Finance and Investment - MSc
This course has recently been updated. Please download the course specification for the up to date information. The dynamic and fast-moving industry of investment offers wide variety of careers; it demands professionals with high level of finance knowledge, technical skills and the abilities that quickly adopt to new challenges....
Studying with us in 2021/22
It is possible that the 2021/22 academic year may be affected by the ongoing disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Information about the arrangements the University has put in place for the 2021/22 academic year in response to Covid-19 and the emerging variants can be found here.
Should the impact of Covid-19 continue in subsequent years of your course, any additional and/or alternative arrangements put in place by the University in response will be in accordance with the latest government public health advice, pandemic-related/health and safety legislation, and the terms and conditions of the student contract.
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time
- Location City Centre
- Award MSc
- Start date September 2021, January 2022
- Fees View course fees
- School Birmingham City Business School
- Faculty Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences
Overview
This course has recently been updated. Please download the course specification for the up to date information.
The dynamic and fast-moving industry of investment offers wide variety of careers; it demands professionals with high level of finance knowledge, technical skills and the abilities that quickly adopt to new challenges.
The MSc Finance & Investment degree at Birmingham City University will equip you with the knowledge, skills and abilities required to start a graduate level career and make a difference in the industry.
As the investment professionals of the future, you will gain knowledge as well as the essential soft skills like adaptability and lifelong learning skills. While you progress throughout the course, you will become more effective and creative in problem solving. You will develop ways of analysing and thinking about investments that will remain with you in the years ahead when new and different investment opportunities become available.
What's covered in this course?
The course curriculum is aligned with professional programs - the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA)*, the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment (CISI) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA), and is well suited in preparing students to complete the relevant professional examinations.
You will be provided a solid grounding in finance theories, investment techniques and strategies as well as their real-life application. You will also have the opportunity to gain real world trading techniques from professional traders with first-hand knowledge of the financial markets.
We offer flexible learning that will enable you to specialize in particular subject areas, as well as allowing you to tailor your course to a specific career aim. Based at the University’s new campus in the UK’s second city, you’ll live and study in a vibrant environment and engage with local, national and international businesses. You will be taught by highly-qualified, research-active academics with industrial and professional experience.
The international focus of the course is derived through a variety of means including the student body, the teaching team and the use of international teaching materials. Moreover, the course also enables you to be confident in the application of industry-specific skills, for example, with the use of platforms such as Thomson Reuters Eikon and DataStream, and with problem-solving approaches having been exposed to real-life scenarios through industry guest-speaker workshops.
To help you develop the skills that leading employers ask for, and let you see how traders work, we can access Thomson Reuters Eikon in our iCITY Trading room.
You will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course. This will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The Professional Placement will enhance your employability and transferable skills and allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. These skills enrich your experience and provide an added advantage in your endeavors to pursue their future professional careers in a highly competitive industry.
*Trademark Disclaimer: CFA Institute does not endorse, promote or warrant the accuracy or quality of the products or services offered by Birmingham City University. CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
Why Choose Us?
- Our MSc finance suite will prepare you to deal with tomorrow's financial, banking and investment challenges and enable you to get cutting-edge knowledge of contemporary global finance
- You will gain contemporary knowledge regarding global financial issues, ethical and sustainable financing, and financial innovative products
- You will learn to design strategies to deal with the various financial risks faced by businesses, multinational companies or global investors
- You will get access to the same investment analysis software that traders, financial analysts and decision makers use in the investment industry in our University’s ‘CITY Trading Room’
- You can gain experience of working in the industry through our Professional Placement route
- We will equip you for a variety of career paths, including fund manager, financial analyst, investment banker or financial manager, treasurer, and retail banking
- You will be able to work on exciting projects for real-life clients through our Business Advice Centre, giving you exposure to the challenges and issues faced by businesses as well as the chance to develop successful solutions. Opportunities are available with local, regional, national and even global businesses such as BMW.
- The Centre also offers expert support for your own entrepreneurial ideas, so you can start planning your own start-up or take your existing business to the next level. Following graduation, you will have the opportunity to apply for STEAMhouse Business Incubator membership.
- We will prepare you for professional bodies' exams and certification for CISI, Eikon, Excel, and Python.
Find out more
*Trademark Disclaimer: CFA Institute does not endorse, promote or warrant the accuracy or quality of the products or services offered by Birmingham City University. CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute
Entry Requirements
You are required to meet one of the following options:
Essential Requirements
| Typical Offers (UK Students) | ||
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An honours degree from a UK University (minimum 2:2) in a Finance related discipline. |
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An equivalent graduate level qualification from an overseas university or equivalent institution (minimum 2:2) in a finance related discipline. |
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Successful passing a Pre-Master's course approved by Birmingham City University |
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Successful passing a Pre-Master's course at another UK university/institution with a minimum of 55 per cent average |
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Other qualifications will be considered on a case by case basis.
