MBA Programs in Finance

The Department of Finance, Investment, and Banking offers two career specializations: Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP), and Applied Corporate Finance Program (ACFIN). Each year, these programs seek a limited number of well-qualified individuals who are committed to a career in finance.

ASAP participants grow as professional investors, taking positions as research analysts, traders and money managers. ACFIN participants grow as financial decision makers and take positions as corporate financial analysts, consultants and investment bankers.

The programs are exceptional among those at all business schools throughout the world, because at Wisconsin we take the word “Applied” very seriously. During the two-year MBA program, you first learn in the classroom. Then, you learn by doing. You must apply financial theories to real decisions, and your decisions, even as a student, have real consequences.

We bring the financial world to your doorstep, and do so purposefully. We give you the opportunity to study your chosen field close up, and to see what is required for your future success. You meet with professional money managers, and discuss their view of current market conditions. You meet with officers of Fortune 500 corporations, and learn from their experiences. These opportunities are a critical part of our learning environment.

Finance MBA students at Wisconsin share a common core of courses during the first year. In this foundation core, students take courses across business fields, but concentrate their studies in finance. They learn quantitative tools, financial theory, as well as practical applications of theory as they study finance cases. The first-year coursework is as challenging as any MBA curriculum.

The second year of each program offers a truly unique experience. All finance MBA students participate in a year-long, applied, capstone course. Throughout the second year, ACFIN students complete financial consulting projects for business clients. ASAP students manage portfolios of equity and fixed income securities. Through this experience at Wisconsin, you learn to apply financial theories to real decisions.

The ASAP and ACFIN programs are structured around the solid core of business courses offered to all MBA students at Wisconsin.

Our MBA students take four first-year courses that define the finance core - Quantitative Financial Modeling, Investment Theory, Valuation Methods, and Capital Structure. These courses are designed especially for you, as a student in the applied programs.

The second year of the program features the applied curriculum. A significant part of your time and effort is spent in either the ASAP or ACFIN program. Additional information is available separately about each of the programs. Please visit the web sites for Applied Security Analysis Program and Applied Corporate Finance Program for details on each program.

When you apply to the MBA program at Wisconsin, you will choose a career specialization. As an applicant to a finance program, you may apply to either the Applied Security Analysis Program or the Applied Corporate Finance Program.

There are no formal requirements that a candidate must satisfy in order to apply for either the ASAP or ACFIN programs. However, if you are admitted and have not had at college-level courses in calculus and statistics, the admissions committee may require you to complete courses prior to starting your MBA.

Overall, the programs look for candidates who will grow to be leaders in their field. Communication, writing, public speaking, and interpersonal skills; initiative, creativity and commitment to a professional field are important criteria. Please see the program websites for further information, ACFIN and ASAP.

Every participant in ASAP must purchase a laptop computer and software specified by the Finance Department.  Your brand-name computer is preloaded with software and delivered to you when you come to Wisconsin.  The computer is covered under a multi-year service contract offered by the manufacturer, but fulfilled by the staff of the Technology Support Center in the School of Business.  In the unlikely event that your computer requires service, you obtain that service onsite.

Further information can be found at the following site: http://www.bus.wisc.edu/finance/laptop

It is expected that participants in ASAP and ACFIN are computer literate. Knowledge of Microsoft Word (or a similar word processor) and especially Microsoft Excel is expected. MS Powerpoint is commonly used by students for presentations. Knowledge of MS Access and Visual Basic is helpful. The most recent version of the Microsoft Office Suite is among the software preloaded on your laptop computer.

A good resource for training materials in MS Office is The Virtual Training Company online at http://www.vtc.com.

For calculus, we rely on knowledge of exponentials and logarithms, limits, derivatives, and integration. Examples of applications of these concepts are continuous growth (the exponential and logarithmic functions), maxima and minima (the derivative), and calculating probabilities and expected values (the integral). You should be familiar with the material in Chapters 1 through 7, 10, and 11 of the Himonas and Howard text listed below.

For statistics, we rely on knowledge of frequency distributions, sample moments (such as mean, variance and covariance), basic rules of probability, probability distributions, estimation, and hypothesis testing. You should be familiar with the material in Chapters 1 through 10 of the Lind, Marchal and Wathen text listed below.

The University of Wisconsin Learning Innovations offers extension courses in calculus and statistics. Online information is available at: http://learn.wisconsin.edu/.

Candidates are encouraged to have available as reference during the program the textbooks:

Calculus: Ideas and Applications, by Himonas and Howard, Wiley, along with the web-based product Calculus Machina that accompanies the text, and

Basic Statistics for Business and Economics, by Lind, Marchal, and Wathen, McGraw-Hill Irwin.

A good supplement to the calculus text is the CD ROM product Calculus I and Calculus II by Thinkwell, which is found on the web at http://www.thinkwell.com.

Another good reference is:

Mathematics for Economists, by Simon and Blume, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.