Finance

Studying Finance at Waikato University will prepare you for highly paid positions in the financial and business sectors anywhere in the world.

Finance at Waikato is focused on money management, investments, banking and credit, the share, bond and commodity markets, and financial analysis and decision making. You'll learn about corporate finance, portfolio selection, capital markets, personal financial planning, and the governance of public and private organisations.

Practical assignments will prepare you for exactly what you'll encounter in your financial career. For example, students get to work on a funds simulation project using real data, and prepare a report on a publicly listed New Zealand or Australian company, while playing the role of a trainee investment analyst.

At the Hamilton campus, our students also have access to a brand-new Finance Trading Room. This high-tech simulation room displays real-time trading prices for global and NZX financial markets, so that students can experience the thrill of buying and selling shares/bonds/commodities, and compete to build the most valuable portfolios.

You also have the opportunity to do a practical workplace internship or applied research project as part of your degree.

If you enjoy mathematics, accounting, economics, and using analytical tools to find the meaning behind numbers, than finance may be the right fit for you.

Internationally recognised

You'll study at our internationally recognised Waikato Management School, which is in the top 1% of business schools globally thanks to our prestigious Triple Crown Accreditation from AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA.

Waikato is one of New Zealand's leading business schools, consistently ranked 1st or 2nd in New Zealand for Business and Economics in the Times Higher Education World University Subject Rankings since 2022.

Qualifications

If you wish to take Finance as your 1st Major subject, you'll need to enrol for either the Bachelor of Business.

Alternatively, check out our new specialist degree, the Bachelor of Banking, Finance and Technology (BBFinTech).

Otherwise you can take Finance as a 2nd Major (8 papers) or Minor subject (4 papers) for any other bachelor's degree offered at the University of Waikato.

If you'd like to gain specialist expertise in finance by completing postgraduate papers, take a look at our Master of Management Studies in Finance.

We also offer a 12-month, highly practical Master of Applied Finance, which is ideal for students who have never majored in finance before.