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Practice Discipline

Finance

Also Known As Business Finance

The practice discipline concerned with the management, movement and raising of money, encompassing capital budgeting, dividend policy and capital structure decisions that managers make to build firm value for shareholders. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Disputed
Discipline Scope
Capital budgeting, dividend policy and capital structure, overlapping with investment banking and securities trading where firms raise capital through bonds and equity. 1
Where finance ends and adjacent practices begin is contested: capital budgeting and capital structure are core, but investment banking and securities trading are sometimes treated as finance's own territory and sometimes as separate practices finance merely overlaps.
Discipline Scope
Based on the scope of financial activities, the discipline can be divided into the three primary branches personal, corporate, and public finance. 1
Discipline Scope
The first stock exchange was opened in Antwerp in 1531. 1
FAQs

What are the three main branches of finance?

Personal finance, corporate finance and public finance.

Finance is usually divided into personal finance (budgeting, insurance, education, retirement planning), corporate finance (capital structure, dividend policy, capital budgeting decisions) and public finance (government spending, revenue sources and sovereign debt).
Connections

Associated With

The Mittal Steel 2006 acquisition of Arcelor, forming ArcelorMittal after a contested hostile bid, is a finance-practice case study in cross-border hostile-takeover financing.

Source Wikipedia, ArcelorMittal

The 1901 financing and assembly of United States Steel from Carnegie Steel and other producers by J.P. Morgan, forming the first billion-dollar corporation, is a foundational finance-practice case study in large-scale merger financing.

Source Wikipedia, United States Steel
FTX Collapse, Corporate Events

FTX's collapse in November 2022, following revelations that customer funds had been misused, became one of the largest financial frauds in cryptocurrency history and led to its founder's criminal conviction.

Source Wikipedia, Bankruptcy of FTX

The General Motors 2009 Chapter 11 filing, the largest industrial bankruptcy in United States history at the time, is a finance-practice case study in government-backed restructuring and debtor-in-possession financing.

Source Wikipedia, General Motors Chapter 11 Reorganization

Google went public on August 19, 2004 through an unconventional Dutch auction initial public offering.

Source Wikipedia, Google
Insurance Industry, Industries

Insurance is a major finance-practice domain concerned with risk pricing, underwriting and capital reserves.

Source Wikipedia, Insurance

Investment banking is a core specialization within finance practice, covering underwriting, mergers advisory and capital raising.

Morgan dominated corporate and investment finance during the Gilded Age.

Source Wikipedia, J.P. Morgan

One of the largest investment banks and financial services firms in the world, central to modern finance practice in banking, asset management and capital markets.

Klarna, Products and Services

Klarna is a buy-now-pay-later fintech service, a consumer-credit innovation studied within finance practice.

Kraft Heinz Merger, Corporate Events

The 2015 merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz, engineered with private equity financing, is a finance-practice case study in leveraged consumer-goods merger structuring.

Source Wikipedia, Kraft Heinz
Mastercard, Products and Services

Mastercard is a global payment-card network central to consumer and commercial finance practice in electronic payments.

The Microsoft 2016 all-cash acquisition of LinkedIn for roughly 26 billion dollars is a finance-practice case study in large-scale cash-financed technology acquisition.

Source Wikipedia, LinkedIn
Morgan Stanley, Companies and Brands

A leading global investment bank and wealth management firm central to capital-markets and financial-advisory practice.

The Netscape August 1995 initial public offering, whose first-day share price surge is widely credited with igniting the dot-com era, is a finance-practice case study in speculative IPO pricing.

Source Wikipedia, Netscape

The Procter and Gamble 2005 stock-for-stock acquisition of Gillette, then one of the largest consumer-goods mergers in history, is a finance-practice case study in all-stock deal structuring.

Source Wikipedia, Procter & Gamble Acquisition of Gillette
Roth IRA, Products and Services

A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account funded with after-tax contributions, a standard personal-finance and retirement-planning vehicle within finance practice.

Bankman-Fried founded and ran the FTX cryptocurrency exchange before its collapse amid allegations of misappropriated customer funds, making his case a standard reference in finance practice on custody of client assets.

Source Sam Bankman-Fried - Wikipedia

The Saudi Aramco December 2019 initial public offering, the largest in history at over 25 billion dollars raised, is a finance-practice case study in state-owned enterprise privatization and valuation.

Source Wikipedia, Saudi Aramco IPO

The Sears Holdings 2018 bankruptcy filing, after years of declining sales and debt taken on in its 2005 merger with Kmart, is a finance-practice case study in retail debt restructuring.

Source Wikipedia, Sears Holdings

Silicon Valley Bank's failure in March 2023, the second largest bank failure in United States history at the time, triggered emergency federal action to guarantee depositors and renewed scrutiny of bank interest rate risk management.

Source Wikipedia, Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

SPDR Gold Shares is an exchange-traded fund holding physical gold, a standard commodity-investment vehicle studied within finance practice.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is one of the largest and oldest exchange-traded index funds, a foundational passive-investing vehicle within finance practice.

