COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Finance

Real-world investment experience

Finance is about more than just the numbers. It’s about finding, following, managing and making money within corporate, investment, banking, insurance, and real estate environments.

As a Louisiana Tech finance major, you’ll get hands-on experience in research, pricing, and investing through career-building internships, simulated training, and managing real-world portfolios. Plus, you’ll enjoy access to Ray’s Financial Trading Room (a state-of-the-art real-world trading environment) and our Student Managed Investment Fund (a $1 million long-term investment portfolio finance students manage). Our robust curriculum, combined with our CFA® University Affiliation, fully prepares you to lead the future of investment management in the high-tech international marketplace.

 

My favorite part of being a finance major was being able to take the Student Managed Investment Fund class with Dr. Bill McCumber, who has real-world experience and is eager to pass on his knowledge to his students so that they can become successful. The class gave us a chance to experience real-world work and to learn from mistakes and successes in our decision making before we entered our professional careers. All of my finance professors have impacted me in the classroom with their ability to teach beyond the textbook. They genuinely care about the students and their success.

Matthew Barker, '18

Credit Analyst, Texas Capital Bank

Curriculum

Ready to learn more about our finance program? Explore our finance major requirements.

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Students also have the opportunity to study and prepare for the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam developed by FINRA, the oversight authority for U.S. broker dealers. This is the first official licensure for the securities industry and provides students with a professional credential. 

Minors

To view the minors available to College of Business students, please visit our Minors page. To learn more about the finance minor, click below.

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Ray’s Financial Trading Room

Ray’s Financial Trading Room replicates a real-world trading environment and functions as both a classroom and a laboratory. Students have exclusive access to the same tools and software that are used on Wall Street. The room is equipped with a ticker board which displays market data for a variety of stocks, indices, bonds, currencies and commodities. The applicable technology, devices and software allow students to be locked into real life simulations—making trades and performing research in real-time on companies and markets from around the world. The “bench layout” design of the room also mimics that of an actual Wall Street trading desk and can be rearranged to allow for a collaborative seating environment to foster face to face interaction between students and faculty.

Student Managed Investment Fund

The Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) is driven by College of Business undergraduate finance students who are responsible for all investment research, portfolio positions and reporting. The $1 million fund provides real-world experience in managing a long-term investment portfolio with an annual growth objective relative to appropriate benchmarks. It is overseen by an advisory board and presented annually to the full board. The SMIF provides the College of Business with funds for technology upgrades, student travel and other program enhancements—such as the RISE Global Student Investment Strategy Symposium, where students may participate in the portfolio competition and hear presentations from nationally renowned industry leaders. 

 

 

 

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