Finance

InsuranceMain article: InsuranceInsurance is the undertaking of one party to indemnify another, in exchange for a premium, against a certain eventuality.Uninsurable risks Bad debt Changes in fashion Time lapses between ordering and delivery New machinery or technology Different prices at different places Requirements of an insurance contract Insurable interest The insured must derive a real financial gain from that which he is insuring, or stand to lose if it is destroyed or lost. The item must belong to the insured. One person may take out insurance on the life of another if the second party owes the first money. Must be some person or item which can, legally, be insured. The insured must have a legal claim to that which he is insuring. Good faith Uberrimae fidei refers to absolute honesty and must characterise the dealings of both the insurer and the insured. [edit] Shared ServicesThere is currently a move towards converging and consolidating Finance provisions into shared services within an organization. Rather than an organization having a number of separate Finance departments performing the same tasks from different locations a more centralized version can be created.[edit] Finance of statesMain article: Public financeCountry, state, county, city or municipality finance is called public finance. It is concerned with Identification of required expenditure of a public sector entity Source(s) of that entity's revenue The budgeting process Debt issuance (municipal bonds) for public works projects [edit] Financial economicsMain article: Financial economicsFinancial economics is the branch of economics studying the interrelation of financial variables, such as prices, interest rates and shares, as opposed to those concerning the real economy. Financial economics concentrates on influences of real economic variables on financial ones, in contrast to pure finance.It studies: Valuation - Determination of the fair value of an asset How risky is the asset? (identification of the asset appropriate discount rate) What cash flows will it produce? (discounting of relevant cash flows) How does the market price compare to similar assets? (relative valuation) Are the cash flows dependent on some other asset or event? (derivatives, contingent claim valuation) Financial markets and instruments Commodities - topics Stocks - topics Bonds - topics Money market instruments- topics Derivatives - topics Financial institutions and regulation Financial Econometrics is the branch of Financial Economics that uses econometric techniques to parameterise the relationships.[edit] Financial mathematicsMain article: Financial mathematicsFinancial mathematics is a main branch of applied mathematics concerned with the financial markets. Financial mathematics is the study of financial data with the tools of mathematics, mainly statistics. Such data can be movements of securities—stocks and bonds etc.—and their relations. Another large subfield is insurance mathematics.[edit] Experimental financeMain article: Experimental financeExperimental finance aims to establish different market settings and environments to observe experimentally and provide a lens through which science can analyze agents' behavior and the resulting characteristics of trading flows, information diffusion and aggregation, price setting mechanisms, and returns processes. Researchers in experimental finance can study to what extent existing financial economics theory makes valid predictions, and attempt to discover new principles on which such theory can be extended. Research may proceed by conducting trading simulations or by establishing and studying the behaviour of people in artificial competitive market-like settings.[edit] Quantitative behavioral financeMain article: Quantitative behavioral financeQuantitative Behavioral Finance is a new discipline that uses mathematical and statistical methodology to understand behavioral biases in conjunction with valuation. Some of this endeavor has been lead by Gunduz Caginalp (Professor of Mathematics and Editor of Journal of Behavioral Finance during 2001-2004) and collaborators including Vernon Smith (2002 Nobel Laureate in Economics), David Porter, Don Balenovich, Vladimira Ilieva, Ahmet Duran, Huseyin Merdan). Studies by Jeff Madura, Ray Sturm and others have demonstrated significant behavioral effects in stocks and exchange traded funds.The research can be grouped into the following areas:1. Empirical studies that demonstrate significant deviations from classical theories.2. Modeling using the concepts of behavioral effects together with the non-classical assumption of the finiteness of assets.3. Forecasting based on these methods.4. Studies of experimental asset markets and use of models to forecast experiments.[edit] Intangible Asset FinanceMain article: Intangible asset financeIntangible asset finance is the area of finance that deals with intangible assets such as patents, trademarks, goodwill, reputation, etc.
[edit] Related Professional QualificationsThere are several related professional qualifications in finance, that can lead to the field: Qualified accountant qualifications: Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA, UK certification), Chartered Accountant (CA, certification in Commonwealth countries), Certified Public Accountant (CPA, US certification) Non-statutory accountancy qualifications: Chartered Cost Accountant CCA Designation from AAFM Business qualifications: Master of Business Administration (MBA),Bachelor of Business Management (BBM), Master of Financial Administration (MFA), Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Finance qualifications: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA),Certified International Investment Analyst(CIIA), Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), Masters degree in Finance, Certified Market Analyst (CMA/FAD) Dual Designation, Master Financial Manager (MFM), Corporate Finance Qualificativ