The Tata Motors 2008 acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover from Ford, financed through a mix of debt and equity during a global credit crunch, is a finance-practice case study in cross-border acquisition financing.

Source Wikipedia, Tata Motors Acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover

The Toys R Us 2017 bankruptcy, driven by debt from its 2005 leveraged buyout, is a finance-practice case study in private equity debt load and retail insolvency.

Source Wikipedia, Toys R Us Bankruptcy

The Twitter November 2013 initial public offering, priced at 26 dollars a share and nearly doubling on its first day of trading, is a finance-practice case study in IPO pricing and first-day pop.

Source Wikipedia, Twitter, Inc.

The Uber May 2019 initial public offering, one of the largest technology IPOs in history despite trading below its offer price on debut, is a finance-practice case study in pre-IPO private valuation against public market pricing.

Source Wikipedia, Uber

A pioneer of low-cost index investing, central to modern personal and institutional finance practice in asset management.

Venmo, Products and Services

Venmo is a peer-to-peer payment app widely used for consumer money transfers, part of the fintech expansion of finance practice.

Visa, Products and Services

Visa is a global payment-card network central to consumer and commercial finance practice in electronic payments.

The Visa March 2008 initial public offering, the largest IPO in United States history at the time, is a finance-practice case study in payment-network valuation and capital raising.

Source Wikipedia, Visa Inc.

The Vodafone 2000 hostile takeover of Mannesmann, the largest corporate acquisition in history at the time, is a finance-practice case study in hostile-bid financing and valuation.

Source Wikipedia, Vodafone Takeover of Mannesmann

Buffett's value-investing career, built on capital-allocation theory, is finance practice's most cited real-world case in long-horizon investment decisions.

Source Wikipedia, Warren Buffett

Showing 51 to 100 of 104 in Associated With, page 2 of 3.

