Major Specializations in Finance

Finance is a broad term representing money management and the process of acquiring needed funds. Finance encompasses activities associated with money investments, banking, credit, leverage or debt, capital markets, etc. Finance also encompasses the oversight, creation, and study of money, banking, credit, investments, assets, and liabilities that make up financial systems. Core finance topics include accounting, corporate finance, financial valuation, behavioral finance, derivatives, capital markets, econometrics, financial modeling, quantitative methods, investment management, financial regulation and financial reporting. Major subject specializations in the domain of Finance:

International finance/multinational finance
Is a broad branch of financial economics concerned with interrelating monetary and macroeconomic perspectives. Finance topics covered here may include international monetary systems, international taxation, exchange rates, foreign direct investment, translation exposure and political risk. Specializing in international finance could lead to financial careers in specific countries or systems, or within companies or organizations operating globally. Possible sub-specializations include Islamic finance; finance and aid in developing economies; the intricacies of international financial law or trading in the international financial market.

Financial management
Is a good option for those keen to pursue financial careers in the corporate, banking, insurance and financial services sectors. Topics include corporate finance, accounting, financial markets, capital budgeting, shareholder dividend policies and allocation of assets. Should become proficient in various tools and competencies needed to manage, analyze and advise on different types of financial data and products.

Financial Accounting & Analysis
Learn to analyse financial information and judge a firm’s prospects based on performance, patterns in their financial statements, profit drivers, assets and obligations. Analyse financial information and to draw inferences about a firm’s past performance and future prospects

Financial econometrics
More commonly used in economics, involves application of mathematical, statistical and computer science methods to economic data. Utilizes Financial Market Data to build mathematical and statistical financial models and analyze their statistical significance and make predictions. It is generally used by risk managers and economists to predict (forecast) and study the return market characteristics. Is regularly used in finance industry during portfolio management, risk management and in analysis of securities.
Topics include- quantitative asset pricing, financial derivatives and topics relating to volatility processes, continuous-time processes, extreme values, long memory, endogenous sampling transaction data and microstructure of financial markets. Computational finance is a closely related specialization that uses statistical programming language to analyze financial data, estimate statistical models and construct optimized portfolios.

Financial markets
An ideal subject for those interested in the financial/banking sectors, explores financial institutions and regulation, monetary policy, debt and foreign exchange markets, equity and derivative markets, and international financial architecture. If you specialize in financial markets, you will learn about theories relating to the role of financial systems and monetary policy formulation, main regulators of financial markets and their functions, history and evolution of financial markets, private sector banking, diversification of banking, bond markets and macroeconomic analysis as it applies to financial markets, at national and global levels.

Financial engineering
A similar field to econometrics, financial engineering is a highly technical multidisciplinary field involving the application of computational engineering, software engineering, and computer programming skills along with mathematical and statistical theory to analyze and manage financial opportunities.
Will include learning how fundamental finance theories and models are used in measurement and management of risk using mathematical and programming tools. Economic theory and software and engineering methodologies will be applied to analyze and evaluate investment decisions and data, and draw conclusions.

Financial planning
Involves learning how to achieve financial goals through proper planning and wealth management – for both individuals and organizations of various sizes. Topics could include retirement planning, risk management or employee benefits, learning how to build and maintain client relationships, factors that can affect financial decision-making, psychology of money, emotional intelligence and decision theory. Students will also need to consider role of ethical responsibility within the financial planning profession.

Entrepreneurial finance
Evaluates business plans, growth opportunities and Venture Capital (VC) financing, covering a broad set of instruments used by entrepreneurial firms.

Other possible specializations
Behavioral finance, corporate finance, financial mathematics, financial accounting and analysis, professional practice in finance, finance research methods, advanced derivatives, management accounting, asset markets, financial reporting, financial statement analysis, infrastructure finance, mergers and acquisitions, portfolio management methods, private equity, real estate finance, risk management, structured financial products, venture capital... and more.