The Finance major builds on the foundations of finance from the perspective of a functioning organisation. The major includes corporate finance issues such as the appropriate mix of equity and debt to finance projects, identifying the optimal dividend policy, and the resourceful selection of business projects. You can also learn aspects of investment finance including risk and return trade-offs, workings of the capital markets, investment products and investment portfolios, and appropriate risk management techniques. The Finance major can be combined with a major in Economics if you are interested in pursuing a career as a financial economist.

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) understand and explain the basis for optimal portfolio construction; (2) apply modern investment theory to the evaluation of projects; (3) appreciate the value and limitations of financial instruments such as options and futures; (4) identify and use appropriate risk management techniques; and (5) engage in critical debate on contentious issues in finance such as the validity of the efficient markets hypothesis and the role of corporate governance.

Degree-specific major

Finance can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

BP002 Bachelor of Commerce
BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)

Overview of unit sequence

Finance is a degree-specific single major comprising:

  • two Level 1 units
  • three Level 2 units
  • three Level 3 units
  • four Level 3 complementary units
Key to availability of units:
S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2; SS = summer teaching period; N/A = not available in 2020

Note:%before_text% Units that are indicated as N/A may be available in 2021 or 2022.

Bachelor of Commerce students completing a second major in Engineering Science are not required to complete STAT1520 (as MATH1011 and MATH1022 meet this requirement). In addition, students should substitute CITS2401 Computer Analysis and Visualisation as the Level 2 option to meet the requirements of the commerce major.

Level 1

Degree-specific major units
Take all units (12 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2, SS ACCT1101 Financial Accounting
Incompatibility:
ACCT5432 Introductory Financial Accounting
S1, S2, SS FINA1221 Introduction to Finance
Incompatibility:
FINA2221 Introduction to Finance
Complementary units
Take all complementary units (24 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 ECON1101 Microeconomics: Prices and Markets
S1, S2 MGMT1135 Organisational Behaviour
Incompatibility:
MGMT2235 Organisational Behaviour
S1, S2, SS MKTG1203 Introduction to Marketing
Incompatibility:
MKTG2203 Marketing Management
S1, S2 STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics
Prerequisites:
Mathematics Methods ATAR or WACE Mathematics 3A/3B or MATH1720 Mathematics Fundamentals or ECON1111 Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics or MATH0038 Mathematical Analysis or equivalent or higher

Level 2

Degree-specific major units
Take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 FINA2222 Corporate Financial Policy
Prerequisites:
FINA1221 Introduction to Finance; or FINA2221 Introduction to Finance
Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 FINA2204 Derivative Products and Markets
Prerequisites:
STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics (or equivalent); and FINA1221/2221 Introduction to Finance
S1 FINA2205 Quantitative Methods for Finance
Prerequisites:
STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics (or equivalent) and FINA1221 Introduction to Finance (or equivalent); for pre-2012 courses: STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics (or equivalent) and six points of calculus
S1 FINA2207 Business Analysis and Valuation
Prerequisites:
FINA1221 Introduction to Finance; or FINA2221 Introduction to Finance
Incompatibility:
ACCT3302 Financial Statement Analysis
S1 FINA2209 Financial Planning
Prerequisites:
FINA1221 Introduction to Finance; or FINA2221 Introduction to Finance

Level 3

Degree-specific major units
Take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 FINA3324 Investment Analysis
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 Finance unit; for pre-2012 courses: FINA2221 Introduction to Finance
Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 ECON3236 International Finance
Prerequisites:
ECON2234 Macroeconomics: Policy and Applications or any Level 2 Finance unit; for pre-2012 courses: none
Incompatibility:
ECON2236 International Finance
S1 FINA3304 Banking: Theory and Practice
Prerequisites:
FINA2222 Corporate Financial Policy or equivalent; for pre-2012 courses: ACCT1101 Financial Accounting or equivalent
N/A FINA3306 Derivative Strategies and Pricing
Prerequisites:
FINA2204 Derivative Products and Markets and FINA2205 Quantitative Methods for Finance
S2 FINA3307 Trading in Securities Markets
Prerequisites:
FINA3324 Investment Analysis
S2 FINA3326 Applied Financial Management
Prerequisites:
FINA2222 Corporate Financial Policy

Choosing your degree-specific major

You must satisfy the requirements of a degree-specific major before you complete your course. The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you to try out a number of different subjects to see what interests you before nominating your degree-specific major. You have the choice to either nominate your degree-specific major when you first enrol in the course or delay nominating it until your second year.

