Matthew Considine
Office
Hesselgrave 222
Email
mconsidine@middlebury.edu
Office Hours
Tues/Thurs 10:00-11:00am; Wed 8:00-9:00am (all via Zoom)

Matt Considine joined Middlebury College in Spring 2021 having been a Visiting Professor for the previous academic year at Champlain College.  In that capacity he taught “Investments,” “Advanced Investments,” “Introduction to Corporate Finance” and other finance classes. From 2011 to 2018 he was the Director of Investments for the State of Vermont, overseeing the administration of the investment portfolios underlying three State pension plans, deferred compensation plans and other asset pools. In that capacity he and his team worked with the State Treasurer, the Vermont Pension Investment Committee and others on the setting, implementation and evaluation of investment strategies.

Prior to his work in the public sector, he spent twenty years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager with firms such as BlackRock and Dupont Capital Management, managing mutual funds and other long-only and long-short strategies.  His formal education includes a BA with Honors in Mathematics-Economics from Wesleyan University and an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School.  A member of the Vermont CFA Society, he has held the CFA charter since 1993.  Among the non-profits he is involved with is Gifford Healthcare (for which he  currently serves as Vice-Chair), the Antique Telescope Society (for which he is Treasurer) and the Springfield Telescope Makers.  A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, he enjoys amateur astronomy, as well as hiking and cooking in his backyard wood-fired oven. 

Courses Taught

Course Description

Introduction to Business and Enterprise
This course provides students who have little to no background in business with a broad overview of business and enterprise in the economy. Students will learn about types of enterprises and a functional framework for understanding a business, including strategy, finance, production, and marketing. This framework will be used to analyze various businesses and non-profits, exploring the advantages and disadvantages of various structures. The course will give overviews of accounting and entrepreneurship, and explore policy and philosophical debates about the morality of for-profit business and the need for corporate responsibility. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Introduction to Finance
In this introductory survey course we will cover the role of finance in society, the basic workings of the financial system, how funds are allocated within the economy, and how institutions raise money. We will cover a range of topics, including: interest rates and the time value of money; uncertainty and the trade-off between risk and return; security market efficiency; stocks, bonds and optimal capital structure; financing decisions and capital budgeting; sovereign risk; foreign currencies; derivatives markets; and concerns about the role of finance in society. The course will include discussions of current news events in global markets. (INTD 0116 or INTD 0120 or by Instructor approval) 3 hrs. lect., 3 hr. lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024

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Course Description

Investment Management
In this course we will build on knowledge of accounting and finance and apply that knowledge to investment analysis, asset allocation, portfolio management, and capital markets and risk analysis. Designed to provide the basic concepts and principles of investing, the course examines investment theory and practice for investing a portfolio and evaluating its performance. We will discuss both traditional and alternative investments. Topics include securities markets, risk and return, capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and diversification, portfolio theory, private equity, valuation of equity, valuation of fixed-income securities, options and futures markets. Recommended prior courses would be: Math 0116, INTD 0116 or INTD 0217. Students who have not taken INTD 0116 or INTD 0217 are invited to contact the professor to discuss and review their basic proficiency in Accounting and Finance. 3 hrs. lect., 3 hrs lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2022, Fall 2023

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Course Description

Capital Markets
This course surveys and analyzes the instruments traded in modern asset markets, the mechanisms that facilitate their trading and issuance, as well as, the motivations of issuers and investors across different asset classes. The course will balance functional and institutional perspectives by highlighting the problems market participants are seeking to solve, as well as the existing asset markets that have arisen to accomplish these goals. We will consider the nature of structure of asset markets, and the design, issuance, and pricing of financial instruments, focusing on how arbitrage strategies keep their prices in-line with one another. (INTD 0116 or INTD 0217 or by instructor approval) 3 hrs. lect., 3 hrs. lab

Terms Taught

Spring 2023

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Course Description

Independent Study
Approval Required

Terms Taught

Winter 2024, Winter 2025

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Course Description

Big Data and Finance
In this course we will explore the analysis and use of financial and economic datasets using a statistical framework such as R or SPSS. Large volumes of data – either time series or from surveys – are increasingly found in many aspects of a business enterprise. Effectively acquiring, cleaning, analyzing and interpreting such data is essential for the success of an enterprise and the stakeholders involved in its management.

Terms Taught

Winter 2022

Requirements

DED, WTR

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