Course details

Summary

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, the first year of the Bachelor of Science in Financial Engineering provides a breadth and depth of technical skills and knowledge across the key disciplines of finance and economics, mathematics and statistics, and computer science and software engineering.

This broad foundation is then built upon over the next two years, where you will undertake further core courses across these disciplines and can choose specialisations within Financial Engineering.

Courses

The first-year, 100-level courses required to complete a Bachelor of Science majoring in Financial Engineering are:

COSC121 Introduction to Computer Programming

COSC122 Introduction to Computer Science

ECON104 Introduction to Microeconomics or ECON199 (a STAR course for secondary school students)

MATH102 Mathematics 1A

MATH103 Mathematics 1B

STAT101 Statistics 1

Plus 30 points from 100-level Science or any other UC courses.

It is also recommended to consider studying (depending on your specialisation interests):

FINC101 Personal Finance

ACCT102 Accounting and Financial Information

INFO125 Introduction to Programming with Databases or

MATH120 Discrete Mathematics

For more information see the Bachelor of Science.

200-level and beyond

The broad foundation of the first year is then built upon over the next two years, where you will undertake further core courses across the disciplines and can choose specialisations within Financial Engineering.

Students who wish to major in Financial Engineering are required to take a number of core courses at 200 and 300-level. For the list of required courses, see the Regulations for the BSc.

Further study

Students may continue after a three-year BSc and enrol in the one-year BSc(Hons) programme. This extended programme, further builds the breadth and depth of skills with a focus on financial and economic theory, along with the mathematical and statistical tools underpinning them.

Alongside the coursework a capstone project brings together these skillsets to develop abilities for independent study and broader skills for the job market or postgraduate study in Financial Engineering.

Students may also continue to a new 180-point Master of Financial Engineering, combining coursework and a project.

Career opportunities

UC Financial Engineering graduates will be ready for the international workplace in the finance industry and related fields mentioned above. They will also be well prepared for further study in Financial Engineering 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 (eg, Reserve Bank, The Treasury or regulatory bodies).

Graduates with such cross-disciplinary knowledge and highly technical skills will have openings to a breadth of career opportunities such as investment brokers, actuaries, and statisticians and data scientists.

Entry criteria

Admission to UC with University Entrance, or equivalent, is required to enrol for a Certificate in Arts. Applicants must have completed New Zealand University Entrance through NCEA; or Cambridge International Examinations (CIE); or International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) or any other equivalent overseas qualification.

Other English language requirements: TOEFL PBT with a minimum score of 550 and TWE with a minimum score of 4.5; CCEL EAP Level 2 with a minimum C+ grade; CAE or CPE minimum score of 169 with at least 162 in reading, writing, listening and speaking; Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE with an overall score of 57 and no PTE communicative skills score below 50.