Master of Science Finance

This exciting unit is an introduction to the world of postgraduate study for all of our students. This unit brings together students that will have a wide range of prior educational and professional experiences. The focus of this unit will be on demonstrating how we can convert this wide range of experiences into the tools and capabilities needed to successfully engage in this postgraduate qualification. As such, it will incorporate encourage critical thinking and writing through a range of learning and teaching approaches. At the end of this unit, all students, regardless of their prior academic experiences, should feel more confident in their ability to engage with a postgraduate qualification in Accounting, Finance and Banking.

This unit explores the fundamental role of financial awareness for strategic decision making in an organisation. When large companies like Apple, Alibaba or Nike make announcements about new products, services or expansions, consumers and the markets tend to get very excited. However, as financial experts, we tend to be more focused on how these companies intend to fund such activity. This unit will help you to better understand the background to such decisions. It will investigate the competing demands of stakeholders (such as investors, lenders and customers) and demonstrate how decisions are made in relation to strategic financial management.

For many involved in the corporate environment, the role of the company has traditionally been viewed as that of maximising shareholder wealth. However, in recent years, organisations have faced increasing scrutiny regarding their ethical behaviour and social responsibility.

This unit provides an exciting opportunity to blend ethical and social responsibility theory with the practices we are witnessing in organisations across the globe currently.

It explores the impact of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Integrated Reporting on organisational behaviour. In particular, it challenges students to reflect on their own positioning regarding these powerful topics and explores the extent to which organisations are truly engaging in ethical practices. To achieve this, the unit looks at the varying levels of socially responsible practices evidenced in organisations and examines the motivations behind these. As such, a range of case studies from recognised, and lesser well-known companies are explored.

This unit deals with main operations of commercial and investment banks, by highlighting the key differences in the purpose of these financial institutions. In particular, the unit focuses on financial and non-financial assessment of companies and ethical issues related to bankers’ practices in the context of financial difficulties of such companies. Given the tumultuous activity that has recently been experienced by such financial institutions, as you may imagine, this unit provides an opportunity to comprehensively build your knowledge of these institutions by working with academic staff that have had a wealth of experience in commercial and investment banking. Given the differences in these institutions it is also exciting to explore the different perspectives of these unit leaders.

Risk Management has never been more heavily scrutinised, particularly following the global financial crisis and the continued negative publicity financial institutions receive. In addition to risk management regarding traditional activities, financial institutions are now also faced with the evolving nature of their product and service offerings and the implications this will have going forward.
This module covers aspects related to the management of risk at commercial and investment banks, investment managers, financial regulators and depositories, etc. It provides exciting insight into the differing requirements of stakeholders and encourages you to reflect on how these are balanced

This Unit examines global financial markets, their infrastructure and operation. A detailed examination of asset classes from simple equities through to Over the Counter (OTC) derivatives will provide a foundation for understanding how various security types and financial markets operate.

Financial markets vary greatly across different regions, different security types and in liquidity. A wide range of market participants from investors to market makers, custodians and clearing houses come together in these markets, and this Unit explores their roles and the processes through which these markets work, or on occasion fail.

The Unit will look at basic trading strategies in different markets and in different financial products and review settlement and market regulation. Through extensive use of case studies and relating theory to historical and current events you will build a comprehensive knowledge of what happens on Wall Street, the City of London, global exchanges and trading rooms from Mayfair to Hong Kong in practice.

The Unit examines how investment firms operate in different countries and markets, and how the front, middle and back-office operations work to design trading strategies, manage risks, report to stakeholders and comply with regulations.

In this unit, students are expected to identify, structure, frame and investigate a complex managerial or business issue and produce an individual research proposal. The individual research proposal will be composed of:
- justification for the context of the research
- research objectives
- review of relevant literature
- research methodology and design

The research project is split into two different assessment points corresponding to two separate units (Extended Research Proposal and Dissertation) to allow for targeted activity and feedback to be utilised in specific timeframes.

This unit presents a particularly exciting opportunity for students to engage in some independent research, with the support of a dedicated supervisor. The chosen topic will be one that interests and challenges you. If you were intrigued by the social responsibility practices of organisations or fascinated by the dividend decisions made by top management teams, this is your chance to explore these areas in further detail. Perhaps, you’ve figured out where you want to focus your graduate career and accordingly engage in some independent study related to that position.

As you will be supported by a dedicated dissertation supervisor, you can run ideas and drafts past this person. You can also avail of a wide variety of workshops to support this independent study. But above all, you will be able to develop a whole range of skills that you should feel confident of when seeking future graduate positions.