Please note that even if your application fully meets the entry criteria, you may be required to further demonstrate your suitability via an interview or submission of a course proposal before being offered a place.
Interviews may be conducted in your country of residence, over the telephone or by Skype.
Additional information for EU/International students
| Essential | ||
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Applications from international applicants with equivalent qualifications are welcome. Please see your country page for further details on the equivalent qualifications we accept. In additional to the academic entry requirements listed above, international and EU students will also require the qualifications detailed in this table. |
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| English language requirements 2020/21 | ||
| IELTS |
6.0 overall with 5.5 minimum in all bands If you do not meet the required IELTS score, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English courses. Please note that you must have a Secure English Language Test (SELT) to study on the pre-sessional English course. More information. |
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| Other accepted qualifications | Visit our English language page | |
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No English certificate is required for applicants from countries that appear on our English exemption list. Please contact the International Office for this list.
Fees & How to Apply
- UK students
- International students
Award: MSc
Starting: Sep 2021
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £11,000 per year
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
-
TBC
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2022
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £11,000 per year
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
-
TBC
Award: MSc
Starting: Sep 2021
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £13,200 per year
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
- £14,520 per year
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2022
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £13,200 per year
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
- £14,520 per year
If you're unable to use the online form for any reason, you can complete our PDF application form and equal opportunities PDF form instead.
Please note that, following re-validation of the MSc Finance and Investment course, the advertised fees prior to 08/03/2021 have been increased.
Personal statement
Students are required to submit a personal statement as part of their application for this course.
Your postgraduate personal statement is going to shine a light on your personal experience, academic success, personal skills and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
Here are the key areas you’ll need to address:
Your passion and motivations
Studying a postgraduate course usually means you want to specialise in something. So what’s driving you?
Why this course?
Show that you’ve researched the course offering. What is it about this particular course that appeals to you? Is it the lecturers? The modules? Etc.
What makes you a good postgraduate candidate?
Tutors want to know that you can handle postgraduate study, so show them how your undergraduate experiences or work life has equipped you for a more advanced level of study. Key areas to address are research and group work but this can vary depending on your chosen course.
Relevant academic or work experience
Add anything relevant that relates back to your chosen course and shows how your skills will contribute towards your learning. What extra-curricular activities have you taken part in? What awards have you won? What employment or voluntary experience do you have that has helped you develop transferable skills? How do these specifically relate to the course you are applying for?
You should also mention your future plans and how a postgraduate qualification fits in. Try to look beyond your postgraduate study – do you plan to jump straight into a specific career or follow your studies with a research degree? Lastly, use plain, professional English and, where possible, utilise the language of your chosen industry.
Get more information on writing personal statements.
Course in Depth
Modules
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 160 credits):
20 credits
This module is designed to help students to critically analyse the key theories, concepts and principles of corporate finance grounded in the academic literature and pertinent for the practitioner. In particular, this module provides a thorough treatment of the key aspects in the financial decision making process in a corporation, including project appraisal under uncertainty, cost of capital, source of finance, capital structure, divided policy, corporate governance and working capital management.
20 credits
The module assumes that students have the basic knowledge of risk management concepts. It is design to review the risk management process and risk governance in organisations. It will provide the skills to identify and evaluate company’s or portfolio’s exposures to financial and non-financial risk factors in the business environment. Numerical skills in the calculation and evaluation of value-at-risk (VaR) and other credit risks of investment positions or financial derivatives such as forward contracts, swaps and options.
20 credits
This module provides an overview of the nature and activities of the main groups of financial institutions within the UK. It aims to offer insight into bank regulation within which financial institutions operate, especially those emanating from financial crisis.
This module focuses on students developing and having a good grasp of recent and ongoing events within financial institutions and its regulation, with the aim of appraising and developing potential changes in the landscape.
20 credits
This module is designed to help you critically understand the important principle and practice of investment analysis and portfolio management. It provides a systematic understanding of financial decisions on investment.
20 credits
The module explores the attributes of financial econometric modelling and forecasting in the field of finance, banking and economics. Students are expected to develop then skills to construct, apply and assess the limitations of various models for effective decision making. It will also empower the students to carry out an independent data empirical analysis including critical thinking and analysis.
60 credits
This is an integrative module which is the culmination of your studies and it is designed to be developmental in nature. It enables you to develop a deeper understanding of methodological paradigms to enable you to develop a robust proposal and enable the successful completion of the dissertation/project.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete at least 20 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules:
20 credits
This module aims at enabling you to understand, apply and evaluate derivative contracts (securities) for both investment and risk management purposes. The module covers the use of derivative contracts to get exposure to different asset classes and markets as well as management of risk i.e. hedging. You will be able to learn the use of futures, forwards, options, swaps and other derivative securities to alter the risk and return characteristics of investments and hedge financial risks.
