Head of School: Associate Professor Jerry Parwada

School Manager: Ms Shirley Webster

Finance is the study of financial and capital markets. It is concerned with decision making within those markets, and how values or prices of financial assets are determined. Finance is also concerned with investment decisions (e.g. selection among alternative projects, selection of securities to include in a portfolio), financing decisions of a firm (dividend policy, debt and equity structures, and lease purchase decisions), and the development of risk-hedging strategies so as to minimise the damaging effects of adverse movements in share prices, interest rates, exchange rates, and other uncertainties in domestic and international financial markets.

Global financial market integration has led to the emergence of multinational corporations. Financial management of multinational corporations and the study of these corporations' financial and investment strategies in the international market, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, are also a focus of the program in finance. Furthermore, the increasing expansion of insurance services and funds management in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region are other important issues in finance.

The growth of interest in the financial sector has been accredited to greater public awareness of the financial market as an investment opportunity. The public at large have taken to purchasing stocks and bonds as a means of securing higher returns, and with it a greater degree of consumer awareness towards financial matters has developed. One major growth area in the world of finance is the advent and expansion of funds management. Funds managers pool investor money together to form specific portfolios to suit different investor needs. For example, some investors prefer high capital gains over short time horizons, whilst others prefer not to take as much risk and hope for a steady stream of income over a longer period of time. Funds managers must understand the needs of the customer, design portfolios consisting of different assets to suit those needs, and ensure the returns from the funds are what is expected of them. Courses offered in the School of Banking and Finance provide the basis for graduates to enter this growing and complex market, with the necessary skills and knowledge to advance rapidly within the industry.

Depending on the program selected, finance provides training for a wide range of vocations including: multinational financial managers; multinational bank and insurance managers; multinational funds managers; venture capital and private equity specialists; corporate financial managers or treasurers; portfolio managers for trust funds; superannuation funds and insurance companies; investment analysts and financial researchers in stock broking firms; investment banks; trading banks and government departments; management consultants and takeover specialists in corporate advisory divisions of merchant banks; public accounting firms; and management consulting firms.

A student may specialise in finance or combine finance with other disciplines of the faculty, or combine finance with mathematics or law.

Co-op Scholarships
The Co-op Program offers four-year scholarship programs in Finance Honours. The Finance Honours program includes a total of fifteen months industrial training. Entry is gained through the Co-op selection process.
For further details on Co-op scholarships, see your high school careers advisor or contact the UNSW Co-op Program Office, telephone (02) 9385 5116, website: www. coop.unsw.edu.au.

3rd Floor, West Wing, UNSW Business School Building (Map E12)
(+61 2) 9385 5867