To plan the first year of your study without nominating a degree-specific major, you are advised to choose units that will pave the way to two or more degree-specific majors that are of interest to you. For examples of the choice of units available in first year, search the first-year study plans .

To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.

The following example illustrates how the Finance degree-specific major can be included in the Bachelor of Commerce course.

Example: Course Study Plan: CSP002-FINCE

There are more choices open to you. For more examples, search the study plans .

%engineeringsciencenote_2%

Choosing a second major

You also have the option to choose a second major from those available in the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Design Only available to re-enrolling students. or Bachelor of Science course, giving you the opportunity to pursue your interests no matter how different they are.

The following example illustrates how the Finance degree-specific major can be combined with a second major in the Bachelor of Commerce course.

Example: Course Study Plan: CSP002-FINCE-Generic

For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .

Finance can also be taken as a second major.

Second major

Finance can be taken as a second major in the following degree courses:

Overview of unit sequence

The Finance second major is a single major comprising:

  • two Level 1 units
  • three Level 2 units
  • three Level 3 units
Key to availability of units:
S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2; SS = summer teaching period; N/A = not available in 2020

Note:%before_text% Units that are indicated as N/A may be available in 2021 or 2022.

Bachelor of Commerce students completing a second major in Engineering Science are not required to complete STAT1520 (as MATH1011 and MATH1022 meet this requirement). In addition, students should substitute CITS2401 Computer Analysis and Visualisation as the Level 2 option to meet the requirements of the commerce major.

Level 1

Second major units
Take all units (12 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2, SS ACCT1101 Financial Accounting
Incompatibility:
ACCT5432 Introductory Financial Accounting
S1, S2, SS FINA1221 Introduction to Finance
Incompatibility:
FINA2221 Introduction to Finance

Level 2

Second major units
Take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 FINA2222 Corporate Financial Policy
Prerequisites:
FINA1221 Introduction to Finance; or FINA2221 Introduction to Finance
Second major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 FINA2204 Derivative Products and Markets
Prerequisites:
STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics (or equivalent); and FINA1221/2221 Introduction to Finance
S1 FINA2205 Quantitative Methods for Finance
Prerequisites:
STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics (or equivalent) and FINA1221 Introduction to Finance (or equivalent); for pre-2012 courses: STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics (or equivalent) and six points of calculus
S1 FINA2207 Business Analysis and Valuation
Prerequisites:
FINA1221 Introduction to Finance; or FINA2221 Introduction to Finance
Incompatibility:
ACCT3302 Financial Statement Analysis
S1 FINA2209 Financial Planning
Prerequisites:
FINA1221 Introduction to Finance; or FINA2221 Introduction to Finance

Level 3

Second major units
Take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 FINA3324 Investment Analysis
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 Finance unit; for pre-2012 courses: FINA2221 Introduction to Finance
Second major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 ECON3236 International Finance
Prerequisites:
ECON2234 Macroeconomics: Policy and Applications or any Level 2 Finance unit; for pre-2012 courses: none
Incompatibility:
ECON2236 International Finance
S1 FINA3304 Banking: Theory and Practice
Prerequisites:
FINA2222 Corporate Financial Policy or equivalent; for pre-2012 courses: ACCT1101 Financial Accounting or equivalent
N/A FINA3306 Derivative Strategies and Pricing
Prerequisites:
FINA2204 Derivative Products and Markets and FINA2205 Quantitative Methods for Finance
S2 FINA3307 Trading in Securities Markets
Prerequisites:
FINA3324 Investment Analysis
S2 FINA3326 Applied Financial Management
Prerequisites:
FINA2222 Corporate Financial Policy

Choosing a second major

The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you the option of including a second major. You have the choice to either nominate your second major when you first enrol in the course or delay it until your second year. For a major to be recorded on your academic record it must be nominated before the requirements of the course are completed.

To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.

The following example illustrates how Finance can be included as a second major in an undergraduate degree course.

Example: Course Study Plan: CSPGeneric-DSMGeneric-FINCE

For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .

Finance can also be taken as a degree-specific major.