BA (Hons) in Finance and Investment
Course code: WD160
Course Description
The BA (Hons) in Finance and Investment is a full time degree programme dedicated to the development of successful finance managers. Numeric, analytic, and communication skills will be developed through our theme-based programme. We have three core themes running through this degree:
Theme (1) Finance (including accounting and taxation) and
Theme (2) Mathematics (including business and financial mathematics, data analysis and risk management)
Theme (3) Professional skills (including oral and written communication and business ethics)
Special Features
- This is the only programme at WIT dedicated to finance.
- Free Elective: In each semester of third year you will be given the opportunity to select a module of your choice. These can be finance related or not. These can be broadly business based or not. To date, student choice has been a mix of financial modules, language modules and multimedia modules. We aim to link our elective system to the career you desire and there are many opportunities for this.
- We have developed links with the Institute of Bankers in Ireland, where you can select to sit external financial exams as your elective modules. Not only will you get credit for this in your degree but it gives you an advantage when you move out into the professional workplace.
- You will be given the opportunity to try it all out for yourself. You can join the Waterford Trading and Investment Club. This investment club is run in WIT for students who have an interest in investment markets. Members of the club become traders. Member invest (fictiously, of course), design investment strategies and trade. This is an excellent learning tool and, although not an integral part of the degree, is an excellent platform to put financial theories into practice.
- There are dedicated learning resources available to students of finance that enable you to study with live financial information to make your study practical and relevant. Data packages include Thomson One Banker as well as the Financial Times, The Economist and CNBC.
Career and Further Study Opportunities
‘The world of finance covers a huge range of different services, careers and opportunities for graduates, ranging from accountancy and banking to financial services and fund management. This sector is one of the largest employers of graduates and provides probably the greatest number of opportunities for a well-paid career with potential to reach all the way to the top of corporate life. Within finance there are a wide variety of
firms providing a huge array of services to both individuals and other companies or corporations’. (Grad Ireland, 2010)
It is fair to say that, currently, financial environments are challenged. However, you must look beyond the current state of affairs and out into the future when making a career choice. A degree in finance will always be a desirable qualification – even in a changed financial environment. In the future, the financial environment will be careful, prudent and heavily regulated. This in itself will offer career opportunities to future financial graduates.
Some of the career opportunities in the future include, regulation and compliance, banking, investment broking and research, financial/ business analysis, insurance, stock broking , treasury, fund management, pensions, accountancy, and education. Graduates of finance from WIT work in many financial institutions in Dublin, London, New York and Luxembourg. Employers include JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, AIB Capital Markets, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of Ireland Asset Management.
The South East Region is a prime source of employment for our finance graduates. Along with jobs in the traditional retail banks and insurance companies, a regional cluster of financial services companies has evolved with Bank of New York Mellon, Zurich, State Street, Citigroup, VHI, Sun Life Financial all located within the region. The School of Business has a strong partnership with all these companies.
Follow on Study
There are numerous opportunities for post-graduate study in the area. For example, on completion of this programme you will ideally placed to take the Master in Business (Economics and Finance) stream here in WIT and will be several such courses available in universities here and abroad. The course is also an ideal platform from which to undertake masters and doctoral degrees by research.
Course Outline
| Year 1 | |
| Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
| ▪ Introduction. to Statistics ▪ Basic Financial Accounting ▪ Principles of Micro Economics ▪ Personal Financial Management ▪ ICT Skills (Information Technology) ▪ Professional Written Communications |
▪ Financial Accounting ▪ Micro Economics ▪ Fundamentals Business Law ▪ Business and Financial Mathematics ▪ Advanced Financial IT Skills (Information Technology) ▪ Business Finance |
| Year 2 | |
| Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
| ▪ Taxation of personal Income ▪ Capital Markets ▪ Quantitative Techniques ▪ Principles of Macro Economics ▪ Financial Reporting ▪ Professional Oral Communications |
▪ Corporate Taxation ▪ Investments ▪ Financial Regulation ▪ Applied Finance ▪ Business Ethics in a global environment ▪ Macro Economics |
| Year 3 | |
| Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
| ▪ Business Research Methods ▪ Introductory Econometrics ▪ Financial Information Analysis ▪ Financial Economics ▪ Project Management ▪ Free Elective |
▪ Research Project ▪ Behavioural Finance ▪ International Risk Management ▪ Data Analysis ▪ Open Economy Macro Economics |
In your first year, you will learn about the financial fundamentals of an organisation and how the firm interacts with the external financial environment. You will gain exposure to a range of areas including business law, economics, both personal and business finance, accounting and information technology. In the first year we do not assume that you have any prior knowledge relevant to a finance degree. We will provide you with a strong underpinning for your more detailed studies in later years.
In your second year, our themes continue. We will build on the basics while exposing you to new disciplines including taxation, regulation and financial ethics. You will study the markets, you will be given the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of investment practices and you will learn to develop investment strategies.
In your third year, your technical and professional skills, your knowledge of the markets and regulations in force will come together in many of your modules. You will undertake a research project, which will provide a depth of knowledge in a subject area relevant to your degree title and enhance your skills in research. You will learn how the world of derivatives work. You will study how the markets behave and what causes such behaviour.
Course Facts
Course Title: BA (Hons) in Finance and Investment
Course Code: WD160
Course Level: 8
Duration: 3 years
Course Entry
Leaving Certificate:
- Total number of subjects at grade D or better: 6
- Number of subjects at higher level grade HC3 or better: 2
Required Subjects:
- English OC3/HD3
- Mathematics OC3/HD3
For further information
Course Leader: Ms. Clare Kearney, BSc (Mgmt), FCA
Email: ckearney@wit.ie
Recent Entry Points
| Year | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Minimum Points | n/a | 320 | 315 | 340 | 360 |
But don't just take our word...
“My degree definitely has helped me, anything to do with accounting and finance will always stand to you, and allied to the communication and business skills that the School of Business teaches, you have all you need”
Upon graduation, Eimear returned to AIB Corporate Operations to work full-time where she manages a team of 12, having completed a 6 month work placement with them, organised through the WIT School of Business. Eimear mentions that this is not uncommon and highlights one of the best aspects of the Business School - their ties with the industry and the high regard that is placed on graduates of the course.
On listing the attributes that distinguish the WIT School of Business, Eimear points to a close-knit environment where it’s very easy to make friends and when it comes to exam time you get a lot more attention than is generally available at the bigger colleges.
Eimear O’Meara, Degree in Financial Services (2004)
