Finance Concentration

Our students secure job and internship roles at many top-tier firms, consistently rise to the challenge in competitive and applied settings... and also deeply understand the breadth of the financial world and the roles to which they are called. 

CAREER PATHS

Students interested in finance may pursue a broad range of career paths including:

• Banking (finance concentration + additional coursework/minors depending on focus) 
• Corporate finance (finance concentration + accounting minor at a minimum)
• Financial advisory services/wealth management (finance concentration + business or economics major) 

Preparing for one of these interest areas not only involves completing applicable coursework, but also building experience through internships, case competitions, projects and campus leadership. In addition, our students receive high exposure to finance professionals and firms (through networking, company visits and weekend trips) and skill development (through workshops and guest speakers).

Concentration Requirements

This summary provides coursework required for a business major with a finance concentration. All finance-interested students will take BUS 371 Financial Management. In addition, they will take three of the following courses (which should be selected based on the career-path interest from the list above).

• ACCT 222 – Managerial Accounting 
• BUS 382 – Investment Fundamentals*
• BUS 384 – Business Analytics* 
• BUS 395 – Applied Investment Management*
• ECON 302 – Monetary Economics*
• ECON 318 – International Economics*
• ECON 320 – Financial Economics*

In addition, CSCI 140 (Business Computing) is recommended for students who need advanced Microsoft Excel exposure. Please seek guidance from your faculty advisor when planning a finance concentration.

*All courses also count toward a portion of electives required in the business major

FIRMS ENGAGED ON CAMPUS

Over 350 professionals personally engaged our students last year through networking, applied learning and professional development. It's just one of the ways that finance-interested students can explore and validate their calling — all within a supportive, liberal arts community. 

Opportunities

• Career panels
• Case competitions (corporate finance and commercial banking) 
• Company visits 
• Meet the firm presentations
• Networking events
• Overnight trips (Chicago, Detroit, New York) 
• Student-managed fund (help manage a portion of Hope's endowment) 
• Valuation workshops

Sample Firms

• Bank of America
• Calder Capital 
• Charter Capital 
• Macatawa Bank
• Mercantile Bank
• Merrill Lynch 
• Norris Perne & French 
• Ottawa Avenue Private Capital 
• PNC
• Stryker
• Whirlpool
•  

JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS

oUR GRADUATES HAVE SECURED ROLES IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

• Asset Management
• Capital Management
• Corporate Finance
• Financial Reporting 
• Financial Services 
• International Finance
• Pricing 
• Quantitative Analytics 
• Risk Management
• Treasury Management 
• Wealth Management 
•  

EMPLOYERS

• Capital Group
• DICK's Sporting Goods
• Edward Jones
• Fidelity Investments
• Fifth Third Bank 
• JP Morgan Chase
• Mercantile Bank of Michigan
• Merrill Lynch 
• Perrigo
• PNC
• Spectrum Health 
• Ulta Beauty 
• Whirlpool
•