A state-of-the-art financial trading room was officially opened last night by the Honourable David Parker at the
University of Auckland.
The BNZ Financial Trading Room, a joint initiative between the Bank of New Zealand and the University of Auckland
Business School, is fully equipped with world-class technology providing students with a real time learning environment
to help them master trading and analysis, and understanding the complexities of international financial markets.
Hon David Parker said he was delighted to be at the launch of such a worthwhile initiative.
“This enables our students to go out and serve the interests of our economy, service the needs of the likes of the BNZ
or the NZX, as well as all of us here, to the best of their abilities, ensuring that this quite rarefied part of the
capital cycle is as expertly delivered in New Zealand, as anywhere else in the world.”
Located on Level One of the Sir Owen G Glenn Building at the University of Auckland Business School, the BNZ Financial
Trading Room consists of a teaching room, where 45 computer terminals are arranged in a pod layout across five
workstations, and a control room that allows the instructor to run and manage the business simulations on the student
computer terminals.
The Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ Platform allows access to a vast database of financial and related information. The facility also
mimics a trading room environment as much as possible, providing world clocks showing the time of the major stock
exchanges around the globe and a ticker tape that displays the share price of companies listed on the NZX.
BNZ CEO Angela Mentis, said the BNZ Financial Trading Room brings international financial markets into the classroom.
“It allows New Zealand’s future financial talent and entrepreneurs to apply lecture-hall theory to the real time, real
world scenarios they will encounter when they enter the workforce.”
Professor Susan Watson, Dean of the Business School, said the sophisticated learning resource would give students access
to global markets, allowing them to practice trading in an authentic environment.
“The BNZ Financial Trading Room will equip our students to head out into a fast-changing financial world, one that’s
increasingly innovative and with fintech extending access to financing opportunities beyond traditional boundaries, the
potential for finance to be more values-based. It’s an investment in a brighter future,” she said.
The facility is available to all University of Auckland students who want to learn about financial investing.