The degree provides a full-time course for those seeking positions in Finance and Investment. The programme is based around the three main classes of capital investment activity - equity markets, fixed interest markets, and derivative markets.
Participants in the MSc Finance and Investment programme can also use the dissertation component to concentrate in-depth on a Finance and Investment topic according to individual interests and career requirements.
The MSc Finance and Investment degree is intended to enable students to:
The MSc in Finance and Investment programme is a full-time degree studied over a period of calendar year commencing late September, and a part-time degree can be studied over a period of between 2 and 4 years. In each case participants take taught modules and prepare a dissertation. Students without the relevant English proficiency are required to do a Summer pre-sessional programme before gaining entry onto the postgraduate programme.
Classes are in the form of either two or three hour teaching/learning sessions, including some small group teaching, during normal semesters.
The structure of the MSc in Finance and Investment programme is modular, with individual modules each having weighting of 15 credits. One credit represents 10 hours of student work, meaning that a 15 credit module represents 150 hours of study including formal teaching, independent study, revision, and the preparation of assessments. The MSc degree requires the successful completion of 180 credits, 120 of which are taught modules, and 60 credits a finance related dissertation.
All students undertake core modules relating to finance. The remaining modules offer a choice of electives that allow the student to focus upon advanced finance and management modules that are most closely associated with his/her career aspirations.
More information is available on key facts about the delivery of the programme.
Semester 1 modules
Students must take all modules in this group
Semester 2 modules
Compulsory:
Students must take a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 30 credits from this group
AND a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 15 credits from this group
Summer
This degree offers opportunities in a variety of careers in Accountancy,Auditing, Business Development, Financial Advice, InvestmentManagement, Marketing, Mergers and Acquisitions, Procurement, Research,Risk Assurance, Tax Consultancy and Trading.
Global capital and money markets are rapidly evolving and critical expertise is highly sought after. If you’re interested in a professional career in finance and investment, this Masters will equip you to apply your problem-solving skills to the financial markets.
You’ll be introduced to advanced concepts and practices in essential topics including international investment, financial modelling, corporate finance and security investment analysis.
Thanks to our excellent links with industry, commerce and professional bodies, you’ll gain a practical understanding of how essential financial theory is applied in practice. Case study exercises and simulations test your knowledge in real business scenarios, connecting you with the latest challenges and issues in the financial markets.
You’ll learn from leading academics with research and consultancy expertise to gain a qualification valued worldwide in the finance and investment industry.
Academic excellence
As a student, you will be able to access the knowledge of our advanced specialist research units, which also have strong links with leading institutions in the US, Europe and Asia. These include the Centre for Advanced Study in Finance (CASIF), the Institute of Banking and Investment (IBI) and the Credit Management Research Centre (CMRC). This research makes an important contribution to your learning on the MSc Finance and Investment; you will benefit from a curriculum that is informed by the latest knowledge and critical thinking.
You will also benefit from our strong relationships with the finance, credit and accounting professions. This provides a connection to the latest practitioner and policy developments, giving you a masters degree that is relevant to the contemporary environment.
Throughout the course we support you to develop the professional skills that will be critical for a successful career in the financial services.
You’ll build knowledge of key topics in finance and investment such as financial modelling, corporate finance, security investment analysis and international business finance. You’ll apply this knowledge of financial theory to solve real problems and explore international investment in depth.
Your choice of optional modules will allow you to gain specialist knowledge in areas that suit your career plans. You’ll be expected to take at least one of Corporate Governance or Behavioural Finance, but you could also study accounting, financial derivatives, forensic finance and more.
The programme will improve your understanding of research methods in finance, during a dedicated module led by experts currently involved in cutting-edge research. You’ll apply this knowledge to design and carry out your own research dissertation on a related topic of your choice, developing your ability to tackle the most pressing challenges currently facing the industry.
Compulsory modules
You’ll take eight compulsory modules including your dissertation.
Optional modules
You’ll also take two optional modules, one of which must be either Behavioural Finance or International Business Finance.
For more information on typical modules, read Finance and Investment MSc in the course catalogue
We use a variety of teaching and learning methods to help you make the most of your studies. These will include lectures, seminars, workshops, online learning and tutorials. Independent study is also vital for this course allowing you to prepare for taught classes and sharpen your own research and critical skills.
In addition to the assessed modules and research dissertation, you benefit from professional training activities and employability workshops. Thanks to our links with major companies across the business world, you can also gain a practical understanding of key issues.
