishment, tax treaties, credit system of tax relief, transfer pricing, tax heavens, tax loopholes, controlled entities, and dividends from subsidiaries.All topics are examined with an international perspective but still in line with European Union tax treaties and OECD tax model.

Data Collection, Analysis, Writing, and Presentation of Dissertation. Students may undertake their dissertation in pairs or on their own, upon approval of the Steering Committee. Full time (or even part time) students may alternatively substitute the dissertation with an internship, upon approval of the Steering Committee. 

It is stated that as the thesis is assigned, the student is required to attend a Research Methods Seminar for the Preparation of the Thesis, which is offered during the second semester and the summer period. For part-time students, the seminar takes place during the third semester. Successful completion of the seminar is a prerequisite for the initiation of the dissertation