Curriculum - MBA, Investments, CFA

The ASAP curriculum includes core MBA classes, courses in investments, and portfolio management and security analysis functions.  The ASAP is a CFA® Program Partner with the CFA Institute.

The first year of the program equips the students with the tools and techniques to perform investment research, while the second year is focused on training students in the actual management of various portfolios.

The CFA partnership indicates that the ASAP degree program incorporates more than 70 percent of the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) Curriculum, the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Professional Standards, and adheres to other requirements.

The core and ASAP-specific MBA curriculum for the Class of 2009 are shown below (School-wide MBA core courses are shaded)

Year One Curriculum
Fall Semester			Spring Semester
Course #	Class Name	Credits	Course #	Class Name	Credits
231-700	Managerial Communication	1	231-710	Ethics & Social Responsibility	1
232-700	Financial Accounting	3	236-704	Managing Behavior in Organizations	3
233-700	Introduction to Financial Management	3	238-700	Operations Management	3
237-700	Marketing Management	3	233-635	Security Analysis	3
238-705	Data Analysis & Decision Making	3	233-721	Investment Theory & Applications	3
238-732	Economics for Managers	3	233-726	Valuation & Corporate Investment Decisions	3
233-765	Contemporary Topics: Issues in Investment ("ASAP 101")	1	233-765	Contemporary Topics: Issues in Investment ("ASAP 101")	1
				CFA Level I Review*	0
Total Semester Credits		17	Total Semester Credits		17
Summer Internships and ASAP Assignments
Year Two Curriculum
Fall Semester			Spring Semester
Course #	Class Name	Credits	Course #	Class Name	Credits
236-723	Business Strategy	3	233-836	Applied Security Analysis & Investment Management II	4
233-835	Applied Security Analysis & Investment Management I	5		Major Elective**	3
233-740	Fixed Income	3		Major Elective**	3
Total Semester Credits		11	Total Semester Credits		10
			Total Program Credits		54
*Students are encouraged to pass two or more levels of the CFA examinations by June following their graduation. The CFA review course is a non-credit course that is not an official part of the MBA curriculum. **Any FIN(233) course at the 600 or higher level, to be approved by the ASAP academic advisor. Any ACCT (232) course at the 600 or higher level, to be approved by the ASAP academic advisor.

First Year

During the first semester, ASAP students enroll in the core MBA classes that are required of all Wisconsin MBA students. During the second semester, ASAP students take additional core MBA courses, as well as courses required for the finance major.

One key aspect of the first semester is the integrated core project, where students (working in groups) analyze a firm across all of their core MBA classes. This project ends with group presentations to the faculty and staff at the end of the semester.

A focal course for first year ASAP students is the Contemporary Topics course, which is nicknamed “ASAP 101”.  This course is taught by investment managers, and teaches students how to produce high quality research reports and introduces them to the tools and approaches utilized by money managers. Group project work completed in the first semester core classes is also incorporated into the research report created in ”ASAP 101.”  While this class is offered for 1 credit, the work load is substantial.

A non-credit CFA Level I review course is taught during the second semester. In 2007, the course was abbreviated to focus on the financial statement analysis and ethics sections of the exam and to teach ways to detect accounting manipulations and why these situations occur. 

First year students have access to all of the resources in the Hawk Center and are encouraged to spend significant time in the Center interacting with the second year students who are managing the funds.

Summer

Following the first year, students are placed in summer internships at various investment firms across the country. In addition to internships, the students are required to write an industry report, including a detailed analysis of at least one stock and one corporate bond.

Second Year

During the second year of their MBA studies, ASAP students manage various portfolios and operate the investment firm. They have research and administrative duties within the firm. Students are divided into teams, manage about $62 million, have no safety net, and report to clients.

Teams

Students are divided into three portfolio teams:  two that manage equity portfolios, and a third that manages fixed income portfolios. While students have primary responsibilities in their assigned asset class, they are encouraged to conduct research in other areas as well.

 Within the asset class teams, students are assigned research responsibilities (sector coverage duties) and duties related to operating the investment firm (e.g. trading, accounting, risk management, asset allocation, etc.). Students are responsible for conducting rigorous company and sector research, making recommendations on the composition of the portfolio, and being active participants in the team decision making process.

Throughout the year, the teams meet multiple times each week, often with faculty and also with the many investment professionals who serve as guest speakers for the program. The students spend substantial time in the Hawk Center.

Funds

Students manage about $62 million. The funds include $60 million in fixed-income assets (three portfolios with different characteristics), and $2 million in equities (two portfolios including a long-only and a long-short fund),. Managing multiple asset classes provides our students with uncommon exposure to a variety of areas of the market and investment techniques. Given the size of the assets, the students have a large responsibility to perform well.

No Safety Net

The flexibility afforded to the students is a unique aspect of the program.

Students maintain flexibility and independence over all investment decisions, subject to constraints on portfolio characteristics and overall portfolio risk. Students do not have a "safety net" as they walk the tightrope of active portfolio management. Each year, the teams inherit, learn and refine investment processes. The students must deliver performance that meets or exceeds the clients' expectations in a multi-manager environment.

The Clients

The UW System is the client for the fixed income portfolios.  The ASAP Board of Advisors serves as the client for the equity portfolios and also provides oversight for the fixed income portfolios. The Board is comprised primarily of alumni, all of whom hold active leadership positions in the investment community. Although the alumni are very supportive of the program, Advisory Board members take seriously their charge to challenge students and create the environment and experience of the most demanding client-manager relationship.

In September of each academic year, the students determine the firm's organizational structure, economic outlook, investment philosophy, and the disciplined strategy that will be executed throughout the year. The teams present their portfolio management proposal to the ASAP Advisory Board for approval and subsequent release of funds.

The students prepare two additional  presentations to the Board, one mid-year and one at the end of the academic year.