Here theory and methods are developed for the about funding, dividends, and capital structure discussed above. A recent development is to incorporate uncertainty and contingency - and thus various elements of asset pricing - into these decisions, employing for example real options analysis. Financial theory is studied and developed within the disciplines of management, economics, accountancy and applied mathematics. Inter-institutional trade and investment, and fund-management at this scale, is referred to as "wholesale finance". In these institutions, risk management, regulatory capital, and compliance play major roles.
Investment management is the professional asset of various securities - typically shares and bonds, but also other assets, such as real estate and commodities - in order to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Financial services are the processes by which consumers and businesses acquire financial goods. One straightforward example is the financial service offered by a payment system provider when it accepts and transfers funds between payers and recipients. This includes accounts settled via checks, credit and debit cards, and electronic funds transfers. Still, while these and other academic advancements have greatly improved the day-to-day operations of the financial markets, history is rife with examples that seem to contradict the notion that finance behaves according to rational scientific laws. For example, stock bulletinexclusivedisasters, such as the October 1987 crash , which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall 22%, and the great 1929 stock market crash beginning on Black Thursday (Oct. 24, 1929), are not suitably explained by scientific theories such as the EMH.