Master of Applied Finance

The Master of Applied Finance is a specialist qualification designed to prepare you for a successful and rewarding professional career in the financial sector.

This 12-month accelerated course will equip you with the industry-relevant skills needed to secure financial roles working in businesses, banks, investment firms, and the public sector.

The course has a strong practical focus and is ideal for students who have never majored in finance before, but already have some quantitative analysis skills from their bachelor's degree.

On completion, graduates will be well positioned to continue their career journey towards gaining the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. This requires work experience and passing the CFA Institute exams.

Students have 24/7 access to a brand-new Finance Trading Room, where they can experience the thrill of buying and selling shares/bonds/commodities and other financial assets, and compete to build the most valuable portfolios.

You'll be studying at Waikato Management School, which is ranked #1 business school in New Zealand in the Times Higher Education Rankings 2023.

The course is divided into three stages, covering one trimester of study each.

Part One: Core Papers provides students with a grounding in the quantitative and analytical techniques required to understand financial markets, risk and return, and make investment decisions. You will discover how key financial markets contribute to the functioning of healthy economies, and be introduced to finance theories and models.

In Part Two: Master of Knowledge, students will develop advanced knowledge in specialist areas such as corporate finance, investments and financial markets, financial modelling and econometrics. You will learn how to analyse and interpret financial data, forecast returns and price assets, and conduct shares and bond valuations. You will also gain a deep understanding of capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance issues.

In Part Three: Application of Skills, students have the opportunity to apply their skills in a professional context by undertaking a research project investigating a real financial issue. Alternatively, you can choose to complete a finance workplace internship.

You will also learn about the flow of international finance in today's global economy, and be able to forecast interest and exchange rates. Students will be able to identify the financial risks faced by firms, and gain skills for analysing and trading commodities, currencies and derivatives, as well as stocks and bonds.

Learning is via lectures, class discussions, individual/group assignments, consulting projects and practical workshops.

You will also spend time in the computer labs learning how to run experiments, understand statistical techniques, and gain experience with STATA programming.