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PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE IN

Strategic Financial Management

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Adapting to the Contemporary Business World

As the business world evolves, professionals in finance roles need to continuously reskill and upskill to stay on top of the latest industry tools, trends, and terminology.

Certificate Overview:
Professional Certificate in Strategic Financial Management

Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (commonly known as VUCA) are some of the main factors impacting the business world today. Professionals should equip themselves with the tools they need to make impactful financial decisions in the 21st-century VUCA environment.

Are You Looking to Boost Your Career in the Modern Financial Industry?

If you are a professional in a finance role—financial analyst, financial advisor, consultant in the financial industry, investment fund manager, portfolio manager, venture capital and private equity manager, or capital market professional—you will benefit from this certificate program. Decision-makers such as chief financial officers, financial controllers, risk managers, business development managers, as well as fintech-dedicated professionals and entrepreneurs will also gain valuable insights from the program.

A man and a woman discussing a chart

About the Certificate Program:

Leveraging the University of Chicago’s excellence in analytics, behavioral economics, and finance, our ten-month Financial Management is designed to provide you with solid theoretical knowledge of cutting-edge financial topics and practical applications to solve real-world business challenges.

This certificate includes the following courses:

psychology of finance

The Psychology of Finance

Psychology influences investors' and financial analysts' behavior and impacts market outcomes. Understand the thinking behind money management and financial trading.

corporate financial strategy

Corporate Financial Strategy

Understand the decision-making process for raising and allocating capital, establishing account management, and identifying key concepts in capital budgeting.

decision making

Decision-Making and Risk Management

How can we ensure a better, more logical approach to decision-making without complicating matters further? The answer: risk management.

fintech

Fintech

Discover the impact of fintech from multiple perspectives—investor, corporate, and consumer—and learn about the regulation behind it.

data drive financial

Machine Learning for Finance

Collect, organize, and use data to perform advanced financial analysis with algorithms and statistical techniques and tools.

After Completing the Program You Will Be Able To:

  1. Share solid theoretical knowledge of critical finance-related topics
  2. Provide a practical application of this knowledge in your work environment
  3. Foster other soft skills like collaborative teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, communication abilities, time management, multicultural awareness, remote working techniques, and development and management of international networking 

Meet Your Instructors

Borislava Karageorgieva, CFA, MBA, PAHM
Borislava Karageorgieva, CFA, MBA, PAHMCorporate Financial Strategy and Decision-Making and Risk Management
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Borislava Karageorgieva is a corporate finance expert in the area of evaluation of strategic and investment decisions. Karageorgieva has international experience in both the public and private sectors, as well as the financial services, healthcare management, and beverage industries. Her areas of professional focus include regulatory analysis and financial compliance, mergers and acquisitions, angel investing and entrepreneurship, and board governance. Karageorgieva is the co-founder of a startup company in the beverage industry with clients including Kroger in Chicago. Karageorgieva received an MBA from Chicago Booth and is a CFA charter holder.

George Dan, MBA
George Dan, MBACo-founder and COO of User Nudge, Inc. The Psychology of Finance
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Chief Behavioral Officer and Co-Founder at User Nudge, Inc., a startup that applies behavioral science and data science to solve business problems in interface design and product operations.

 Lara Kattan, MPP
Lara Kattan, MPPMachine Learning for Finance
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Lara Kattan is a data science educator and curriculum writer. She is currently developing curriculum for institutions such as the University of Chicago and data science learning startups. Prior to embarking on a career in curriculum development, she was a consultant in risk practice at McKinsey & Co. She has an MA in public policy with a concentration in econometrics from the University of Chicago and a BA in economics and political science from Northwestern. Kattan is a lifelong learner and is pursuing an MA in computer science and another in mathematics from DePaul University.

Sebastien Donadio, PhD
Sebastien Donadio, PhDDevOps and Fintech
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Sebastien Donadio has been working in the FinTech industry for the last decade. He has a wide range of professional experience including serving as Chief Technology Officer at Tradair, where he lead the technology team, as the head of software engineering at HC Technologies, developing quantitative trading software for Sun Trading, acting as Partner at Aientech, a high-frequency trading hedge fund, and working as a technological leader in creating operating systems for the Department of Defense. He also has research experience with Bull, and as IT Credit Risk Manager for Société Générale while in France. Donadio has taught various computer science courses over the past fifteen years at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and New York University. Among these courses are the following: Advanced Financial Computing, Advanced Programming, Computer Architecture, Machine Learning, Operating Systems, Parallel Architecture, and Real-Time Smart Systems.

Career Outlook

As a vital activity for business survival and growth, financial management offers a wide range of prominent job prospects and career paths. Roles in corporate financing hold five of the top ten positions in US News and World Report’s Best Business Jobs for 2021 ranking. As for data-based financial analysis, the increasing demand for advanced functions has led this market to be currently valued at 6.32 billion dollars. The practice of behavioral finance is also growing rapidly, as more financial advisors use techniques in this field to build their clients’ portfolios. Risk management operations follow the same trend, with its market growing at a rate of 18.7%.

$

72

k

Is the average annual base pay for a financial analyst in the United States

81

%

Is the percentage of financial advisors that are using behavioral finance techniques

476,200

Is the number of new jobs that will be created in business and financial operations between 2019-2029

Potential Job Titles for Marketing Professionals
  • Accountant
  • Behavioral Scientist
  • Business Development Manager
  • Business Owner
  • Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
  • Chief Risk Officer
  • Entrepreneur
  • Finance Director
  • Finance Manager
  • Financial Analyst
  • Financial Controller
  • Fintech Specialist
  • Investment Banker
  • Investor Relations Manager
  • Model Risk Specialist
  • Real Estate Manager
  • Risk Manager
  • Treasurer

Admissions Process

1

Candidacy Fee:

Pay the candidacy fee (non-refundable) and fill out the application form.

2

Interview

Receive a call for an interview with our admissions team.​

3

Results

Our Admission Committee will inform you of the final decision*.

*(2 business days max)

The University of Chicago Approach to Online Learning-img-CEU

The University of Chicago Approach to Online Learning

Our online learning programs are crafted with your specific needs in mind.

Certificate programs combine e-learning with live, interactive sessions to strengthen your skill set while maximizing your time. We couple academic theory and business knowledge with practical real-world application.

Through online learning sessions, you will have an opportunity to grow your professional network and interact with University of Chicago instructors and your classmates.

Why the University of Chicago?

Becoming a member of the University of Chicago community means gaining access to world-class instructors and a cohort of curious, diverse individuals.

Through a firm grounding in core principles and a rigorous approach to problem-solving, our teaching method—the Chicago Approach—will give you the tools you need to make sense of complex data and turn ideas into impact.

Certificate participants will receive a certificate of completion.

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