Finance is a 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 (for example, 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. The discipline of finance focuses upon the financial management of these corporations and their financial and investment strategies in the international market, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The increasing expansion of insurance services and funds management are also studied.

Depending on the program of study selected, Finance provides training of 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 stockbroking firms, merchant 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.

The study of Finance at UNSW is primarily through the School of Banking and Finance. At the undergraduate level, a student may specialise in Finance, combine Finance with other disciplines in the Faculty of Business, or with Mathematics, Law, Arts, Science or Social Science and Engineering. An Honours year and opportunities for further postgraduate study are available.