Finance is about making and managing money. It can involve investing in the stock market, trading in currencies and derivatives, or making lending decisions in banks. Students who study the BSc Finance degree at Queen's will gain the skills and knowledge that are needed to succeed in the financial industry.
Integral to the BSc Finance programme is the placement year with a financial institution. A dedicated placement team ensures that students are well prepared for placement, and obtain positions which are of the highest quality.
Finance Degree highlights
Accounting and Finance at Queen's is ranked 4th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2017.
Professional Accreditations
- Top performing students are regularly awarded prizes and scholarships from leading financial companies, eg Morgan Stanley, KPMG, Ulster Bank and Citi.
Industry Links
- During the third year of the degree, students complete a 9 to 12 month placement within a financial institution. These placements are usually in Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow or London. Example placements include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, the Bank of England and KPMG. The placement year provides students with excellent experience and connections, and gives students a competitive edge when seeking graduate employment.
World Class Facilities
- You will have access to industry standard Bloomberg terminals in the Trading Room, giving students the skills, experience and knowledge necessary to prepare them for a career in the financial services sector.
Internationally Renowned Experts
- Many of our staff are leading international experts in their fields of research and have many years of professional experience.
- The BSc Finance at Queen's has been accepted into the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) University Affiliation Program. This status is granted to universities whose degree programmes incorporate at least 70 per cent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge, including the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. Our status as an Affiliated University of CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) signals to students and the marketplace that our BSc Finance degree curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and helps students when sitting their CFA exams.
Student Experience
- Students can take part in the QUB Student Managed Fund which gives participants the opportunity to invest real money and manage the risk of their portfolios. Students rate the course very highly, giving satisfaction rates averaging 95% over the last five years in the National Student Survey.
Kerri Cassidy, BSc Finance
Careers
Career Prospects
Introduction
Our graduates find employment in investment banks, corporate banks, building societies, insurance houses,
stockbrokers, investment banks, accountancy and actuarial firms, specialist financial and private equity companies as well as in the finance functions of more general companies.
http://www.prospects.ac.uk
Employment after the Course
Typical career destinations of graduates include:
Financial Analysts (in bonds, equities and derivative products),
Fund Managers
Treasurers
Financial planners
Wealth managers
Accountants
Financial Economists
Forecasters
Corporate lenders
Employment Links
Recent graduate employers have included: Allstate; Bank of Ireland; Citi Group; Delta Index; Energia; Ernst & Young; First Derivatives; Goldman Sachs; HSBC; Kerr Henderson; KPMG; Mercer Plc; Morgan Stanley; Nationwide Building Society; Nomura Bank; Oxford Economics; PIMCO; PWC; Setanta Asset Management.
Alumni Success
'I began my career with Deutsche Bank, before moving to Lehman Brothers in 2003, where I ran Client Service and Transition, and then Nomura International. My team are responsible for clients on J.P. Morgan's Custody and Fund Services platform, which looks after assets of nearly $20 trillion.'
Declan Breslin, BSc Finance
Global Head of Client Service and Solutions, Custody and Fund Services - J.P. Morgan, New York
Professional Opportunities
This programme closely reflects the real-world finance and investment environment and focuses on the applied skills that employers look for.
We regularly consult and develop links with a large number of employers including all the major finance employers in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Britain. We host annual employer liaison meetings for the course as well as annual finance careers fairs at which students can engage with a range of employers on a one-to-one basis. Students are also offered exposure to experts from the London financial markets, who share their industry knowledge and advice.
What employers say
'The Placement Office has consistently been proactive in engaging with our organisation, working closely with us to create a successful pipeline which benefits both their impending graduates and Morgan Stanley.'David Tkalcic (Executive Director, Morgan Stanley)
Additional Awards Gained
Year in Industry
Prizes and Awards
Top performing students are regularly awarded prizes and scholarships from leading financial companies, eg PwC, KPMG, EY, Barclays, BDO, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Pramerica and Ulster Bank.
Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
