MSc Finance

• International Corporate Finance: The aims of this unit are to address the importance of the corporate finance function in an internationally diverse corporation and to offer a framework for assisting corporate decision makers in a complex, dynamic and inherently uncertain external environment.
• Financial Econometrics: Mathematical, programming and statistical tools used in the real world for analysing and modelling financial data. You'll use these tools to model asset returns, the stock, bond and exchange rate, and measure risk using different software.
• Economics of Money & Financial Markets: Understand and analyse the working of various financial markets, providing you with the tools necessary to analyse and evaluate the factors that drive these markets and the role they play in the wider economy.
• Portfolio Construction & Theory: This unit aims to provide you with the necessary theoretical background for the application of portfolio selection and how to apply modern portfolio theory to investment management, covering specific issues such as ethical investment strategies.
• Research Project: The research project provides Master’s level students with an opportunity to undertake a significant piece of self-managed research in an area that interests you and is relevant to the course.

Choose two:

• Derivatives: Understand the principles and practical aspects of derivatives investment and risk management, focusing on the conceptual and analytical aspects of derivatives.

• Data Processing and Analytics: The unit aims to develop student knowledge and skills in the evolving areas of Data Modelling, Data Analytics and Big Data Analytics. Students develop an understanding of data design, implementation and use of data-driven systems. Moreover, they learn how to model data and big data, discover knowledge within the data and deal with the dimensionality of the data. Overall, they develop critical understanding of the methodologies and techniques to cope with Data and Big Data, i.e. data of high volume, high velocity and high variety, utilising the appropriate platform (e.g. Hadoop, Storm, Spark, MongoDB).

• FinTech: Focusing on the interaction between finance and technology, this unit covers how the economy has been affected by the new digital era, characterised by technologically-enabled innovations in the provision of financial services.

• Risk Management: The focus of this unit is on the key principles and theories that underpin investment decisions, such as the main characteristics of portfolios (stocks and bonds) and how to calculate their risk.

Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year.

You have the option to undertake a 30-week placement at the end of the course, providing an opportunity to apply your acquired knowledge and skills in the workplace. You are required to find your own placement; however, our Careers & Employability Service and your faculty placements office are on hand to support you.

The placement is intended to foster personal and professional development, and to help you to make a connection between academic learning and the working world.

You should consider how a range of financial theories can be used in practice to improve investment and financial management decision-making. The transferable skills developed will improve your performance in your future career in financial analysis and portfolio management.

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

For Finance we are looking for applicants who:

• Have a good understanding of financial, legal and economic theories
• Have excellent analytical and decision-making skills
• Show an enthusiasm to the subject area
• Demonstrate effective communication skills.

Students will typically have an interest in international and multi-cultural world economy. We encourage applications from those who are committed to their studies and are capable of working well in teams.

This course selects candidates by looking at their applications. There are no interviews or additional selection activities and therefore we suggest that you make your application stand out from the crowd. For more information, take a look at our post graduate how to apply pages.

There is no application deadline for this course. However, if you will need a visa to come to the UK to study, think carefully about the length of time it will take for your visa application to be processed and make sure your visa will be ready in time for the beginning of your course. 

December and January is one of our busiest application periods and therefore it may take us a little longer to process incoming applications. For courses with a January start date, we recommend submitting your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Click the green ‘Apply now’ button to submit your application free of charge online through myHub, our application portal. You will create your own myHub account so that you can track the progress of your application. Don’t forget to save your application as you go; you can return to it at as many times as you want before you submit it. For more information visit our How to apply section.

We provide a lot of support for you to help you find work, including a block of seminars, covering topics such as writing a CV and a covering letter, completing an application form, performing well in interviews, and we also provide language support to assist you with the written elements of your applications.

However, it is ultimately your responsibility to find work. The university does not guarantee that you will find a place.

During your time on placement you will be supported by a unit tutor and a placement development advisor who will visit you on placement and keep in touch by phone and email.

If you choose to do a placement as part of your course:

If you have previously studied in the UK, we will consider any study limit that may apply. We will issue your CAS according to the length of time you are entitled to under UKVI regulations (if you do not have enough time left for a work placement year, we will issue your CAS to cover your course dates only).

If you decide after you have enrolled on your course that you do not want to do a placement, this will be reported to the UKVI when you have successfully completed your course.

If you choose not to do a placement as part of your course:

We will note this on your CAS and your visa will only be granted long enough to cover your taught course, excluding placement.

If you change your mind while you are here and decide you want to do a placement, you will need to leave the UK to make a new Tier 4 visa application for the additional year of study. You would need to pay for your return travel back to your home country, as well as the cost of a new Tier 4 student visa application.

The normal requirements for embarking upon this degree are:

• A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in a required subject.
• Required subjects: Finance, Accounting, Economics or courses with elements of these subjects.

If you lack the formal academic qualifications needed to enter a postgraduate or post-experience degree, there are several alternative routes to follow, some of which are based on experience – please contact the Future Students Enquiry Team to find out more.

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our entry requirements for non-UK students' page.

Please see below some examples of the qualifications for entry:

• India: Bachelor’s degree (4 years) from a recognised HE institution with a minimum overall result of 55%
• Nigeria:  Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution with a minimum classification of 2:2
• Thailand:  Thai Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised higher education institution with a minimum GPA of 2.5/4.0
• Turkey: Bachelor’s degree (Lisans Diplomasi - four years) with a minimum overall GPA of 2.3/4.0
• Vietnam:  Bachelor's degree/Bang tot nghiep dai hoc with an average score of 6.5/10, or a Master’s degree/Thac si.

