MSc Finance

Course Overview

Organisations in the financial management sector require industry professionals with specialist knowledge of financial markets and expertise in investments, financial instruments and risk management. This one-year MSc is tailored to these industry requirements, and is designed to give you the crucial skills you will need to launch a successful career in finance.

Graduates come from a wide range of disciplines, including quantitative subjects. If you meet minimum performance criteria during your first term, you will have the chance to sit the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Level 1 professional exam during this course. On successful completion of your course, you will also automatically secure Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) exemptions from most of the Fundamental level papers depending on your module choices during the second term. Once you have passed all Fundamental level papers, you could then progress on the ACCA pathway which provide a recognised level of tuition for ACCA’s Professional-level papers: P2 (Strategic Business Reporting) and P4 (Advanced Financial Management).

We will teach you about the principles of financial markets and foundation finance, using real-world data and examples. You will have the chance to explore the fascinating areas of corporate finance, advanced investment management, risk management in commercial banking and financial econometrics. Some modules also provide training in Python programming to help address the industry’s skills gap and give you a competitive edge in the jobs market.

Your dissertation is a chance to really shape your future career path. Dissertations are managed in streams and you will be invited to presentation sessions by the stream leader. You will then choose from either empirical asset pricing, accounting, CFA level 1, or corporate finance.

Throughout your course you will have access to the Management School’s dedicated career support. Advisers will help shape a one-to-one plan to play to your strengths and help your advancement. Many of our graduates have moved on to work in international accountancy firms such EY, KPMG, Bloomberg and city firms in London and beyond. A PhD is another route forward, enabling you to deepen your knowledge.

Careers

For many students, the desire to boost their career prospects and move more quickly into senior roles is a key reason for acquiring a Masters degree. That's why we integrate careers support into our MSc programmes, and offer a range of facilities to help you in your career development and job search process.

Like all of the School’s Masters students, you will have access to guidance and support from the LUMS careers team. But to give you extra industry-specific job-hunting skills, we have partnered up with a financial markets specialist who has worked for several leading investment banks and also financial technology institutions.