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MSc Banking & Finance, part-time

Postgraduate

MSc Banking & Finance, part-time

Are you looking to move into a more senior position or to stand out from the crowd? If you can’t take a year off to study, you can complete our masters in Banking & Finance online.

This programme is currently under review and as a result we are not accepting applications




Female student writing in a classroom

About the degree programme

We understand how busy you are. So we’ve developed a masters degree programme that allows you to combine personal commitments, work and study.

Wherever you are in the world, you can study this degree programme at any time of day – as long as you can access the internet. You can work through the programme’s three distinct stages at your own pace over a period of three years.

Our masters degree programme will also give you the strategic management skills and the analytical tools you need to evaluate contemporary industry issues.

 The modules in this masters degree programme focus on:

  • risk management
  • corporate finance
  • economics
  • and leadership in the financial services sector.

But you will also be able to select an option module to tailor your learning to your ambition and interests.

Chartered status

Graduating with a Masters Banking & Finance from us will give you automatic chartered status – a mark of senior standing in the banking and finance industries.

Chartered status shows employers, customers and regulators that you have reached the highest level of professional education in your field. It demonstrates your commitment, raises your profile and improves your career prospects.

After graduation, you can maintain your chartered status by completing a programme of continuing professional development with us every year. Chartered professionals commit to ongoing professional development and the highest standards of conduct and ethics.


Summer School

Not sure if a masters programme will be right for you? Why not take part in our Pre-masters programmes designed to introduce you to this dynamic sector, allow you to meet industry professionals and help you decide whether a masters is right for you.

Find out more 

Modules

Stage 1: PGCert Banking & Finance

Financial markets, institutions and instruments

  • The competitive landscape facing the financial services industry
  • How competition affects key aspects of the sector, such as the impact of new business models on the principles and structures of lending
  • How to develop a critical analysis of the structures and strategies of the industry
  • Understanding global banking businesses and market structures
  • Our framework for international comparison and the challenges facing the financial services sector
  • How strategic forces affect the operational structures of banking institutions
  • The industry's relationship to its key customer segments

Bank risk management and regulation

  • Introduction to internal and external influence on risk taking and execution of business
  • How risk taking and reward are different for institutions and society
  • How regulation protects the interests of society
  • Internal and market controls on risk and regulation frameworks

The module establishes and explains internal and market controls on risk and regulation frameworks.

Corporate finance

  • How to manage firms to maximise shareholder wealth
  • The strategic and financial decisions financial managers make, and their links to firm value
  • How to select investment projects
  • How to finance firms
  • When and how to reward shareholders through dividend payments
  • Advanced strategic management, including mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring
  • Technical points such as event studies, real options, portfolio theory, and company valuation

Stage 2: PGDip Banking & Finance

Economics

  • The economic knowledge and analytical skills you need to contribute to the strategic thinking and planning of a business unit
  • The microeconomics of a business in the context of its immediate industry and region
  • The macroeconomics of the wider environment
    The economic environment from the perspective of financial institutions and their stakeholders
  • Financial and business cycles
  • A critical approach to interpreting key economic performance statistics and indicators
  • Business and credit cycles, the varying analyses of these cycles and the policy responses to them

Leadership in financial services

  • Recognising the roles of people as individuals and in teams and organisations
  • Relationships with the human resources (HR) function
  • Interactions with external parties
  • Understanding what organisations do to manage, develop, and support their staff
  • Leading and managing people and understanding others’ perspectives, especially that of the HR department or its equivalent

Stage 3: MSc Banking & Finance

Research methods and dissertation (10,000 words)

The foundations of research methods in business including:

 

  • defining the research question
  • understanding different theoretical perspectives
  • carrying out a literature review 
  • identifying sources of primary and secondary data
  • collecting and analysing data

 

The dissertation offers the ultimate opportunity to engage with potential employers and build industry contacts as research is undertaken and analysed. Students are encouraged to start considering their research subject as soon as they begin their studies. 

Option modules

Commercial and corporate banking

  • The financial needs and solutions of small business customers – from a sole trader to a medium-sized enterprise
  • Trade finance and instruments to manage exchange rate fluctuations for small importers and exporters
  • Debt factoring or leasing products
  • The different kinds of derivatives
  • The relationship between banks and their small and medium enterprise customers
  • The corporate market including financing and relationship management issues from a global banking perspective

Investment management

  • Theories to support modern investment and risk-management techniques, as well as their application in practice
  • The rapid and deep changes in the investment industry over the last three decades
  • New trading strategies resulting from developments in IT and communication
    The pricing and trading of financial assets – equity, debt, and derivatives – using concepts of valuation and return as well as fundamental and technical analysis
  • Risks and risk-assessment methods, particularly the analysis of yield spreads, interest-rate risk, and currency risk

Studying and assessment

You will learn through a combination of independent study, group activities and real-time tutorials.

Week-by-week online study guides take you through every module, to:

  • provide contextual background
  • direct you to both required and optional readings
  • to suggest activities that will support your learning

To assess your work and your progress, we will ask you to carry out a range of tasks that will be similar to what you would expect in a workplace. These could be based on reports, projects, case studies, essays, closed-book exams and research proposals.

Find out more about online study with us

CPQ-specialist-study

Entry requirements

We are happy to consider applications from one of the three routes below:

  • Normally a relevant 2:1 Honours Degree (or equivalent) from a recognised institution
  • Normally a 2:1 Honours Degree (or equivalent) from a recognised institution and demonstration of relevant professional experience within financial services
  • The London Institute of Banking & Finance Chartered Associateship (through the ‘banking qualification route’) and demonstration of relevant professional experience within financial services
We also welcome applications from anyone who can demonstrate relevant professional experience within the financial services sector.


Please note, if you do not meet all of our requirements, we may ask you to attend an interview, to submit a piece of written work – or both of these – with your application.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

In cases where applicants do not meet our entry criteria, we will consider other factors, including the applicant’s professional experience and the strength of their personal statement. We may also invite applicants for an interview in person, or via telephone/Skype.

Only one scholarship is available for each recipient. If you apply for and are awarded the UK Masters Scholarship, you would have to give up the Alumni Scholarship.

We are happy to discuss and agree a payment plan with each applicant on a case-by-case basis and many of our students pay their fee in instalments. However, we do need to receive a partial payment towards the course fee before the beginning of the programme.

We are happy to consider possible exemptions against modules in our masters degree programme. We ask, as an initial step, for details of what you’ve studied, usually in the form of a syllabus or module specification.

You can take your exams in your own country.

Our next masters degree programme starts on 16 September 2019. You will need to get your application to us by 5 August 2019. Intakes are subject to sufficient interest/minimum numbers.

Contact us

For advice and more information about the programme please contact the Postgraduate team or call +44 (0) 207 444 7131.

Enquire about the Masters

Graduation ceremony