For example, students have developed their knowledge of financial markets through a one-week trading simulation delivered in partnership with Amplify Trading. Read more about professional development activities for finance students.
Assessment methods emphasise not just knowledge, but essential skills development too. They include formal exams, group projects, reports, computer simulation exercises, essays and written assignments, group and individual presentations and reflective logs.
As a graduate of this course you will be able to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of core finance and investment principles, and the numerical and analytical skills to succeed in this rapidly changing complex environment.
Graduates have a broad appeal to employers in the worldwide finance sector. Many have gone on to careers such as traders, risk managers, portfolio managers and security analysts.
Our unique combination of business and mathematics modules enables you to perform successfully in a business environment by making the best use of your analytical and programming skills.
We help you to achieve your career ambitions by providing professional development support and training as part of the course. You benefit from the support of a Professional Development Tutor, who will work with you to develop the important professional skills that employers value.
We’re committed to offering a wide range of development and training opportunities. Recent activities have included field trips, CV building and interview sessions, professional risk management workshops and commercial awareness networking events.
Read more about our careers and professional development support.
The University of Leeds Careers Centre also provides a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate.
Designed to evolve your decision-making capabilities and awareness of best practice in investment strategies and performance evaluation, our Finance and Investment MSc will prepare you for a career in investment, trading, financial analysis, fund management, banking, financial services or financial consultancy.
This course will equip you with a thorough grounding in the theoretical and practical aspects of economics, finance and investment. By the end of the course, you will have the skills necessary to use advanced tools and quantitative techniques to appraise financial opportunities.
As part of this course you will also have access to our real-time trading room, streaming up-to-the-minute data from Reuters.
This course is part of our Finance MSc programme. All students complete the same core finance modules, then from the end of the first term you will be able to tailor the course to your individual strengths and career aspirations through option modules and the option to specialise in one of five areas.
The other specialisms offered are:
The course is composed of three phases:
All modules on the course involve both taught sessions and guided independent study. For a typical module, approximately 30% of the total hours comprise taught activity, 10% is guided study and supervision, and the remainder is independent study.
Modules
Core modules will give you practical background knowledge in key finance subjects. From term 2 you will be able to tailor your course through a choice of specialisms and option modules. The specialisms currently offered are banking, accounting, investment, economics and risk management.
Core modules
Specialism modules (choose two)
Option modules (choose one)
Completion of your final project (dissertation) takes place throughout the summer after teaching finishes. You submit your project in October and receive your MSc award in December.
In the final phase of the course, you will complete a dissertation relating to finance and investment.
The dissertation will be 10,000–15,000 words long. It will address a financial markets problem which will require you to undertake research leading to implementable recommendations based on sound analysis and judgment.
Alternatively, you may wish to carry out a more theoretical dissertation relating to a financial markets topic of personal interest. You will receive help from your appointed dissertation supervisor who will monitor and support your progress. The dissertation is submitted in October.
As part of your course you will have access to modern computing facilities and specialist computing packages, for students on the Market-making and Investment Strategies module this includes access to our real-time trading room, fed by up-to-the-minute data from Reuters.
One of a handful of such facilities across the UK, our trading room sessions are supervised by guest traders and provide you with the opportunity to apply your skills to real markets and real data, and make use of simulation software to recreate the pressure of a trading floor.
We also invite guest traders to discuss curriculum topics, pass on their trading experience and supervise trading sessions.
We highly recommend students join our thriving Student Investment and Trading Society, which is established and run by students for the purpose of organising social and networking events, arranging talks by visiting industry experts and facilitating annual trading competitions against other universities.
Experienced, professionally qualified lecturers and small class sizes will ensure your learning needs are supported. Online learning tools and libraries also ensure academic journals, e-books, business articles and other resources are available to you 24/7, both for use at the university and at home.
You will also have access to our Careers Service, including CV checking, mock interviews and advice on setting up your own business.
A postgraduate qualification from Brighton Business School will help you to specialise and stand out in today's highly competitive job market
Many of our Finance and Investment MSc graduates go on to work in investment, trading, financial analysis, fund management, banking and financial consultancy.
The course is also ideal preparation for continuing your studies at MPhil or PhD level, or working as a professional researcher in finance.
Our Master's will set your career path by helping you prepare for professional qualifications within the investment sector. It also covers the key theoretical areas of finance and investment analysis.
This degree has a strong focus on developing the analytical skills needed in the finance industry. You will be taught by academics who have recent experience as practitioners in the field as well as relevant research expertise.
