Postgraduate Course
MSc Banking and Finance
Overview
The details
Banking and Finance
October 2018
Full-time
How are banks innovating to meet customer demands? Is globalisation increasing risk in the banking and finance sector?
This course builds on your existing knowledge of finance, banking or business to prepare you for a challenging and rewarding career in any banking specialism. You follow an advanced and contemporary programme of study using industry-standard trading software.
We provide you with a broad vision and understanding of the changing nature of modern banking firms. You develop a detailed understanding of areas including:
- portfolio management
- modern banking methods
- bank strategy and risk
- regulation and the internationalisation process
This course is taught at Essex Business School. We're proud to be an internationally diverse and research intensive school, ranked in the top 25 in the UK for research quality (The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018). By embedding the latest academic and industry thinking into our teaching, you experience an education that’s at the forefront of the issues impacting today’s banking and finance sectors.
We help you understand the financial drivers of an increasingly complex banking world to give you the best foundation for your career.
Our MSc Banking and Finance is also available to study part-time and you may be eligible for scholarships and discounts provided by the University of Essex. The University of Essex is a member of the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program. CFA is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.
Postgraduate loans for Masters courses are now available from the Student Loans Company, worth up to £10,000, for students from the UK and EU.
Why we're great.
- We are one of the UK’s largest finance groups, with academics and practitioners across the discipline
- Our Bloomberg Financial Market Labs provide hands-on experience of dealing in stocks and securities
- Our research is presented at institutions such as the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve
Our expert staff
Our finance group is one of the largest in the UK.
Our expert team are at the forefront of financial debate and have presented their research at the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve. They combine academic and industry experience to explore issues such as:
- business ethics
- corporate social responsibility
- organisation studies
- leadership and strategy
- finance and banking
- risk management
- international management
Essex Finance Centre is based at the School and uses social science theories to address the important issues faced by today’s organisations in the commercial, public and third sectors.
Specialist facilities
Our zero carbon building reflects our ethical approach to business.
Located on our Colchester Campus on the Knowledge Gateway and Parkside Office Village, our Essex Business School building features a unique winter garden, which gives the building its own micro-climate. The Eden-style dome provides an innovative working environment, which includes:
- Bloomberg Financial Market Labs in our virtual trading floor
- modern lecture theatres
- study pods and innovation booths – perfect for group working
- networking opportunities with visiting businesses
- Bonds café
- study skills support, such as workshops and learning resources
Your future
Our course provides you with the foundations for a rewarding career in banking and finance, equipping you with the skills to lead at a global level. In 2016, 87% of our postgraduate taught students were in professional employment or further study within six months of graduating (DLHE 2016).
Many of our graduates enjoy roles in a host of occupations, including financial analysis, management, public administration and accountancy. They work for high-profile organisations and innovative SMEs such as:
- National Bank of Kazakhstan
- KPMG
- Cerulli Associates
- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
- Groupon
- Capital Markets Intelligence, a financial publisher
- Credit Data Research, a business funder
We’re also proud of our student entrepreneurs, including international business incubator 0100Ventures and entrepreneurship website SlovakSTARTUP.
We work with the University’s Employability and Careers Centre to help you enhance your CV by taking part in employability opportunities, such as work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities. There is also access to employer talks on campus.
“Studying at Essex Business School helped me to identify my key skills so I could decide on a suitable career path. I developed expertise in banking and finance and undertook an undergraduate placement in Shanghai to apply what I’d learnt, whilst studying Mandarin.”
Alina Skuba, MSc Banking and Finance and BSc Banking and Finance
Entry requirements
UK entry requirements
A 2:2 degree containing core modules relating to Economics or Finance or Banking or Investment (see key modules) and (ideally) at any stage of study Mathematics (calculus), quantitative finance/methods or Econometrics (probability, statistics)
- Key modules
- Actuarial Science/ Insurance, Asset valuation/pricing, Banking/Investment banking, Business, Corporate Finance, Derivative instruments / Futures / Options, E-Commerce, Econometrics, Economics, Exchange rates and FX markets, Finance (NOT Financial Reporting), Financial Econometrics, Financial Modelling, Hedging/Risk Management, International Trade / Finance, Investment and securities, Operational Research, Statistics
International & EU entry requirements
We accept a wide range of qualifications from applicants studying in the EU and other countries. Get in touch with any questions you may have about the qualifications we accept. Remember to tell us about the qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.
