Note: This is the 2022鈥�2023 eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or .
Program Requirements
The Diploma in Professional Practice in Finance, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) University Affiliated Program, prepares students to write level I, II, and III exams for the CFA Designation. This program is intended to allow students to develop professional competencies that will be recognized nationally and internationally. The program is designed to provide training in the competencies, techniques, and specific expertise required to become a successful professional in various finance-related fields, such as corporate finance, investment banking and portfolio management, risk management, treasury finance, financial planning, and sustainable financial management.
Prerequisite Courses
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CACC 521 Concepts of Financial Accounting (3 credits)
Overview
Accountancy : This course examines accounting in a finance context, how to prepare, interpret, and make decisions based on accounting information. The course examines the process of recording and reporting accounting transactions, the elements of financial statements, and the preparation of various financial statements.
Terms: Fall 2022, Winter 2023
Instructors: Bouras, Jenny (Fall) Bouras, Jenny (Winter)
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CMS2 500 Mathematics for Management (3 credits)
Overview
Management Science (CCE) : Basic mathematics needed for business applications, including graphs of functions, series summation, mathematics of finance, annuity, discounted cash flow, internal rate of return, permutations, combinations, maxima and minima of functions with business applications in optimization, introductory statistics and probability
Terms: Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Summer 2023
Instructors: Kamali, Vahid; Abdenbi, Brahim (Fall) Kamali, Vahid (Winter) Kamali, Vahid (Summer)
Prerequisite: CMSC 000
Note: "Mathematics for Management" must be completed in the first semester of the Diploma in Management program.
Corequisite Courses
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CEC2 532 Business Economics (3 credits)
Overview
Economics (CCE) : Introductory micro and macro economic theory and practice in profit and non-profit organizations from a managerial perspective. Topics include: demand and supply analysis, production costs, firms' pricing and output determination, aggregate demand and supply, national income, output and employment determination, inflation, interest rate, exchange rate determination, fiscal and monetary policies.
Terms: Fall 2022, Winter 2023
Instructors: Matziorinis, Ken (Fall) Matziorinis, Ken (Winter)
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CMS2 521 Applied Management Statistics (3 credits)
Overview
Management Science (CCE) : Statistical methods used in a variety of business situations, emphasizing application and providing a working knowledge of the most widely-used techniques. Topics include descriptive statistics; probability distributions; sampling procedures and distributions; inferential statistics including estimation; hypothesis testing and Anova; simple linear, multiple regression and correlation; time series and forecasting.
Terms: Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Summer 2023
Instructors: Kelome, Djivede (Fall) Kelome, Djivede (Winter) Kelome, Djivede (Summer)
Prerequisite: CMS2 500 or the Exemption by Examination Test
Required Courses (27 credits)
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CCFA 500 Professional Ethical Practices (1.5 credits)
Overview
CCFA : The Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct (鈥淐ode and Standards鈥�) is the ethical benchmark for investment professionals around the globe, regardless of job title, cultural differences, or local laws. Accordingly, this course covers: professionalism and integrity of capital markets; duties to clients and employers; investment analysis and recommendations and conflicts of interest and responsibilities of a CFA. The course includes examination of case-studies in ethics and prepares students to pass the standard of practice exam.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Lima, Eduardo (Winter)
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CCFA 505 Financial Modeling (1.5 credits)
Overview
CCFA : Financial modeling involves the building of an abstract representation (a model) of a real-world financial situation. This mathematical model is designed to represent a simplified version of the performance of a financial asset or portfolio of a business, project, or other investment. Students will be introduced to, and are expected to generate and refine, financial modeling in mergers and acquisitions, portfolio management, corporate treasury, and risk management contexts in which derivative products will be used or in situations where analysis and decision making would be enhanced by modeling.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Lima, Eduardo (Winter)
Pre-requisite(s): CACC 521 or Departmental approval
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CCFA 510 Current Operations in Global Financial Markets (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : This course reviews the current role of financial institutions and financial markets, the transactions effected through intermediaries in facilitating global trade, and the current scheme of regulations across major trading centres. The course also considers threats to the regulated intermediary through crypto currencies and other forms of trade.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Lima, Eduardo (Winter)
Prerequisites: CEC2 532
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CCFA 515 Essentials of Financial Reporting and Analysis (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : This course examines the role of accounting and financial reporting in the analysis of financial statements and decision-making. While the course focusses primarily on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) framework in financial reporting, it will also cover financial statements using Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE). Topics covered through the use of case studies and other approaches include: analysis of basic financial statements and the quality of reporting in the annual report; analysis of assets and liabilities, including taxes, debt, off-balance-sheet assets and liabilities, pensions, stock compensation and other employee benefits, and global operations.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: El Gindi, Shahenda; Campbell, Jason (Winter)
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CCFA 520 Theory of Capital Structure and Corporate Finance 1 (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : This course introduces students to the liabilities and shareholders鈥� equity section of the balance sheet. The optimal balance between debt and equity given the company鈥檚 sector operations and the economy are analyzed. Furthermore, corporate finance topics including net present value, project finance, and others are reviewed in depth to help prepare students for the Level 1 CFA exam.
