An overview of the MSc in Finance and Investment programme structure, including details of the course information for semester 1, 2 and 3.

This programme runs for one academic year, starting in mid-September and ending in August.

A comprehensive Welcome Week provides an introduction to the programme, the School, and the University. Designed to be both informative and fun, it enables you to get acquainted with your classmates.

You will commence your studies with a number of compulsory courses that will help you gain an in-depth grounding in investment, financial markets, corporate finance, financial analysis as well as a thorough understanding of how and when to apply relevant mathematical statistical tools. After the core components, you will have a choice to tailor your degree towards your interests or intended career path in Semester 3. At this point you will select to either write an academic dissertation or select option courses. For those who are looking to go on to study for a PhD we would advise selecting the academic dissertation option.

To give you an idea of what the programme structure and courses might consist of, the below information showcases the planned structure and courses for this programme for 2025/26.

Semesters 1–2
September–May

Compulsory courses

Semesters 1–3
September–August

Compulsory courses

Semester 3
May–August

Select 3 option courses or the dissertation

Option courses*

Choose 2 from the following

Choose 1 from the following

Please Note: Some courses have pre-requisites and some also have co-requisites.

Dissertation

The Dissertation aims to make a study in depth of a topic in which the you are particularly interested within the field of finance and investment. It allows you to gain experience of planning, designing, executing and reporting a significant piece of individual research.

*We will notify applicants of any changes to the programme structure and courses by 15 June in the year of entry to the course. We cannot guarantee that all option courses will run each year and occasionally there will be last minute amendments after this date due to unforeseen circumstances such as staff illness.

The content of individual courses and the programme for any given degree are under constant academic review in light of current circumstances and may change from time to time, with some programmes and courses being modified, discontinued, or replaced.

Due to high demand we cannot guarantee students a place on the optional course of their preference. Equally, if there is not enough interest in a given year for an option course then it may not be viable for us to run that particular option course. Some combinations of option courses may not be possible due to scheduling constraints.

Course summaries

Financial Markets and Investment

This course gives an introduction to the structure and functioning of equity, bond markets and derivative markets. It is designed to introduce you to key financial markets and methods used to make portfolio investment decisions in these markets. The course will also cover specific topics such as modern portfolio theory, asset pricing factor models, fixed income valuation, the term structure of interest rates and risk management using derivative securities.

Corporate Reporting Analysis

On this course you will start to develop your understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and knowledge of financial ratios. As you progress on the course you will combine your understanding of these two areas and then put into practice what you have learnt by completing a financial analysis of a real-world annual report.

Corporate Finance

Gain fundamental knowledge and understanding of corporate finance. This course considers the main financial decision facing a company, reviews current academic thinking on how these decisions are made and introduces analytics tools that can assist in financial decision making. It introduces concepts such as discounted cash flows, the cost of capital and its uses, as well as the main ideas relating to real options, debt policy, dividend policy, and raising equity.

Quantitative Methods in Accounting & Finance I and II

These two courses will cover a variety of quantitative analysis techniques. The first course will be similar to an advanced statistics course. It will have strong emphasis on theory and introduce you to econometric software for conducting basic empirical research. The second course will give you the chance to use some practical tools of research using real data. You will also learn how to present empirical results through report writing and informative graphs/tables.

Investment Management

Develop your knowledge and understanding of issues relevant to investment management practices. Topics that you will be exploring include context, structures, and strategies around managing investor portfolios, trading, risk management as well as alternative investments.

Ethics and Professional Development

The aim of this core course is to help you develop your personal and interpersonal skills alongside your understanding of ethics in finance. Through group coaching sessions, you will have the opportunity to reflect on your communication and teamworking skills. These skills are highly desired by employers and often a requirement in addition to technical financial skills and knowledge. You will also learn how to apply your communication skills to discuss ethics principles in the context of the financial services industry.

Equity Valuation

Learn how to analyse the financial performance of firms, assess their prospects and to estimate their valuation. For the purposes of this course the approach is primarily from the point of view of investors and analysts rather than from a company perspective. You will become comfortable reading financial statements, calculating and understanding accounting ratios, as well as extracting accounting information to make forecasts and evaluations.

Financial Engineering

As a topic, financial engineering is strongly practical while at the same time drawing on key insights from finance and the pricing of derivatives. You will be exposed to a variety of applications of the key tools of finance, both in terms of how to model cash flows and making use of the derivative product set (that is, forward contracts, futures, swaps and options). After exploring the use of terminal instruments, the course will expand into examining the important role played by options as risk management tools.

Research in Corporate Finance

The aim of this course is to introduce you to fundamental concepts in corporate finance and to empirical research in these topics. It is assumed that you will already have some prior knowledge of discounted cash flow, the cost of capital, agency theory and the main ideas relating to debt policy, dividend policy and raising equity gained from core courses and previous studies. This course then looks to build on this knowledge and develop further understanding about value creation and financial decision-making as observed in the corporate sector.

Fixed Income

The Fixed Income option course is designed to provide an overview of fixed income (debt) markets. You will gain familiarity with the most important terms and evaluation methods for standard fixed income products. Deep understanding of topics in this course will equip you with a solid base of analytical and critical reasoning skills that will help you to pursue a career in the areas of fixed income asset management, corporate finance and treasury management.

Shareholder Value and ESG

ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become increasingly important due to a growing awareness of the impact of socially responsible business practices and long-term shareholder value. This course will focus on the impact of ESG on shareholder value and investor protection.

Behavioural Finance

This course will give you an overview of a relatively new and fast-growing area in finance, which takes as its premise that investment decision-making and investor behaviour are not necessarily driven by ‘rational’ considerations but by aspects of personal and market psychology. This course introduces cognitive biases, discusses the impact of such biases on financial decision-making, and explores the behaviour of individual investors, fund managers and corporate managers.

Financial Development and Inclusion

You will be offered an in-depth exploration of the role of financial institutions, financial markets and Fintech as well as the crucial role they play in economic growth and financial inclusion of both developed and developing countries. This course will focus on the possible ways for overcoming financial barriers and understanding finance’s impact on global challenges on sustainable development. It will broaden your perspective of the societal impact of the financial industry.

Core and elective courses

Full programme details will be made available on the University Degree Programme Tables website in Spring 2025.

Past dissertations

Find out what topics past students have researched by browsing a selection of dissertation summaries by our postgraduates:

Dissertation executive summaries