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English language requirements
If English is not your first language, we require IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum component score of 5.5Additional Notes
The University uses academic selection criteria to determine an applicant’s ability to successfully complete a course at the University of Essex. Where appropriate, we may ask for specific information relating to previous modules studied or work experience.
Structure
Example structure
Most of our courses combine compulsory and optional modules, giving you freedom to pursue your own interests. All of the modules listed below provide an example of what is on offer from the current academic year. Our Programme Specification provides further details of the course structure for the current academic year.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore to ensure your course is as relevant and up-to-date as possible your core module structure may be subject to change.
Modern Banking
Explore the basics of the structure and environment of banking, and selected aspects of the applied economics of the modern banking firm. You study structure-conduct-performance, competition, bank efficiency, regulation, international banking and bank failures and crises.
Dissertation
Your dissertation is the culmination of your Masters programme, where you apply the knowledge gained on your course to produce an extended independent piece of work. You generate an original idea, analyse literature and current knowledge and produce a coherent argument that shows your ability to relate theory to practice. Your dissertation will help you develop vital skills for the workplace, as well as the ability to analyse real problems through an academic lens. You are assigned a supervisor for the duration of your project.
Research Methods in Finance: Empirical Methods in Finance
This module equips you with the econometric tools and necessary experience to conduct empirical research in finance. You review statistical and basic econometric models and learn to apply econometric techniques in finance by considering topics such as (G)ARCH models, unit roots and cointegration.
View Research Methods in Finance: Empirical Methods in Finance on our Module Directory
Bank Strategy and Risk
Analyse the key strategic developments in banking and the main aspects of risk management in modern banks. You are introduced to the concept of shareholder value in banking, the main banking strategies to create shareholder value, the key risks in banking, and the most important tools required to manage bank risks.
Portfolio Management
Understand the process of portfolio management. You cover the main concepts such as efficient diversification, managing risk exposures, and the valuation of financial assets that are at the core of managing investment portfolios, and pay special attention to the practicalities of the implementation of these concepts.
Postgraduate Mathematics Preparation
This module covers topics in mathematics that are required in Masters-level finance courses at the University of Essex. You focus on the basics of linear algebra, differential calculus including optimisation and dynamics.
View Postgraduate Mathematics Preparation on our Module Directory
Exchange Rates and International Finance (optional)
Gain an understanding of international arbitrage relationships, models of exchange rate determination, and recent issues and debates in the international finance literature. Learn to describe the basic international parity relationships, to outline some of the basic models of exchange rate determination, and have a good grasp of issues such as the international debt crisis, capital mobility, and the advent of the European single currency.
View Exchange Rates and International Finance (optional) on our Module Directory
Trading Global Financial Markets (optional)
Gain theoretical knowledge and a practical understanding of financial markets, trading strategies, risk and money management and trader analytics at the highest level. You study a mix of classroom-based instruction, case studies and practical trading exercises where you trade on real-time simulated global markets through the use of industry-strength proprietary trading software in the trading lab.
View Trading Global Financial Markets (optional) on our Module Directory
Corporate Finance (optional)
This module offers you a standard introduction of the field of corporate finance at postgraduate level. You consider the classical areas of Modigliani-Miller irrelevance, Taxes and capital structure, Trade-off theory and Pecking order theory of capital structure, before exploring the more modern areas, which are essentially based on contract theory.
Derivative Securities (optional)
Master the pricing of financial derivatives and their use for hedging financial risks. You study the basics of futures and options, analyse the Black-Scholes and binomial option pricing models, and consider various numerical techniques for pricing financial derivatives. Futures and options are then utilised in the context of hedging financial risks, and you are introduced to the concept of volatility trading and the treatment of volatility as an asset class.
View Derivative Securities (optional) on our Module Directory
Asset Pricing (optional)
Gain a formal introduction to asset pricing theories and empirical findings. You review the fundamental theories of the expected utility, asset pricing kernels, and risk-neutral valuation, covering the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), and linear factor models arising from the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT). You also discuss empirical asset pricing studies.
