What is Financial Services?

I know what you are asking yourself...How do I even know if I want a career in financial services if I don’t know what it is? Well, this post is for you!

Financial services, in short, are professional services involving the investment, lending and management of money and assets.

In Australia, Financial Services is a very important component of the economy. In fact, the financial services sector in Australia is the largest contributor to the national economy, accounting for around $140 billion to GDP over the last year. Over 450,000 Australian’s are employed in the sector and it will continue to be an important contributor to the strength of the Australia’s economy into the future.

At the heart of the financial services sector are Australia’s four major banks. These banks are some of the safest and most profitable banks in the world.

Given our superannuation, or retirement savings, sector, we also have one of the worlds largest pool of investment fund assets.

Together our banking and superannuation sectors help to make Australia a powerhouse in the global financial services industry.

The sector is also ripe for the picking when it comes to new technology and the burgeoning Fintech industry in Australia is often acknowledged as offering some innovative new ideas that could be applied globally.

It’s a great industry to be involved with and can provide some fabulous global opportunities.

I look forward to welcoming you into a wonderful industry that is making a meaningful impact to the Australian economy.

Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Book Review

Book Review: Talking to My Daughter about the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis

I picked up this book because, whilst I don’t have a daughter, I am a daughter myself. Knowing my journey with economics and ultimately majoring in it at university, I’m keen to ensure more girls understand in plain language the workings of the economy.

Yanis Varoufakis is most well known as the Greek Financial Minister at the most critical point of the modern Greek economy, aiming to bring Greece out of the government debt crisis. However, I most remember him as my Economics lecturer whilst I was at Sydney University in the late 90s. Always passionate and straight forward, Varoufakis shows clarity and strength throughout this book.

The book is written to Varoufakis’ daughter, who was 14 years old at the time it was published. It is a wonderful mix of classic economics, personal, historic and modern examples, mythology and even TV and movie references. His passion for his home nation of Greece, as well as his one-time adopted nation of Australia is clear throughout.

I particularly enjoyed his tale of inflation and deflation in POW camps during WW2 using tea, coffee and cigarettes as the simple worked examples.

He also touches on some great modern examples of where economics places greater importance on exchange value rather than on today’s important resources such as the environment. By using an example of forest fires, Varoufakis shows how these fires increase the economic value of a nation (by fighting the fire), rather than decreasing it by the value of the loss of flora and fauna -an obvious gap in economic theory.

Whilst a little left leaning at times, it is a book providing simple and clear examples of the history of capitalist society that many daughters (and others) can read and understand.

Enjoy the read!

C