Topic Addressed By

Sources
1. Wikipedia, Finance
Wikipedia
  • lead section, opening definition
    Finance refers to the management, movement, and raising of money, with the related concepts of business finance, investments, and financial markets and institutions.
  • lead section, branches
    Based on the scope of financial activities, the discipline can be divided into the three primary branches personal, corporate, and public finance.
  • History of finance section
    The first stock exchange was opened in Antwerp in 1531.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Efficient-Market Hypothesis
Wikipedia
  • Theoretical background section
    If the price of the stock does not already reflect that information, then investors can trade on it, thereby moving the price until the information is no longer useful for trading.
  • Behavioral psychology section
    Behavioral economists attribute the imperfections in financial markets to a combination of cognitive biases such as overconfidence, overreaction, representative bias.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
WikipediaAssociated With: Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Lead section
Quote, Associated With: Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Lead section
These discussions failed, and Lehman filed a Chapter 11 petition that remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, involving more than US$600 billion in assets.
View the Source
Wikipedia, J.P. Morgan
WikipediaAssociated With: J.P. Morgan, lead section
Quote, Associated With: J.P. Morgan, lead section
he was the driving force behind a wave of industrial consolidations in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Warren Buffett
WikipediaAssociated With: Warren Buffett, Lead section
Quote, Associated With: Warren Buffett, Lead section
Warren Edward Buffett ( BUFF-it; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who is the chairman emeritus and former CEO of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Ford Motor Company
WikipediaAssociated With: Ford Motor Company IPO, introduction
Quote, Associated With: Ford Motor Company IPO, introduction
The company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, retain 40 percent of the voting rights.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Financial Services
WikipediaAssociated With: Financial Services Industry, lead section, opening definition
Quote, Associated With: Financial Services Industry, lead section, opening definition
Financial services are economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Balanced Scorecard
WikipediaAssociated With: Balanced Scorecard, Characteristics section
Quote, Associated With: Balanced Scorecard, Characteristics section
The characteristic feature of the balanced scorecard and its derivatives is the presentation of a mixture of financial and non-financial measures each compared to a 'target' value within a single concise report.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Bear Stearns
WikipediaAssociated With: Bear Stearns CollapseView the Source
Wikipedia, Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
WikipediaAssociated With: Silicon Valley Bank CollapseView the Source
Wikipedia, Washington Mutual
WikipediaAssociated With: Washington Mutual Bank FailureView the Source
Wikipedia, Bankruptcy of FTX
WikipediaAssociated With: FTX CollapseView the Source
Wikipedia, Libor Scandal
WikipediaAssociated With: Deutsche Bank Libor Manipulation ScandalView the Source
Wikipedia, Madoff Investment Scandal
WikipediaAssociated With: Bernie Madoff Ponzi SchemeView the Source
Wikipedia, Apple Inc.
WikipediaAssociated With: Apple Inc. Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, History of Amazon
WikipediaAssociated With: Amazon Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, Google
WikipediaAssociated With: Google Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, AOL Time Warner
WikipediaAssociated With: AOL Time Warner MergerView the Source
Wikipedia, ExxonMobil
WikipediaAssociated With: Exxon-Mobil MergerView the Source
Wikipedia, General Motors Chapter 11 Reorganization
WikipediaAssociated With: General Motors Chapter 11 BankruptcyView the Source
Wikipedia, Eastman Kodak Bankruptcy
WikipediaAssociated With: Eastman Kodak BankruptcyView the Source
Wikipedia, Sears Holdings
WikipediaAssociated With: Sears Holdings BankruptcyView the Source
Wikipedia, Blockbuster LLC
WikipediaAssociated With: Blockbuster BankruptcyView the Source
Wikipedia, Chrysler
WikipediaAssociated With: Chrysler BankruptcyView the Source
Wikipedia, Circuit City
WikipediaAssociated With: Circuit City BankruptcyView the Source
Wikipedia, Toys R Us Bankruptcy
WikipediaAssociated With: Toys R Us BankruptcyView the Source
Wikipedia, Alibaba Group IPO
WikipediaAssociated With: Alibaba Group Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, Facebook Initial Public Offering
WikipediaAssociated With: Facebook Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, Saudi Aramco IPO
WikipediaAssociated With: Saudi Aramco Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, Twitter, Inc.
WikipediaAssociated With: Twitter Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, Uber
WikipediaAssociated With: Uber Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, Visa Inc.
WikipediaAssociated With: Visa Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, Netscape
WikipediaAssociated With: Netscape Initial Public OfferingView the Source
Wikipedia, DaimlerChrysler
WikipediaAssociated With: DaimlerChrysler MergerView the Source
Wikipedia, AT&T Inc. Acquisition of Time Warner
WikipediaAssociated With: AT&T-Time Warner Merger, Lead section
Quote, Associated With: AT&T-Time Warner Merger, Lead section
AT&T first announced its cash-and-stock acquisition of Time Warner on October 22, 2016.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Bayer Acquisition of Monsanto
WikipediaAssociated With: Bayer-Monsanto AcquisitionView the Source
Wikipedia, Procter & Gamble Acquisition of Gillette
WikipediaAssociated With: Procter & Gamble-Gillette MergerView the Source
Wikipedia, Tata Motors Acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover
WikipediaAssociated With: Tata Motors-Jaguar Land Rover AcquisitionView the Source
Wikipedia, Vodafone Takeover of Mannesmann
WikipediaAssociated With: Vodafone-Mannesmann TakeoverView the Source
Wikipedia, ArcelorMittal
WikipediaAssociated With: Formation of ArcelorMittalView the Source
Wikipedia, United States Steel
WikipediaAssociated With: Formation of U.S. SteelView the Source
Wikipedia, Kraft Heinz
WikipediaAssociated With: Kraft Heinz MergerView the Source
Wikipedia, AB InBev Acquisition of SABMiller
WikipediaAssociated With: Anheuser-Busch InBev-SABMiller MergerView the Source
Wikipedia, Pixar
WikipediaAssociated With: Disney-Pixar AcquisitionView the Source
Wikipedia, Whole Foods Market
WikipediaAssociated With: Amazon-Whole Foods AcquisitionView the Source
Wikipedia, WhatsApp
WikipediaAssociated With: Facebook-WhatsApp AcquisitionView the Source
Wikipedia, LinkedIn
WikipediaAssociated With: Microsoft-LinkedIn AcquisitionView the Source
Wikipedia, Insurance
WikipediaAssociated With: Insurance IndustryView the Source
Wikipedia, Wells Fargo Cross-Selling Scandal
WikipediaAssociated With: Wells Fargo Fake Accounts ScandalView the Source
Bernie Madoff - Wikipedia
Associated With: Bernie Madoff, lead section
Quote, Associated With: Bernie Madoff, lead section
was an American financier, con artist, and stock broker who was the admitted mastermind of the largest-known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion.
View the Source
Sam Bankman-Fried - Wikipedia
Associated With: Sam Bankman-Fried, lead section
Quote, Associated With: Sam Bankman-Fried, lead section
is an American entrepreneur convicted of fraud. Bankman-Fried founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and was celebrated as a "poster boy" for crypto, with FTX having a global reach with more than 130 international affiliates.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Benjamin Graham
Associated With: Benjamin GrahamView the Source
Dissenting Readings (2 dissenting readings)
Discipline Scope

Financial markets are not fully informationally efficient. Systematic cognitive biases such as overconfidence, overreaction and representativeness bias cause persistent mispricing that the efficient-market hypothesis cannot explain.

A dissenting reading, from Behavioral economists (Kahneman, Tversky, Thaler)Wikipedia, Efficient-Market Hypothesis, Wikipedia
Discipline Scope

Where finance ends and adjacent practices begin is not settled among scholars. Capital budgeting, dividend policy and capital structure are treated as core by every account, but investment banking and securities trading are sometimes described as finance's own territory and sometimes as related but distinct practices finance merely intersects, with no single boundary drawn as authoritative.

A dissenting reading, from an independent laneWikipedia, Finance, Wikipedia

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