Financial Modelling (optional)
Consider the use of modern econometric techniques in the analysis of financial time series. You cover multivariate models for stationary and non-stationary processes, such as Vector Autoregressive models, consider appropriate models for volatility, and study Markov processes and simulation methods used for financial modelling.
Behavioural Finance (optional)
Behavioural finance rejects crucial tenets of mainstream finance such as the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) on the basis that agents are less than fully rational, and that arbitrage fails to eliminate mispricing. Instead it identifies market anomalies or regularities such as holiday effects that are at odds with the EMH. You learn to use ideas from cognitive psychology, such as overconfidence, and aspects of imperfect arbitrage to explain these.
Risk Management (optional)
The recent financial crisis and credit crunch have demonstrated that risk management was too narrowly defined. In this course you examine the Value at Risk (VAR) measure of financial risk developed in the 1990s, before discussing the new post-crisis Regulatory environment.
Fixed Income Securities (optional)
Discover the concepts and tools that are useful to asset managers who want to use fixed income securities for investing, market-making or speculating. You first study fixed income markets and instruments, before going on to explore basic concepts of bond portfolio management and investigating the quantitative tools used to value bonds and manage bonds' portfolios.
View Fixed Income Securities (optional) on our Module Directory
Finance Research Techniques Using Matlab (optional)
This module introduces Matlab, software commonly used in financial organisations and academia to model portfolio construction and solve banking and finance challenges. You learn how to use Matlab programming language to solve financial problems. These may include finding optimal portfolio weights, calculating and simulating derivative prices and implied volatilities, and estimating and simulating GARCH models, amongst others.
View Finance Research Techniques Using Matlab (optional) on our Module Directory
Industry Expert Lectures in Finance (optional)
Taught exclusively by leading industry experts, this module offers you a unique opportunity to appreciate the latest developments and issues faced by leading practitioners in the areas of quantitative finance and risk management.
View Industry Expert Lectures in Finance (optional) on our Module Directory
Teaching
- Tailor the content of your course to more closely fit your interests and aspirations
- Courses focus on practical applications and links with industry
- We run an open seminar series
Assessment
- Regular assessment is by coursework, presentations, case studies, group work, tests and examinations
Dissertation
- You submit a 15,000 word dissertation
Fees and funding
Home/EU fee
£10,710
International fee
£16,750
Fees will increase for each academic year of study.
What's next
Open Days
We hold Open Days for all our applicants throughout the year. Our Colchester Campus events are a great way to find out more about studying at Essex, and give you the chance to:
- tour our campus and accommodation
- find out answers to your questions about our courses, student finance, graduate employability, student support and more
- meet our students and staff
If the dates of our organised events aren’t suitable for you, feel free to get in touch by emailing tours@essex.ac.uk and we’ll arrange an individual campus tour for you.
2018 Open Days (Colchester Campus)
- Saturday, June 23, 2018
Applying
You can apply for our postgraduate courses online. You’ll need to provide us with your academic qualifications, as well as supporting documents such as transcripts, English language qualifications and certificates. You can find a list of necessary documents online, but please note we won’t be able to process your application until we have everything we need.
There is no application deadline but we recommend that you apply before 1 July for our taught courses starting in October. We aim to respond to applications within two weeks. If we are able to offer you a place, you will be contacted via email.
Visit Colchester Campus
We want you to throw yourself in at the deep end, soak up life and make the most of those special Essex moments.
Home to over 13,000 students from more than 130 countries, our Colchester Campus is the largest of our three sites, making us one of the most internationally diverse campuses on the planet - we like to think of ourselves as the world in one place.
Virtual tours
If you live too far away to come to Essex (or have a busy lifestyle), no problem. Our 360 degree virtual tour allows you to explore the Colchester Campus from the comfort of your home. Check out our accommodation options, facilities and social spaces.
Exhibitions
Our staff travel the world to speak to people about the courses on offer at Essex. Take a look at our list of exhibition dates to see if we’ll be near you in the future.
The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its course finder is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements, industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep prospective students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.
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