MSc Corporate Finance degree

This module will provide you with a solid foundation in the mathematical and statistical techniques and skills used both in your other MSc modules and in the financial industry. You will develop an understanding of the standard mathematical and analytical techniques used by financial analysts and financial market participants, and an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of these methods. You will also be able to apply basic techniques of data description and analysis to financial data.

Topics studied may include:

• mathematical relationships and functions
• basic calculus, including maximisation and minimisation
• descriptive statistics and graphical data summary
• statistical inference and hypothesis testing
• regression analysis
• multicollinearity
• heteroscedasticity
• serial correlation
• basic diagnostic testing.

This module will give you a broad understanding of the core issues in finance and develop your numerical reasoning and data interpretation. It will enable you to explain and interpret rates of return, interest rates and basic bond pricing, critically discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using various capital budgeting techniques and undertake a detailed Net Present Value calculation, including calculating the weighted average cost of capital and incorporating taxation. The module will also also explore the rudiments of portfolio selection and how the Capital Asset Pricing Model follows from this environment and evaluate the impact of capital structure on the value of the firm.

Topics studied may include:

• rates of return
• interest rates and the time value of money
• capital budgeting
• portfolio theory
• Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
• the efficient market hypothesis
• the weighted average cost of capital
• basics of capital structure.

This module will give you an overview of the financial system, including an understanding of the organisation and operation of the major financial institutions and markets, and an appreciation of the economic problems that financial institutions and markets seek to overcome. It will also explore the impact of technology and regulation on the evolution of the industry and how alternative structures of financial systems seek to solve common problems.

Topics studied may include:

• an overview of the financial system
• a short history of money
• banking and banking relationships
• bonds and bond markets;
• money markets and liquidity
• equity finance and corporate governance
• equity markets and equity trading
• payments systems and financial infrastructure
• derivatives and proprietary trading.

This module will enhance your financial literacy and develop your ability to analyse and interpret company financial performance. You will define and critically evaluate fundamental principles and concepts of financial reporting and analyse and interpret financial reports prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting standards. The module will also allow you to apply fundamental accounting concepts, principles and techniques in the preparation of both cash and accruals based financial reports, and calculate appropriate ratios for analysis and interpretation of financial information.

Topics covered may include:

• the nature and purpose of financial reporting in theory and practice
• published financial statements and their relevance to stakeholder needs
• analysing the financial strengths and weaknesses of an organisation within its environment
• international regulation of financial reporting
• accounting for pensions.

This two-semester module will see you develop an understanding of the financial professional's role in managing company performance. It will develop your understanding of the interplay between financial and non-financial performance measurement, and explore key theoretical and practical approaches to communication skills development (including self-awareness and team working) and to leadership. The module will also allow you to define, apply and appraise a suitable framework for business performance management.

Topics studied may include:

• analysis of financial information
• use of Balanced Scorecard approaches to develop strategic understanding of business performance
• self-management: exploring key issues in the areas of developing professional skills such as time management, interpersonal skills and self-learning.
• team working: key theories of team working
• leadership: key theories and practical issues around areas such as project management and decision making.

This module will develop your understanding of modern corporate finance theory and its associated concept in an international business context. It will provide you with a deeper understanding of the key financial decisions made by public limited companies within the international financial environment in which they operate and enable you, through the application of appropriate tools and techniques, to both evaluate and solve complex corporate finance problems.

Topics studied may include:

• sources of long-run financing
• dividend irrelevance theory and factors affecting a company's dividend policy and alternatives to cash dividends
• firm capital structure and firm value.
• mergers and acquisitions
• firm cash management.

This module will build on the pre-requisite module, Principles of Finance, and will develop a thorough understanding of the practice of financial management in companies operating in the international environment. You will also develop critical reasoning skills in the context of international financial risk management, including the operations of the foreign exchange market and particularly different potential foreign exchange rate regimes.

Topics covered may include:

• foreign exchange markets and parity relations
• management of foreign exchange exposure and political risk
• currency derivatives
• financing
• net present values
• capital structure decisions in international business.

This module will deepen and broaden your understanding of conceptual and theoretical issues in accounting and financial management through real life examples. It will also develop your understanding of the analysis of firms' financial reports relevant to the investment decision and firms' valuations.

This module uses the published accounts of major corporations to derive value metrics usable in fundamentals driven trading strategies.