20 credits
This module is consistent with the programme philosophy. It covers important irrationalities on financial markets. Traditional theories in Finance assume that investors and managers are rational, making the best decisions in every situation. Nevertheless, research in psychology has shown that peoples’ actual behaviour exhibit systematic ‘errors’ that violate this assumption. Hence this module’s main aim is to provide students with a deeper and more realistic understanding of emotional and cognitive behavioural biases, how these biases may influence individuals’ perceptions, investment and financing decisions
20 credits
This module allows you to apply the critical analysis and thinking skills in a problem based learning approach to investigating a contemporary issue of your finance studies and/or finance practice in which you have a particular interest. The critical analysis and critical thinking skills required in the module characterise a master’s level (level 7) piece of work.
All core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
All modules will mix face-to-face lectures with online activities. As a practice-based course, sessions will usually involve the application of academic concepts to real-world scenarios. Online delivery will also be provided via the University’s virtual learning environment, and modules will also require you to engage with online study to prepare for, participate in and further develop your skills.
Due to the professional alignment of the course, examinations will be a common feature when it comes to assessments. However, a variety of methods will be used, and you’ll be required to deliver reports, presentations, essays and project plans, both individually and within a group.
You will regularly engage with tutors, working together to identify any gaps in your knowledge and finding appropriate learning activities to suit your individual needs. A variety of learning activities will be used, whether it be a short written piece or a reflective journal, and you’ll be given regular feedback by your personal tutor.
Trips and Visits
You will have the opportunity to go on relevant trips such as visiting the Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange.
Employability
The finance specialism and professional alignment of the programme enables fast-track progression into a career as a fund manager, financial analyst, investment banker or financial manager.
We boast partnerships with businesses across the globe, including AXA Insurance, HSBC, Lloyds Bank and PwC.
OpportUNIty
OpportUNIty: Student Jobs on Campus ensures that our students are given a first opportunity to fill many part-time temporary positions within the University. This allows you to work while you study with us, fitting the job around your course commitments. By taking part in the scheme, you will gain valuable experiences and employability skills, enhancing your prospects in the job market.
It will also allow you to become more involved in University life by delivering, leading and supporting many aspects of the learning experience, from administration to research and mentoring roles.
Business Advice Centre
The Business Advice Centre (BAC) is the Business School's hub that offers a range of support services to you throughout each stage of your student learning experience.
We have a range of support solutions for students as well as opportunities to enhance your employability and entrepreneurial qualities.
Whether you are considering starting your business, connecting with real companies or enhancing your graduate opportunities, the Business Advice Centre can help you.
Find out moreInternational Students
Welcome to the Birmingham City Business School, home to students from over 70 countries all around the world!
Birmingham City Business School is one of the UK’s largest, most established and most respected business schools. Our programmes are practice based and many have an international focus, which means your course will be entirely relevant to today’s business world. Almost all of our courses, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level, are open to international students.
We also have links with universities across the world, including Europe, the USA, China, India and Malaysia.
International ServicesOur international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here
- Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies
- Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country
- Learn where to find financial support for your studies
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Facilities and Staff
Our Facilities
We are constantly investing in our estate and are currently in the process of spending £340 million on new learning facilities.
The Curzon Building
This course is based at our City Centre Campus – and specifically The Curzon Building, alongside other Social Sciences, Law, Business and English students.
The £63m building offers students a unique social learning space, including a dedicated student hub incorporating student support services, in the heart of Birmingham’s Eastside development.
The Business floors house an extensive number of IT facilities, breakout areas, and specialised rooms. The Marketing Link Agency is designed to replicate a modern marketing firm, allowing students to get real-life experience of working in the marketing sector. There is also the City Trading Room, which features state of the art stock market tracking equipment, keeping you up to date with all the financial comings and goings of the London Stock Exchange and Wall Street.
The Curzon building is also conveniently close to Birmingham’s business and financial centre, allowing for strong links between your studies and the real world.
The Curzon Building also features:
- An impressive new library with access to over 65 million full text items and stunning views of Eastside City Park
- Your Students’ Union which is located in a beautifully restored 19th century pub, The Eagle and Ball
- A modern 300-seat food court with space to study and socialise
- Brand new, accessible IT facilities with full Office365 for all students for free
- Shared facilities with the wider campus including the recently opened Parkside Building and Millennium Point
Our staff
Dr Simeon Abiola Babatunde
Programme Director for BSc Finance and Investment
Dr. Simeon Abiola Babatunde has more than 11 years of experience in the Finance industry, working as an Analyst in Asset management and Investment Banking firms in Nigeria and UK.
More about Simeon