Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) Undergraduate Course Descriptions
FIRE 201. Introduction to Money Management
Managing personal wealth. Making the most of available financial resources through informed decisions about saving, investing, borrowing, and use of insurance to manage risks. 3 Cr. DEMAND.
FIRE 371. Managerial Finance
Basic concepts in finance: Time value of money, financial ratio analysis, and security valuation. Corporate financial decisions: capital budgeting, choice of capital structure, and working capital management. 3 Cr. F, S, SUM.
FIRE 372. Entrepreneurial Finance
Financial issues affecting start-up companies, venture capital markets, private equity and debt financing, valuing small companies; harvesting methods. Prereq.: 371. 3 Cr. F.
FIRE 373. Investment Principles
Types of investment securities; security market operations; investment policies; security analysis and valuation principles: risk, return, and portfolio analysis; personal investment principles. Prereq.: 371 or permission of the instructor. 3 Cr. F, S, SUM.
FIRE 375. Risk Management and Insurance
Management of risk in a business setting; control of property, liability, and personnel risks; risk financing including self insurance, group retention and insurance, decision-making: introduction to the insurance industry. 3 Cr. F, S, SUM.
FIRE 378. Real Estate Principles
Introductory real estate: contracts, finance, investment, appraisal, owning vs. renting, taxation and closings. Approved for pre-license education under Ch. 82, MN Real Estate License Law. 3 Cr. F, S, SUM.
FIRE 386. Real Estate Property Management
Techniques and scope for property management. Owner relations, record keeping, marketing and leasing, tenant administration, maintenance, and staffing, management of residential, commercial and office properties. Prereq.: 378 or permission of department. 3 Cr. F.
FIRE 444. Internship in Business
Participation in a full-time paid position with a cooperating business, governmental, or civic organization whose program has been approved in advance by the department in which the student has an approved major. Credits are provided upon completion of all requirements of which 3 credits may be applied to the required electives under the major program and the remaining credits apply to university electives for graduation. Permission of department. 3-12 Cr. F, S, SUM.
FIRE 491. Managing an Investment Fund
Students manage an actual investment fund for the University Foundation, acting as security analysts, investment advisers, and portfolio managers. May be repeated to a maximum of 3 Cr. Prereq.: Permission of the department. 1 Cr. F, S, SUM.
Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) Courses for Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate Students
FIRE 427/527. International Accounting and Finance
On the basis of analysis of annual reports, students will be given an overview of the differences existing in financial reporting systems in foreign countries. Insight into the state-of-the-art techniques in risk adjusted capital budgeting. Prereq.: ACCT 291, 292, FIRE 371. 3 Cr. DEMAND.
FIRE 471/571. Corporate Financial Policies
Corporate financial decision making; adjustments to changing conditions; market structure and corporate capital instruments; capital market movements and financial decisions. Prereq.: 371. 3 Cr. F, S, SUM.
FIRE 472/572. Financial Institutions
Role in the economy; current issues/controversies in banking and intermediation; international aspects of financial intermediation. 3 Cr. F, S, SUM.
FIRE 473/573. International Finance
Foreign exchange, currency and derivative markets, currency risk management, international investment and financing decisions, multinational corporate financial decisions. Prereq.: 371. 3 Cr. F.
FIRE 474/574. Security Analysis
Organization of securities markets, risk and return analysis, modern portfolio theory, efficient market theory, fixed income securities, equity securities, and derivative securities. Prereq.: 371, 373. 3 Cr. S.
FIRE 475/575. Life and Health Insurance
Individual life and health insurance and employee benefits; estate and financial planning; insurance company management and operations; regulation; public policy issues. 3 Cr. F.
FIRE 476/576. Property and Liability Insurance
Property and liability risks; contracts, insurance law and regulation; company management and operations. 3 Cr. S.
FIRE 479/579. Social Insurance
Economic security; public and worker's compensation programs designed to. alleviate the perils of premature death, poor health, retirement,. unemployment, and poverty. Program structure, financing, policy. 3 Cr. F.
FIRE 480/580. Employee Benefits and Group Insurance
Employee benefit plan design, group insurance contract provisions, group life and health coverage, pension plans, costs containment, and taxation. 3 Cr. S.
FIRE 481/581. Financial Derivatives
Characteristics and functions of financial derivatives. Corporate risk management applications of financial derivatives. Pricing models of derivatives and trading strategies using derivatives to hedge financial risks. Prereq.: 371, 471. 3 Cr. F.
FIRE 483/583. Real Estate Finance and Investments
Cash flows generated by commercial investment real property, from both the lender's and investor's viewpoint. Ratio and return analysis. Primary and secondary mortgage markets. Prereq.: 378 or permission of department. 3 Cr. F.
FIRE 484/584. Real Estate Appraisal
Cost, income, and market approaches to value of real property assets. Professional narrative appraisal employing comparable sales analysis, depreciated cost analysis and discounted cash flow analysis. Professional ethics and uniform standards of professional appraisal practice. Prereq.: 378 or permission of department. 3 Cr. S.
FIRE 487/587. Management of Financial Institutions
Decision making in commercial banks and other depository institutions. Asset, liability, and capital management issues. Lending, depository and trust functions. Prereq.: 371. 3 Cr. S.
FIRE 490/590. Topics in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
Cases and/or student research, class involvement. Options and futures, mergers and acquisitions, health care finance, real estate brokerage, capital investment decisions, and emerging issues. May be repeated with different topics to maximum of 6 credits. Prereq.: Senior Finance, Insurance or Real Estate Major, MBA. 1-3 Cr. DEMAND.
FIRE 498/598. Business Consulting
Teams of students work as consultants to area businesses and non-profit organizations to diagnose and solve actual business problems. Written and oral report required. Prereq.: 371; MKTG 320; ACCT 292; BCIS 240, 241; MGMT 301; and permission of department. 3 Cr. F, S.
