New business degree focuses on financial analysis

MEDIA RELEASE

30 November 2006

New business degree focuses on financial analysis

The University of Waikato has launched a new three-year management degree with a strong financial component.

The new qualification – the Bachelor of Business Analysis - Financial or BBA(Fin) – is aimed at students who want to specialise in economics, finance and accounting without the broad general management core of the four-year Bachelor of Management Studies degree.

“This is an unabashed financial management degree, aimed at students seeking careers in head offices and larger companies,” Professor Howard Davey, co-chair of Waikato Management School’s Accounting Department, told a business gathering at the WEL Academy of Performing Arts to mark the launch of the new degree last week.

“Broad-based degrees have worked really well for New Zealand, but there's a specialist need for strong financial analysts. The BBA(Fin) brings together economics, finance and accounting with a strong analytic basis."

The BBA(Fin) is accredited by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA), and Prof Davey says it will also allow students in accounting to move quickly towards membership of overseas accountancy bodies requiring three years of university study.

The new qualification joins the three other specialist degrees in communications, e-commerce and tourism offered by Waikato Management School.

Keith Goddard, regional manager corporate and commercial of ANZ National, said the attraction of the BBA(Fin) was its focus. “It’s pitched just right for our market,” he said.

Lynn Walker, Westpac’s senior manager corporate business, said the bank was “really rapt” with the new degree. “We've found the broader-based BMS hasn't quite had the quantitative focus we're looking for, particularly in high-level accounting and business evaluation,” she said.

About 50 people attended the launch, including representatives from NZICA, major banks and the Chamber of Commerce.

ENDS

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