FINANCIAL ECONOMICS BSc Honours
Course summary
Financial economics is all about managing financial assets such as trade and share prices, interest rates and exchange rates. You’ll not only be introduced to financial economics, but also gain a solid foundation in general economic concepts, principles, analysis, techniques and knowledge.
Learning how to predict and advise on the impact of economic, social and public policy issues on monetary activities, you’ll develop your analytical and decision-making abilities, expanding your skills in data gathering, handling and interpretation, quantitative analysis and forecasting.
In our state-of-the-art Bloomberg virtual trading room, you will use industry-standard software, including Bloomberg, SAGE, FAME, Excel and other statistical packages, to analyse data, build models and produce forecasts. You will also develop key soft skills such as communicating complex economic ideas to a non-expert, presentation skills and teamwork.
We enjoy strong links with employers, including the Government Economic Service and Society of Professional Economists, which was relaunched here at Westminster Business School in 2018. Membership of the Society is offered to all final-year economic students and there are opportunities to attend their monthly meetings, conferences and continuous professional development courses.
You can also gain valuable professional experience by taking a paid placement year and begin to build the networks that will help your career take off. Previous economics students have been employed by Goldman Sachs, Boxington Corporate Finance and with the Government Economic Service, to name just a few.
Since our economics degrees share a common first year, you get to experience all the main areas in financial economics and, if you choose Crises and Controversies in Economics as an option, you may be eligible to change to the Financial Economics course at the start of your second year. A variety of optional modules also enables you to tailor your studies to suit your interests. For example, in studying Global Economic Issues, we show how economic analysis is used to understand key concerns like climate change, trade and migration.
CAREERS
This highly practical course aims to prepare you to use economic reasoning, mathematical and statistical analysis, to analyse and inform management decisions in business, industry, public and voluntary sectors. It is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge to evaluate financial performance, business and public policy issues – skills useful in almost any career.
On graduation, you can target a role as a business analyst or specialist economist, or choose to pursue a broader career in government departments, banking, risk and insurance, investment and broking firms, retail and manufacturing firms or the voluntary sector.
Past graduates have secured roles as economic consultants, management trainees, investment bankers, professional accountants and within the Government Economic Service.
The University's Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.
Industry links
Westminster Business School is one of London’s leading centres for business education based in the heart of London and its political, media and financial services scene. We have strong links with the Government Economic Service, and Dr Vincent Rich, Head of School of Organisations, Economy and Society, regularly conducts interviews as part of their graduate recruitment procedure. Connected to a wide range of professional bodies, including the Society of Professional Economists, a growing alumni network and the employer representatives on the Employability Advisory Board, we have excellent links with industry. Staff who currently teach on this course have extensive professional experience in a range of business sectors with many staff maintaining links with industry through consultancy and training work.
Job roles
This course will prepare you for roles such as:
- Account manager
- Actuarial analyst
- Assistant economist
- Bank manager
- Business analyst
- Commercial project manager
- Commodities analyst
- Data analyst
- Economic consultant
- Economist
- Financial advisor
- Journalist
- Investment analyst
- Market research analyst
- Management trainee
- Risk analyst
- Sponsorships executive
- Statistician
- Stockbroker
Graduate employers
Graduates from the Business School have found employment at organisations including:
- Boxington Corporate Finance
- Goldman Sachs
- Government Economic Service
- Hamton Environmental Services
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