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Graduate Courses

This programme is founded on the philosophy that people represent the most valuable resources in an organization and are to be regarded as most intelligent creation that is capable of making decisions unlike other resources. From the cradle of mankind with the nascent practices in record over five thousand year ago Mesopotamia  and Summeria, accounting is arguably the oldest discipline.  Today, accounting is termed "the language of business" because it is the vehicle for reporting financial information regarding business organizations to many different stakeholders.  Nonetheless accounting has recently come under global severe criticism regarding its role in corporate governance due a series of financial information frauds involving erstwhile leading corporations. With business accounting managers are continuing to be key member of the management team for all private, public, non-profit and governmental organizations and more chief executive officers (CEOs) having undergraduate or graduate degrees in accounting than any other area of study, the challenge remains for academia to lead the way in cutting-edge research to bridge the expectation gap. Specific skill set that enables understanding of language of business and general direction of the practice of accounting in provided by the programme.

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree Programme in Finance is a research and thesis degree that is focused on developing cutting-edge quantitative research academic skills that are needed to advance teaching, research and consultancy in finance.  The PhD programme in Finance is structured around student mentoring processes management by faculty to inculcate independent and critical thinking, with emphasis on the interplay between theory development and empirical applications.  The graduates are encouraged to foster this culture of scholarship as prospective faculty at higher learning institutions. A critical component of the PhD programme is dissemination on knowledge through peer-reviewed scholarly journals.   To achieve this, faculty and students work closely together throughout the programme to develop the capabilities requisite for scholarly success, namely, academic craftsmanship.  The hallmark of the PhD in Finance programme is that students acquire broad based business knowledge, horned skills in the specialization area and academic craftsmanship.  Research topics include but not limited to public finance, corporate finance and personal finance, financial markets, financial economics,  portfolio theory, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning, financial services, financial mathematics, experimental finance and behavioral finance

In the field of finance, this proliferation of knowledge has led to an increasingly greater proportion of business organizations side-stepping the traditional financial system mediated by banks, to participate the market-driven financial system where capital is obtained directly from the financial markets. In tandem, there is increase in demand for skills and expertise in the concomitant areas of asset management, real estate finance and securities analysis. These changes have caused organizations to increasingly seek specialized management skills and avoid management generalists.  Higher education in the field of finance needs to provide this advanced specialized training, featuring a solid foundation of finance as well as a broader focus of accounting, auditing, economics, law and business administration. 

The Masters of Science in Finance program is designed to train business leaders, financial policy managers and academicians who are firmly grounded in the core areas of corporate finance, capital markets, asset management, financial risk management, financial reporting, securities research and strategic management control.  A range of careers are available for graduates including management of financial institutions, financial analysis, financial market trading, real estate, consultancy and financial regulatory agencies.