 In the last decade, significant developments have happened in the financial industry due to the use of mathematics and statistics to create new financial instruments. The course on financial mathematics, which is offered jointly by the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Statistics at stage 3 or postgraduate level, provides a thorough overview of mathematical and statistical foundations of modern portfolio theory, derivative pricing and the theory of interest rates. Modern jobs in the financial services industry make heavy use of complex mathematical and statistical models. For instance, on the buy side in hedge funds, people make use of statistical arbitrage and machine learning in order to try and gain that competitive advantage. On the sell side, there is more focus on pricing of derivatives and also on hedging risk. And for this, people make heavy use of stochastic partial differential equations. Above all, the most important skill is the problem solving skill. There is no better way to learn this than to study mathematics. The other aspect of the course that students find particularly beneficial are guest lectures from the financial industry. In my day to day work, every transaction we undertake is underpinned by some form of mathematical model. To be able to understand the situation and interpret that is critical for the success of any transaction. When looking for employees, we're looking for someone who stands out. A person with financial mathematics background offers that point of difference. Students will find the course a useful stepping stone if they wish to pursue international postgraduate financial mathematics programs. The course will also feature the programming language R. One thing that's good about the course is that we use R. This is open source software that's been developed here actually at the University of Auckland and is now spread throughout the world. There is enormous scope for data analysis, portfolios, option pricing. It's the main vehicle used throughout the financial services industry because it's open source and it's incredibly comprehensive. Of course we can't predict the future but we can perhaps arrange to gain advantage from it when it occurs so we can make decisions today about how to set up a portfolio or other investments so as to structure the risks that we're taking and advantages that we might gain from them. Students come from the Business School of Mathematics because it will give them significant opportunities in the workplace. I think that ability to look at how a formula works to piece it together bit by bit is something that I learnt in 370 and I know that I use that ability every day to help supplement what my team is doing. For students who want to pursue a career in the financial industry this course will help you to stand out. It will equip you with the tools necessary to work in the high-end sector of the financial industry. It will also allow you a competitive advantage if you want to study at a post-graduate level but secretly at internationally recognized master's programs specializing in mathematical finance.