Finance - MSc/Postgraduate Diploma/Postgraduate Certificate

The Postgraduate Certificate is made up of three or four of the seven compulsory modules detailed below.

Compulsory modules:

• Fundamentals of Financial Management equips you with the principal functions of financial management and develops knowledge and skills required by finance managers in relation to financing, investment and controlling decisions.
• Financial Instruments provides you with an overview of the valuation of competing financial instruments and an introduction to how they might be combined in portfolios.
• Financial Statement Analysis provides you with the tools for analysing individual companies from a financial viewpoint, within the context of their industry and the wider macroeconomic environment.
• Fund Management equips you with the necessary tools and fundamental techniques in modern finance theory and their application to fund management.
• Risk Management provides you with the knowledge, understanding and critical awareness of recent techniques and issues in risk management.
• Corporate Financial Strategy provides you with a range of strategic tools and approaches to problems and opportunities in the real-world corporate finance arena.
• Quantitative Research Methods provides you with the research training sufficient to produce a quality quantitative finance dissertation.

The Postgraduate Diploma is made up of the remaining compulsory modules and one additional optional module, allowing you to specialise in areas relevant to your chosen career path.

Optional modules:*

• Corporate Financial Reporting
• Financial Engineering
• Principles of Financial Intermediation
• Financial Investments in Practice

* The availability of optional modules is subject to demand.

Masters

Dissertation

In addition to these modules, your dissertation gives you the chance to research an area of finance of particular interest to you and of relevance to your career or company. Previous dissertation topics include:

• An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of US Equity Returns
• Company Analysis and Valuation
• The Determinants of Operational Risk: An Empirical Investigation of UK Financial Institutions.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved we will inform you.

The course is taught through formal classes and seminar sessions, as well as through group work and independent study. The work will include assignments, exercises, case studies and presentations, with an emphasis on independent learning to develop your problem solving skills.

Our fully established trading room, with access to the Bloomberg Professional trading room, will enhance your understanding of the operations of financial markets by providing real-time data used for pricing purposes. It is also used in a number of modules to develop your analytical and decision-making skills.

For more details see our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.

The course involves 12-15 hours of teaching a week, with independent study required outside of that. We recommend students spend approximately five to six days a week on their studies to gain maximum benefit from the course.

Dedicated support

We operate an 'open door' policy, so you will have regular access to your tutors to discuss any aspects of the course. We can also offer you careers advice specific to the financial sector, drawing on our links with financial organisations.

Assessments will be a mix of assignments, supervised mini-projects, role playing exercises, group work, simulations, presentations and examinations.

For more details see our full glossary of assessment terms.