Study Finance at Otago

• Overview
• Contact details
• Qualifications
• Papers
• Programme requirements
• Minor subject requirements for undergraduate programmes

Overview

Finance is a modern and fascinating discipline dealing with money, markets and valuation, that is relevant to all aspects of business and personal and professional planning. Professionals in finance are involved with a myriad of issues in investments, planning and risk. The subject is often confused with accounting. However, while both deal with money and value, accounting is concerned with systems of control, and recording and reporting the results of historical transactions. By contrast finance is concerned with the relationship between investor expectations about the future and current market values. By focusing on markets the subject can also be confused with economics. However economics deals with broad issues of resource allocation, whereas finance focuses more narrowly on how markets value risk and the implications for investment, financial planning, shareholder wealth and corporate governance.

Two recent trends have fuelled the value of finance as a mature, globally recognised profession and underpin its relevance for the 21st century. The first is the world-wide move to deregulation and the opening of markets which has coincided with an almost universal appreciation of the importance of capital and investment for growth and prosperity. The second is the rush of theoretical developments in the discipline which has provided the tools to manage risk and return. The impact has been extreme. There are few businesses today that are not acutely aware of the significance of markets and financial planning for their viability.

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Contact details

Email accountancyfinance@otago.ac.nz
Website otago.ac.nz/accountancyfinance

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Arts and Commerce (BACom)
• Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)
• Bachelor of Commerce and Science (BComSc)
• Bachelor of Commerce with Honours (BCom(Hons))
• Diploma for Graduates (DipGrad)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Commerce (PGDipCom)
• Master of Commerce (MCom)
• Master of Finance (MFinc)
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Papers

See the full list of Finance (FINC) papers.

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Programme requirements

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) majoring in Finance

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	BSNS 112  Interpreting Business Data BSNS 114  Financial Decision Making BSNS 115  Accounting and Information Systems FINC 102  Business Mathematics Grades of at least C+ in the BSNS papers are needed in order to proceed to 200-level FINC papers BSNS 111 Business and Society, BSNS 113 Economic Principles and Policy – must normally be taken in first year of study	18 18 18 18    36
200-level	FINC 202  Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management FINC 203  Financial Data Analysis FINC 206  Fundamentals of Corporate Finance	18 18 18
300-level	FINC 302  Applied Investments FINC 303  Financial Management Two further 300-level papers, (one must be a FINC paper, and the other must be a  FINC, ACCT or ACFI paper)	18 18 36
Plus	126 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above. Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Commerce.	126
	Every programme must include BSNS 111-115. At least three of these papers must be passed before enrolling in any 200-level Commerce paper, and all must be passed before enrolling in any 300-level Commerce paper. For single-degree BCom students, all five must be attempted in the first year of study or equivalent. STAT 110 or STAT 115 will be accepted as an alternative to BSNS 112 as a required paper or as part of the major subject requirements or as a prerequisite when: (a) the paper has been passed before the student has enrolled for a BCom degree; or (b) a student is enrolling for both a BCom and another degree for which STAT 110 or STAT 115 is required.
Total		360

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Bachelor of Commerce with Honours (BCom(Hons)) in Finance

Papers
FINC 480  Dissertation or Case Study Four further 400-level FINC papers Prerequisites: FINC 308  Financial Econometrics (or an approved alternative) ACFI 359  Research Methods

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Postgraduate Diploma in Commerce (PGDipCom) in Finance

Papers
120 points from 400-level FINC or ACFI papers. Other papers may be substituted subject to approval, up to a maximum of 40 points.

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Master of Commerce (MCom) in Finance

Thesis
Thesis: FINC 5

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Master of Finance (MFinc)

Papers	Points
Seven of: ACFI 459, BSNS 401, FINC 401-460, FINC 499 (20 points each) Plus one of the following project papers: FINC 501  Applied Project, or FINC 580  Research Project	140   40

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Minor subject requirements

Finance as a minor subject for a BA, MusB, BPA, BTheol, BSc, BAppSc, BCom, BHealSc, or BASc degree

Available as a minor subject for a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Music (MusB), Bachelor of Performing Arts (BPA), Bachelor of Theology (BTheol), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Applied Science (BAppSc), Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), Bachelor of Health Science (BHealSc), or Bachelor of Arts and Science (BASc) degree

Level	Papers	Points
100-level	BSNS 114  Financial Decision Making FINC 102  Business Mathematics	18 18
200-level	See below
300-level	Three FINC or ACFI papers above 100-level, including at least one 300-level FINC paper	54
Total		90

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Downloads

• Finance infosheet (PDF)
• Master of Finance infosheet (PDF)

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Regulations on this page are taken from the 2020 Calendar and supplementary material.