You will study financial markets and products, investment management, financial analysis and valuation, and financial econometrics. You will also carry out a research project focusing on data analysis of financial markets.
Our Master's finance suite of programmes has a typical intake of over 80 students with over 30 nationalities. This provides you with an excellent opportunity to exchange viewpoints on global financial impacts with peers from around the world.
Greenwich is one of the top two most globally diverse universities in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, by Hotcourses Diversity Index.
We have also been named as one of the "most international" universities on the planet by Times Higher Education magazine.
Our degree will enhance your employability skills through its professional recognition: the MSc Finance and Investment has been accepted into the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute University Recognition Program. The CFA Institute exams are considered the gold standard for measuring competency and integrity in investment professionals.
Our accounting and finance subjects at the University of Greenwich are ranked:
This degree aims to:
Year 1
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Year 1
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to choose 30 credits from this list of options.
Year 2
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to choose 60 credits from this list of options.
Students are assessed through:
MSc Finance and Investment has been accepted into the CFA Institute University Recognition Program. This status is granted to institutions whose degree program incorporate at least 70% of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK), which provide students with a solid grounding in the CBOK and positions them well to sit for the CFA exams.
Graduates can pursue careers in investment and financial analysis such as investment management, corporate finance, financial management or consulting. Graduates who go on to gain the CFA Institute's Chartered Financial Analyst status will be in great demand in many areas of business and finance.
We have developed strong relations with companies in the financial centres in London, including in the City, Canary Wharf, and Fenchurch Street. This offers you networking, mentoring and internship opportunities, making it a perfect location to develop your career.
You can also reach out to top employers through our dedicated Business School Employability Office (BSEO). Our team focuses on developing your employment skills through CV support, interview skills workshops and guidance through mentors to progress in the industry. This includes the opportunity to network with employers and recruiters at career fairs.
The BSEO team was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards; which shows their dedication to actively support career development.
We encourage you to join societies such as the Trading and Investment Society and take part in student competitions like the UK Trading Challenge. We are proud that our team of first year Greenwich students won the competition, beating teams from many other universities.
Finance and investment management is a major growth area with careers and business often attracting very high salaries and bonuses. Aberdeen is well known for its expertise in these two areas and it offers two complementary disciplines offering you the opportunity to take the leading professional finance qualification, CFA level 1, during the course. If you do not wish to take the CFA exam there is an alternative research-based programme.
This programme allows you to convert to Finance and Investment Management from any undergraduate degree discipline in just one year. The university offers you market-leading financial databases (the Thomson-Reuters Eikon suite) to support both the teaching and the individual study.
PROGRAMME OUTLINE/AIMS
Designed to enable you to prosper in what is a complex and competitive and continually changing market place or to prepare for further study if that is your career aim. More information about the CFA Institute and the CFA program can be found at cfainstitute.org/programs/cfaprogram/Pages/index.aspx
Semester One
Semester Two
Summer Term
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
Finance and Investment Management (without CFA 1)
Finance and Investment Management (with CFA 1)
Find out about fees
*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
Our MSc in Finance and Investment has been developed to produce practical and proactive finance specialists, able to meet the demand of the financial sector both locally and abroad.
The programme offers rigorous and advanced intellectual training in the area of finance and investment, based on the most current and modern academic thinking and industry best practice. We also place emphasis on our students’ roles in and duties towards the financial community to prepare them for life after they graduate.
Our MSc Finance and Investment offers a well-focused education in the theories and methodologies that are utilised today for valuation using financial tools from both the investor’s and institutional perspective. It also examines the complexities behind the decision making processes required at all levels.
The programme is designed for students who intend to pursue a career in the financial sector who have recently acquired their bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, investment and banking related fields. It is for those who wish to enhance their knowledge of managing and working in organisations within an array of competing economic, social, political and cultural conditions.
Students will be required to successfully complete 6 core modules and complete a written dissertation.
Our MSc has a unique feature – it provides the opportunity for students to attempt the CFA Level 1 examination (optional) while completing the MSc qualification and support will be provided.
This Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) qualification, adds the professional context to the postgraduate degree and develop skills and capabilities required by investment analysts, finance managers, finance directors and chief financial officers.
Buckingham Business School offers excellent facilities and resources to the postgraduate students including:
Assistance towards registration will be provided to students who wish to attempt the CFA while studying for their MSc in Finance & Investment degree.
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