Future Students

Finance

There are three majors in Finance - Finance (Corporate), Finance (Investment), Finance (Quantitative).  These majors can be studied in the Bachelor of Commerce and associated combined degrees and also as a second major in the Bachelor of Economics.

Finance (Corporate)
The Corporate Finance major builds the basic foundations of finance from the perspective of a company.  For instance, the key decisions that a chief financial officer has to make include the appropriate mix of equity and debt to finance a firm's projects, identifying the optimal dividend payout policy, and choosing amongst various business projects. The corporate finance provides an analytical framework for identifying and evaluating the requisite information to make optimal decisions.

Level 1 core units
ACCT1101 Financial Accounting
ECON1101 Microeconomics: Prices & Markets
STAT1520 Economic & Business Statistics

Level 2 and 3 Core Units

Level 2 and 3 Option Units

Finance (Investment)
The Investment Finance major is designed to develop the skills and competencies essential for making informed choices in building an investment portfolio.  Modern portfolio theory, centred on efficient markets theory, is the core analytical framework taught in Investments.  In the wake of the global financial crisis, a lively debate on the efficacy of this framework has emerged. This major provides students with the critical thinking ability to evaluate the issues raised in this debate and decide for themselves the validity of the points raised.  The course develops skills in portfolio allocation, investment appraisal and the use of financial instruments such as options and futures.  Strategies for hedging and capital management are also explained. 

Level 1 core units
ACCT1101 Financial Accounting
ECON1101 Microeconomics: Prices & Markets
STAT1520 Economic & Business Statistics

Level 2 and 3 Core Units

Level 2 and 3 Option Units

Finance (Quantitative)
The major in Quantitative Finance provides graduates with skills at the cutting edge of financial engineering.  The major develops a deep understanding of the design of modern financial instruments such as options and other derivative securities, and their basis in stochastic models of financial markets.  This major includes much of the material from the corporate/investment finance majors together with a minor in mathematics.  It is targeted at students with a strong mathematical background because of its focus on probability and statistical models and their application in financial markets.

Level 1 Core Units
ACCT1101 Financial Accounting
ECON1101 Microeconomics: Prices & Markets

Level  1 Option Units
A pair of maths units chosen from a list

Level 2 and 3 Core Units

Level 2 and 3 Option Units

Career opportunities

Finance (Corporate)
Graduates are likely to find employment in banks, corporations and financial institutions as financial consultants, merchant bankers, credit managers, financial analysts and fund managers, and in businesses as financial consultants, advisers and managers.

Finance (Investment)
Students graduating with this major can expect to find employment in banks, large financial institutions and in stockbroking as fund managers, risk analysts, strategic investment advisers, financial consultants and credit managers.  With the recent growth in superannuation funds, there is a high demand for graduates with investment analysis skills.

Finance (Quantitative)
Graduates with a Finance (Quantitative) major are expected to establish careers as specialist risk managers, investment analysts, strategic advisers, developers, appliers and evaluators of complex financial instruments (financial engineers), specialists in options, futures and other derivative securities, and reserarchers specialising in financial markets.