Content may include:

• uses of financial statements
• accrual accounting and valuation models
• analysis of reformulated financial statements.

This two-semester module will see you develop an understanding of the financial professional's role in managing company performance. It will develop your understanding of the interplay between financial and non-financial performance measurement, and explore key theoretical and practical approaches to communication skills development (including self-awareness and team working) and to leadership. The module will also allow you to define, apply and appraise a suitable framework for business performance management.

Topics studied may include:

• analysis of financial information
• use of Balanced Scorecard approaches to develop strategic understanding of business performance
• self-management: exploring key issues in the areas of developing professional skills such as time management, interpersonal skills and self-learning.
• team working: key theories of team working
• leadership: key theories and practical issues around areas such as project management and decision making.

This module will develop the skills you need to apply knowledge and understanding to complex issues in portfolio management. It will see you apply tools of analysis to critically evaluate portfolio management issues and performance outcome, and build on the skills/knowledge from the semester one module, Principles of Finance, and selectively apply these in a portfolio context.

Topics studied may include:

• term structure of interest rates
• bond portfolio management
• stock selection
• multifactor asset pricing models
• investment funds and equity portfolio strategies
• portfolio performance evaluation.

This module will analyse in-depth the causes, implications and regulatory responses to the recent global banking crisis. In particular, the module will review and analyse the theoretical basis of financial innovation and its impact on financial institutions and markets (and the role of derivative instruments in the banking crisis), and review and analyse price- and credit derivative instrument. You will also analyse in depth the nature, causes, policy responses and implications of the global financial crisis, and consider post-crisis scenarios for bank business models and regulation.

Topics covered may include:

• financial innovation and instruments
• securitisation and credit derivatives
• banking and the financial crisis
• financial regulation.

This module will give you an understanding of the economic concepts and models appropriate to business decision-making. It will use economic theory to explain and analyse the behaviour of consumers, organisations and the economy in general, discuss how economics has developed as an explicit ethical science and how its theory can be used to help management decision making.

Topics studied may include:

• an introduction to economics
• microeconomics
• economic models
• supply, demand and market equilibrium
• competition
• pricing
• market failure
• aggregate demand and supply
• inflation
• unemployment
• growth
• trade.

This module will present a range of issues affecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It will, amongst others, assess the economic contribution of the SME sector, describe the growth patterns of SMEs and identify the characteristics of entrepreneurs, evaluate the funding of SMEs and appraise the relationship between SMEs and their principal financiers.

Topics studied may include:

• the small business sector and start-ups
• entrepreneurs and owner-managers
• elements of business plans for SMEs
• strategy and growth in SMEs
• growth models for SMEs
• the financing and financial management of SMEs
• management strategies in small firms
• UK government policy towards SMEs
• contemporary issues in the small firm sector
• idea generation and evaluation
• SMEs and innovation.

This module will develop the skills you need to analyse a given company and industry in great depth. You will explore a company's corporate finances and assess the industry environment within which it operates, identify appropriate tools of analysis and apply these to company or industry complex case studies, and critically assess different corporate finance strategies.

The module is case-study based and will see you will cover several examples related to corporate financial analysis.

Example topics for these case studies may include:

• capital structure choices within the firm
• cash management and firm liquidity
• corporate valuation
• mergers and acquisitions
• capital budgeting and shareholder value.

This module will build on the Corporate Finance module by developing the skills you will need to analyse financing and investment decisions in corporations in greater depth. You will employ and assess advanced investment appraisal techniques that take into account real options, evaluate the role of internal capital markets in enabling corporations to finance investment projects in the presence of agency problems and information asymmetries, and appraise mechanisms that corporations may use to respond to various financial and operational risks.

Topics studied may include:

• investment appraisal using real options
• external financing capacity and credit rationing
• internal capital markets
• corporate finance and product market competition
• corporate risk management.

This module will develop an understanding of corporate governance and responsibility and explore different governance mechanisms. You will assess the role of corporate governance in the broader corporate environment, analyse key aspects of current governance regulation and evaluate the operation and effectiveness of various corporate governance mechanisms on company behaviour.

Topics covered may include:

• theories of corporate governance
• regulation of corporate governance
• boards of directors
• ownership and control
• executive remuneration
• accountability and corporate social responsibility
• international aspects of corporate governance.