MSc Finance & Economics

Gain the insights needed to make well-informed decisions with regard to today’s complex investment management environment.

Through lectures, seminars with applied modules and independent study you will gain an awareness and understanding of the key methods available for statistical learning and dimensionality reduction such as Lasso, SVM, Networks, Bagging and Clustering. 
You will learn how these methods may be used to in different contexts and gain the ability to differentiate the appropriateness of different statistical methods. You will also learn how to apply data science methods to every day challenges.
 

Explore the theory and practice of banking in the 21st Century, specifically the facilitation role of banks as intermediaries between borrowers and lenders, and as providers of liquidity.

Psychologists working in the area of behavioural decision-making have evidenced the inadequacies of neoclassical economics. Behavioural finance studies financial markets using models that are less narrow than those based on von Neumann Morgenstern expected utility theory and arbitrage assumptions.

Develop an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of different classes of derivative securities such as forwards and futures, swaps and options; the markets in which these securities are traded; their potential use as instruments for managing risk; methods for valuing these securities; and the application of these methods in other areas of finance.

Gain the analytical tools and the knowledge to study and understand aspects of economic development in developing countries.

This module is run by the Department of Economics. You can view further information here. 

Learn how to interpret financial statements in context and apply appropriate models and techniques for company valuation and related business issues. You will also gain an understanding of how accounting provides data for corporate finance analysis.

Gain an understanding of the need for financial risk management, the techniques to measure financial risks according to the regulatory framework, and tools for the management of risk exposure. You will be introduced to quantitative methods of risk measurement and risk management.

We'll discuss the emerging areas of Digital Currencies and Decentralised Finance (or DeFi). By utilising blockchain and smart contract technologies, DeFi provides a new platform for programmable, automated finance services that remove the reliance on central trust and intermediaries.

We will examine the economics of blockchains, decentralised applications like lending protocols and exchanges, and stablecoins, which are the bridge between decentralised and centralised finance. We will also consider alternative applications like the rise of central bank digital currencies. You will examine critically the welfare and associated risks of these applications, and compare them to traditional financial markets. In a group project, you'll conduct a case study and critically evaluate the design of a DeFi protocol.

Get to grips with the tools for the assessment and management of fixed income and credit risk.

Topics covered may include: 

• Bonds and Money-Market Instruments  

• Bond Prices and Yields  

• Term Structure of Interest Rates  

• Martingale Pricing  

• Continuous-Time Stochastic Processes  

• Affine Term Structure Models  

• Credit Risk Management  

• Structural and Intensity-Based Credit Risk Modelling  

• Credit Derivatives. 

This module will typically cover the following topics: Games in Strategic Forms; Solution Concepts and Applications; Bayesian Games and Applications; Extensive Form Games and Repeated Games with Applications; and Coalition Games and Applications.

Further information can be found on the Department of Economics web pages.

The aim of this module is to provide concise coverage of a range of central topics in industrial economics, first building a framework of oligopoly then adding to that framework, so bringing the models closer to life. Consequently, you will gain an appreciation of the key ideas underlying the subject, on which you can build or develop as necessary. The approach involves a mixture of models and empirical examples throughout, including a flavour of the predominant techniques in current empirical work.

Further information can be found on the Department of Economics web pages.

Extend your knowledge and understanding of the fundamental concepts of international finance, with an emphasis on the operation of the spot and forward foreign exchange markets. Gain first-hand experience with forex markets via empirical data and trading contest, and develop your critical reasoning skills in the context of international financial risk management.

The module will typically cover the following topics:

•    The positive theory of international trade
•    The instruments of trade policy
•    Tariffs and retaliation
•    Monopolistic Competition and International Trade
•    Intra-Industry Trade under Cournot Oligopoly
•    Strategic Trade Policy
•    The political economy of trade policy
•    International economic integration.

You will learn to:

•    Demonstrate familiarity with trade-related laws and institutions (such as the WTO), and an understanding of their functions and roles – in light of the theoretical concepts and empirical evidence presented in the module
•    Demonstrate an understanding of the historical evolution of debates around international trade and trade policies
•    Demonstrate an understanding of relevant theoretical concepts, including: terms of trade, comparative advantage, trade protection and trade barriers, trade-induced rationalisation and variety effects, trade liberalisation and cooperation
•    Demonstrate knowledge of empirical evidence about the structure of international trade flows (in relation to their composition, their geographical patterns, their historical evolution.
 

During this module you will develop skills in combining theoretical models and empirical results to address policy issues related to employment, unemployment and wages

This module is run by the Department of Economics. You can view further information here.

This module will introduce you to the basic issues in mergers and acquisitions from corporate finance point of view. The module will be based on the main research papers in the field.  

The module will typically cover the following topics and techniques: 

•    Empirical Evidence
•    Classical monetary model
•    NK model; macrofinance models
•    Current issues: introduction of financial frictions and unconventional monetary policy measures
•    Structural VARs
•    Solving rational expectation models
•    Introduction to Dynare/Matlab.

You will learn to:

•    Have some critical awareness of the limitations and strengths of the models studied, the empirical procedures used alongside these in monetary economics, and the discussion between these two approaches in the literature
•    Show an understanding of monetary policy trade-offs, the design of monetary policy, and the optimal policy implied by New Keynesian models
•    Show an understanding of the role of credit frictions in the business cycle and the transmission of monetary policy
•    Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the role of nominal rigidities in generating a role for monetary policy and matching ‘stylised facts’ of the business cycle
•    Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the estimation of the effects of monetary policy using suitably identified Vector Autoregressions
•    Solve simple dynamic optimisation problems
•    Demonstrate an awareness of the Real Business Cycle research agenda and simple versions of that model
•    Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the Basic New Keynesian Model
•    Use specialist software for the solution and evaluation of New Keynesian and RBC models. 
 

Gain a realistic experience of the responsibilities involved in managing money for clients. You will be introduced to practical investment management techniques, building on the work of the modules of the first term. 

The module applies methodology learnt in core modules to empirical and theoretical applications in the field of public finance. The main goal is to understand the role of government in the economy through taxation and expenditure. The module will introduce you to frontier research that has immediate practical relevance to the design of public policies such as income and business taxation, social insurance programmes, inequality and the provision of public goods.

The module will typically cover the following topics:

•    Inequality and the role of government in the economy
•    Tax incidence; distortions and welfare losses
•    Behavioural responses to income and business taxation
•    Social insurance programmes
•    Public goods.

You will learn to

•    Analyse the impact of public policies on efficiency and equity, using both theoretical and empirical tools
•    Understand the applications of basic microeconomic and game theory tools in public economics settings 
•    Understand and interpret the recent developments of research in the field of public finance, and the implications they have for the design of public policies. 
 

This module is a challenging technical course. It covers advanced topics in global finance and aims to equip you with a variety of theoretical and econometric tools to understand current events in the global economy and to analyse policy responses. It departs from standard theoretical models of international finance and uses mathematical tools and econometric methods to build up from these models and to assess complex issues relating to the global finance.

Further information can be found on the Department of Economics web pages.