All applications will be subject to a minimum grade and your degree may need to be in a relevant subject area.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

IELTS (Academic) 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in writing, speaking, listening and reading, or equivalent.

View further information about our English language requirements.

Bournemouth University International College offers a number of pre-sessional English and preparatory programmes to prepare international students for postgraduate study at BU. Admission to the degree is guaranteed on successful completion of your course to the required level.

After completion of this course typical job roles can include:

• Financial advisor
• Financial analyst
• Financial Consultant
• Finance Manager
• Financial Risk Assessor
• Market Analyst
• Relationship Manager
• Trader of Financial Assets.

• Finance advice
• Banking
• Investment
• Multi-national corporations.

As you progress through the course, selecting option units and setting up your placement – should you choose to complete one – will help you establish the exact career path you want to follow, and the context in which you want to put your studies to use.

If you want to continue your studies after achieving your Master’s, you can look into our range of doctoral programmes.

What's included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork, and non-financial support whilst on placement.
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
• Disability and additional learning support.
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills.
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, Tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Text books, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of text books and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses.
• Accommodation and living costs. Please visit our website for more information.
• Travel costs for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable).
• Travel costs to and from the University campus. An annual bus pass can be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately.
• Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas). Information about funding your placement year can be found on our website.
• Clothing or equipment costs required for your placement if this is part of your course of study.
• SportBU membership.

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

If you need to repeat one or more units during the course of your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full time fee.

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries to eligible students who are beginning their studies at BU. Please visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/funding for details on living costs, budgeting and paying your tuition fees.

International (not Rep. of Ireland) students need to pay a non-refundable £3,000 deposit to secure their place on a postgraduate course. You will need to pay your deposit by the date stated in your offer letter. The remainder of your fee will be payable on registration/enrolment. There are two exceptions to the non-refundable rule on the deposit:

• You fail to meet the academic or English requirements of your offer
• You are refused a visa to enter the UK, provided the reason for the refusal is not a fraudulent application.

Anna is currently working in the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting at Bournemouth University. She teaches quantitative finance (e.g Risk Management, Derivatives, Statistics...). She has led a project for the UNWTO on crisis management, worked as a researcher for NATO on hybrid threats, as a consultant with the World Bank in Washington on reducing fragility and strengthening resilience post-conflict and presented oral evidence to the Parliamentary Committee on hybrid threats. Anna has given numerous interviews for various media outlets throughout the world, and currently reading for a PhD, this time in Economics, with the SOAS University of London.

Dr Wing Cheung has 15 years of financial industry practitioner-scholar experience in leading quantitative finance research, research-led industry executive education and consulting, financial technology (FinTech) innovation, and entrepreneurship. He has published extensively in the quant methodology arena and his Behaviour-Consistent Portfolio Theory has influenced hundreds of professional fund managers around the world and enabled multiple inventions which won top FinTech awards in UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and recognitions by Accenture, UBS, Alibaba etc.

Previously, he managed investment-banking quant teams (No.1 in 2010 Institutional Investor (II) European “Quantitative Research” Survey) in London. While a practitioner, he spoke at professional and academic research conferences; taught at financial institutions and graduate schools; supervised PhD-level researchers; and peer-reviewed for academic journals and funding etc.

He holds a PhD from Cambridge University, where he specialised in mathematical financial modelling.

Dermot's research interests are cross-disciplinary, encapsulating areas of economics and employee relations. More specifically, his research focuses on public-sector economics, theory of the firm, public-sector industrial relations, employee share-ownership, and employee psychology.

Dermot has published a number of papers relating to the impact of privatisation and employee share-ownership on employee attitudes and commitment in the workplace.

Dr Spencer Barnett graduated from Bournemouth University in 2003 with a first-class honours degree in Accounting & Finance and has subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant.

Prior to starting at BU in 2000, Spencer was an equity analyst and arbitrageur at a major European investment bank.

His research interests lie within the field of equity arbitrage, particularly surrounding mergers and acquisitions.

Dr Peter Howard-Jones is a senior lecturer and post-doctoral research assistant at Bournemouth University, having gained a Ph.D. in August 2019 with a thesis entitled “The Influence of the Washington Consensus Programme on the Transitional Economies of Eastern Europe – a firm level microeconomic analysis”.

Recipient of the 2021 European Association of Economic Studies prize for the best PhD thesis. Teaching experience across a range of subjects with positive student feedback referencing an ability to provide a personal historical perspective to theory and contemporary events. A Retired multinational Chairman, CEO and management consultant, skilled in Negotiation, Business Strategy and Planning, Business Transformation, Management, and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). Extensive International experience, particularly in Europe and South East Asia, in the profitable development of both food and non-food multinational fast-moving consumer goods and OEM engineering companies.

Peter’s research interests and thought leadership include The impact of the Washington Consensus Programme on the economic and institutional development of the former Soviet Union with particular emphasis on the new European Union member states of Eastern Europe. His recent research studies explore the performance effects of firms in relation to productivity, profitability and finance availability. Peter has made a particular impact with a Ph.D. thesis entitled “The Influence of the Washington Consensus Programme on the Transitional Economies of Eastern Europe – a firm level microeconomic analysis” which received the 2021 European Association of Comparative Economic studies prize for the PhD, in the unanimous opinion of the award jury, has the greatest potential to impact the field of comparative economic studies in the future.