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Welcome to the Finance / Investment / Real Estate / Insurance Community
Students who have an interest in numbers, money management and business may find banking, finance and investment to be a good direction to take. Commercial banks take deposits from individual and institutional customers, which they then use to extend credit to other customers. Corporate Finance professionals manage an organization’s money, including forecasting where it will come from, knowing where it is, and making recommendations for spending to ensure the greatest return. Investment banking is the term used to describe the business of raising capital for companies. When firms need cash in order to grow and expand their businesses, investment banks sell securities to public investors to raise this cash. Investment banks may work with corporations, governments, institutional investors and/or extraordinarily wealth individuals to raise capital and provide investment advice. Consulting firms and insurance corporations also hire for financial positions. FinTech refers to technologies designed to automate and enhance financial services for businesses and consumers. This can include mobile banking, peer-to-peer apps such as Venmo, stock trading platforms such as Robinhood, as well as blockchain technologies and cryptocurrency development and trading. Coding skills are not required, but definitely beneficial for your job prospects, so consider learning Java, C++, Ruby, etc.
Relevant Courses
Depending on your main area of interest, your academic pathway will shift. To explore this field, you can take courses that will provide you with knowledge and skills in:
- Critical and creative thinking
- Problem solving
- Effective communication
- Research
- Quantitative Analysis
In the Relevant Courses section below are a few examples of relevant SBS courses, but we urge you to talk to your major/departmental advisor and explore available courses in SPIRE. Remember not to constrain yourself to classes within your major. Check SPIRE for full course descriptions and availability. These are abbreviated descriptions, and details may change at the discretion of the instructor. Courses may not be offered every semester.
Also in this section are some relevant non-academic Linkedin Learning courses that you can take for free, compliments of UMass.