Terms: Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Summer 2023
Instructors: Lima, Eduardo (Fall) Lima, Eduardo (Winter) Lima, Eduardo (Summer)
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CCFA 527 Introduction to Portfolio and Risk Management (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : This course introduces the portfolio planning and construction process, including the development of an investment policy statement (IPS). A discussion of risk management, including the various types and measures of risk, follows, and a risk management framework is provided. Derivatives have become increasingly important for managing financial risk, exploiting investment opportunities, and creating synthetic asset class exposure, so this course provides students with a working knowledge of derivatives analysis. Finally, the course provides an introduction to Alternative Investments, which are used in portfolios for further diversification benefits and higher returns.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Campbell, Jason (Fall)
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CCFA 529 Introduction to Fixed-Income and Equity Investments (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : Students are introduced to characteristics of fixed-income and equity investments, their markets, and indexes; they are also exposed to yield and valuation measures, risk factors and drivers of fixed-income securities and to industry and company analysis and basic equity valuation models.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: El Gindi, Shahenda; di Pietro, Vadim (Fall)
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CCFA 530 Introduction to Applications and Uses of Derivatives (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : Montreal is the second largest derivative market in North America. The main objective of this course is to help students gain understanding of and enhance their intuition and skills on the pricing of derivative securities. Thereafter, they will be able to use these skills in effective investment and/or risk management. The course includes an in-depth review of a wide range of applications and real-life cases, including the use of derivatives in asset management, valuation of corporate securities such as stocks and corporate bonds with embedded options, interest rate derivatives, credit derivatives, and crude oil and currency derivatives. The practical considerations of implementing strategies using derivatives are emphasized.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: di Pietro, Vadim (Winter)
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CCFA 535 Theory of Capital Structure and Corporate Finance 2 (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : The objective of this course is to study the major decision-making areas of managerial finance and selected topics in financial theory. The course reviews the theory and empirical evidence related to the investment and financing policies of the firm, and attempts to develop decision-making ability in these areas. The course includes an analysis of leasing decisions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganization, financial planning and working capital management, and other selected topics including investment decision-making under uncertainty, cost of capital, capital structure, pricing of selected financial instruments and corporate liabilities, and dividend policy.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Campbell, Jason (Winter)
Prerequisite: CCFA 520
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CCFA 540 Portfolio Strategies and Management (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : In this course, students discuss and review stock market movements and the news in the past week. The aim is to enable students to research, analyze, and make recommendations for a sector or corporation and prepare them to advocate a buy or sell decision within the context of a strategy for managing an investment portfolio.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Campbell, Jason (Winter)
Prerequisites: CCFA527
Complementary Courses (3 credits)
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CCFA 536 Behavioural Finance and Wealth Planning (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : The standard economic paradigm - rational agents in an efficient market - does not adequately describe behaviour in financial markets. Students will survey emotional and cognitive biases, as well as the use of psychological criteria to guide alternative theories of financial markets. Introduces students to the management and planning of individual and family portfolios as well as tax considerations and tax efficiency strategies in portfolio management.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisites: CCFA 527
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CCFA 545 Advanced Fixed-Income and Equity Investments (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : Students learn to estimate the risks and expected returns for fixed-income and equity instruments, analyze the term structure of interest rates and yield spreads, and evaluate fixed-income instruments with embedded options and unique features; in addition, they will develop the ability to analyze and evaluate equity securities using appropriate valuation concepts and techniques.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisites: CCFA 529
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CCFA 547 Advanced Portfolio Management (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : A conceptual framework is presented for understanding asset allocation considerations and key implementation approaches, including an examination of the effects of investor constraints and adaptations to address them. Finally, elements of currency, fixed-income, and equity portfolio management are discussed at an advanced level.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisites: CCFA 527
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CCFA 548 Alternative Investments (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : This course explores non-traditional investment strategies currently used by investment managers to diversify their portfolio. This course covers: real estate, private equity/venture capital and valuation, investment entities, managed futures, timberland/farmland, intellectual property, distressed securities, bankruptcies, hedge fund strategies, and commodities.
Terms: Summer 2023
Instructors: Campbell, Jason (Summer)
Prerequisites: CCFA 505
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CCFA 595 Special Topics in Finance (3 credits)
Overview
CCFA : Advanced specialized course that exposes students to emerging and current trends in the finance area.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite: CCFA 520
School of Continuing Studies—2022-2023 (last updated Apr. 26, 2022) (disclaimer)
