FINANCE

Finance is a term for matters regarding the management, creation, and study of money and investments. Specifically, it deals with the questions of how and why an individual, company, or government acquires the money needed – called capital in the company context – and how they spend or invest that money. Finance is then often split into the following major categories: corporate finance, personal finance, and public finance.

At the same time, and correspondingly, finance is about the overall "system" – i.e., the financial markets that allow the flow of money, via investments and other financial instruments, between and within these areas; this "flow" is facilitated by the financial services sector. A major focus within finance is thus investment management – called money management for individuals, and asset management for institutions – and finance then includes the associated activities of securities trading and stockbroking, investment banking, financial engineering, and risk management.

Given its wide scope, finance is studied in several academic disciplines, and, correspondingly, several related professional qualifications can lead to the field.