Want to understand the complexity of capital markets? How to manage different types of risks? Interested in studying a challenging technical degree with flexible career opportunities?
Financial Engineering is a cross-disciplinary field combining financial and economic theory with the mathematical and computational tools needed to design and develop financial products, portfolios, markets, and regulations. Financial engineers manage financial risk, identify market opportunities, design and value financial or actuarial products, and optimise investment strategies.
Similar to other professional degrees at UC, in your first year of the Bachelor of Science in Financial Engineering we will teach you technical skills and knowledge across the key disciplines of finance and economics, mathematics and statistics, and computer science and software engineering.
Why study Financial Engineering at UC?
- This is the only programme targeted towards this career in Aotearoa New Zealand and echoes trends in the UK, USA, and Europe. This subject was created in response to employer demand and international growth in Financial Engineering and related fields like the wider actuarial and business analytics industries.
- The Bachelor of Science (BSc) major offers students a cross-disciplinary pathway across commerce, science, and engineering subjects, and utilises expertise from all these areas of strength at UC.
Courses
UC offers a major in Financial Engineering as part of the Bachelor of Science.
Financial Engineering major
Students complete these courses throughout their degree for the Financial Engineering major:
100-level
- COSC 121 Introduction to Computer Programming or COSC 131 Introduction to Programming for Engineers (from 2021)
- COSC 122 Introduction to Computer Science
- ECON 104 Introduction to Microeconomics
- MATH 102 Mathematics 1A
- MATH 103 Mathematics 1B
- STAT 101 Statistics 1
ACCT 102 Accounting and Financial Information and INFO 125 Introduction to Programming with Databases are also recommended.
200-level
- ECON 213 Introduction to Econometrics
- FINC 201 Business Finance
- MATH 201 Multivariable Calculus
- SENG 201 Software Engineering I
- STAT 213 Statistical Interference
- FINC 203 Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments or ECON 207 Intermediate Microeconomics – Households and Government
- STAT 211 Random Processes or STAT 221 Introduction to Statistical Computing Using R
INFO 213 Object-Oriented Systems Development is also recommended.
300-level
- FINC 331 Financial Economics
- STAT 317 Time Series Methods
- FINC 311 Investments or FINC 312 Derivative Securities
Plus at least one of:
- COSC 367 Artificial Intelligence
- ECON 324 Econometrics
- FINC 305 Financial Modelling
- FINC 345 The Economics of Risk and Insurance
- MATH 302 Partial Differential Equations
- MATH 303 Applied Matrix Algebra
- SENG 301 Software Engineering II
- STAT 314 Bayesian Inference
- STAT 315 Multivariate Statistical Methods
- STAT 318 Data Mining
Career opportunities
Upon graduation, you will be ready for the global workplace in the finance industry and related fields. You will also be well prepared for further study in this field in order to attain positions at higher technical levels.
Employers range from private industries, such as banking, investment, capital industries, security, data analysis, risk management and insurance, to the public sector, such as Te Pūtea Matua | Reserve Bank, Kaitohutohu Kaupapa Rawa | Treasury, or regulatory bodies.
Other cross-disciplinary career possibilities include investment brokers, actuaries, statisticians, and data scientists.
Previous graduates of the contributing departments from related paths of study have been employed by Macquarie Capital, Deloitte, BNY-Mellon, First NZ Capital, Te Pūtea Matua | Reserve Bank, Vero Insurance, Wynyard Security Group, and many government agencies like Kaitohutohu Kaupapa Rawa | Treasury, Tatauranga Aotearoa | Stats NZ, and Hīkina Whakatutuki | Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Contact us
Phone +64 3 369 2233
Email [email protected]
Location
Level 4, Erskine Building – see campus maps
Postal address
College of Science | Te Rāngai Pūtaiao
University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand