After finishing the core modules, IBSA students will chose their specialization at the second university. At the Cameron School of Business students can specialize in international finance.
Come to the University of North Carolina Wilmington UNCW to Build Your Career in Financial Investment Management
The International Finance & Investment specialization offers you, the aspiring global financial manager, a unique portfolio of excellent faculty, a state-of-the-art financial trading room, access to Bloomberg terminals & certification and an effective set of IF&I courses.
UNCW provides six intensive modules that develop all the essential skills in successful investment strategies. These courses will expose the students to relevant topics such as the interplay between financial managers and capital markets, tactics in global portfolio diversification, international bond markets and fixed income analysis, financial risk and futures markets, regression modelling and forecasting as statistical tools, and investment strategies in the real estate market.
Students earning Cameron’s MBA will learn to make these financial & investment decisions within the context of the current global economy and the political, regulatory and corporate governance aspects of finance.
This course will provide students a thorough understanding of global portfolio diversification strategies and potential benefits, considering traditional asset classes including international equity and bond markets. Asset allocation and investment management experienced significant changes in recent decades with increased elimination of barriers to capital movements and further synchronization of world economies. These developments will be the main focus of this course. Throughout the course 'Portfolio Analysis and Management I', we will present the underlying financial theory and particularly, review the recent evidence as published in academic and practitioner.
The course 'Statistics and Econometrics' develops the core of regression modelling and forecasting with applications in the international business environment. The emphasis will be on authentic learning of regression methods that practicing analysts have found most useful. Students will develop theoretical and practical approaches to estimation and forecasting through the study and application of regression methodology and time-series techniques including moving averages, exponential smoothing, auto regression, generalized lag models and Box-Jenkins. The course 'Statistics and Econometrics' will expose students to measurement, analysis and interpretation of business and economic forecasts.
The course 'Financial Management' will provide an understanding of finance and financial management. This primary objective will be supported with examinations of relevant topics in contemporary finance. These will include an appreciation of financial terms and the interplay between the capital markets, financial managers and financial institutions. At the core of this basic understanding is knowledge of the tools used by financial managers in their decision-making. With regular reference to current issues in personal, business and international finance, these tools and terms will be introduced and examined. The course 'Financial Management' format will be a mixture of lectures, assignments and class discussion.
The course is designed to focus on tools and techniques of fixed income analysis in a global context. This course will provide students a thorough understanding of international bond markets. Asset allocation and investment management experienced significant changes in recent years associated with the global credit crisis. Throughout the course, we will present the underlying financial theory and review the recent evidence as published in academic and practitioner literature.
This main goal of the course 'Portfolio Management III: Derivatives & Financial Risk Management' is to provide for students a thorough understanding of management of financial risk caused by changes in commodity prices, interest rates and currency values by utilizing derivative markets. The secondary goal is to present methods to the students to conduct an empirical study on underlying fundamental factors in a futures market.
The objective of this course will be to extend a student’s basic understanding of finance to an appreciation of real estate value. An initial illustration of the inefficiencies in real estate vs. capital market investments will be provided. The financial crisis and international real estate will be introduced and discussed. These topics will include the mathematics of real estate investment, real estate financing alternatives, and special tax-deferral and tax-sheltering options available to the real estate investor, both domestically and internationally.
Your third term (between June and September) will consist entirely of the all-important thesis dissertation. This period will be completed at UNCW where you attended your specialization courses.
To provide guidance and assistance as you prepare to work through this complicated project, each university offers a thorough, interactive three-day workshop that presents the requisite research skills, covering analytical, research and methodological techniques for the quality production of your master’s thesis.
The other main source of support will come from your thesis advisors. Thus, all IBSA students are required to secure two supervisors who will guide the construction of the master’s thesis; normally, choosing two of your university lecturers is the best and easiest option. We also suggest that IBSA students also consider an alternative approach to the standard route: it is always possible to write your master’s thesis in cooperation with a company. This will require identifying and contacting a potential target company and developing a customized agreement with them in order to complete your thesis project accordingly.
By completing this detailed research and writing work, you will delve deeper into your specialization area from the second semester, learn to cultivate critical reasoning skills, develop a scientific approach to empirical data, and develop skills in literature review based on investigative reasoning (examination of a hypothesis).