What Do Finance Majors Actually Study?

Social media has a weird bias towards anti-intellectualism.

“Don’t go to college” and “You can become an expert on any subject by listening to podcasts and reading a few popular books” are common sentiments.

Case in point, a recent Twitter thread with over 3,000 likes titled “10 movies that will teach you more about finance than a $100,000 degree.”

Apparently watching The Wolf Of Wall Street and Moneyball will now land you a job at Goldman Sachs.

In reality, this is what finance majors actually study…

The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities

Stocks get the most investment attention. However, the global bond market is about three times larger than the global equity market.

Contrary to what’s shown in the movies, most of high-finance focuses on fixed income securities. These assets include: treasury bills, mortgage loans, corporate bonds, and sovereign debt.

The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities is often considered the best book on fixed income investing.

Many bankers recommend studying this book before you interview at any of the major Wall Street firms. In other words, this is a prerequisite…