Undergraduate Finance 2025-2026

The module considers the nature and operation of investment markets, focusing on three asset classes; shares, bonds and real estate. It looks at the characteristics of these investment options in terms of their risks and returns. The module introduces basic financial mathematics: time value of money, calculation of present values and investment rates of return. Finally, it considers the role of financial institutions and regulatory bodies in personal finance, where consumers and financial markets interact.

The main aim of this course is to develop a sound understanding of fundamental principles underlying the theory and practice of finance, thereby providing a strong basis for further study of advanced finance theory and cognate disciplines. The course introduces students to important concepts in finance: principles of assets pricing,  concept of risk and return, theory of interest rates and pricing fixed income securities, evaluation of investment project with a focus on embedded real options. It equips students with good analytical skills in order to understand the implications of financial decisions by understanding  the fundamentals that govern them.

This course provides students with an understanding of the financial system, primarily from a UK perspective, introducing students to the reasons for, and nature of, financial markets and institutions before moving on to explore the need and importance of financial regulation, and investigating the causes and consequences of the recent global financial crisis. The course will introduce students to a variety of topics including the role of wholesale and retail banks, non-bank financial institutions, the debt and equity markets, and the derivative markets; market efficiency, UK and international regulation, consumer protection and market abuse.

Applied Corporate Finance provides students with the knowledge about the fundamental theories and emerging issues in corporate finance. The course introduces the issues facing a corporate manager and equip students with the analytical skills necessary for evaluating corporate financial policies. Important issues covered by the course such as cost of capital, value of debt and its associated risks, leasing, credit risk analysis, management of working capital, will be explored from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

This course is designed to equip students with a thorough understanding of corporate finance theory, enabling them to grasp the implications of corporate finance decisions comprehensively. It aims to deepen students' knowledge of the fundamental theories underpinning corporate finance while enhancing their intellectual capabilities. Through the course, students will gain insights into corporate financing choices and their interaction with financial markets, thereby solidifying their theoretical foundation for analysing and understanding corporate behaviour and performance.

This course introduces the statistical and mathematical tools needed to understand empirical research in Finance. Lectures provide the theoretical underpinnings of estimation and statistical inference of models commonly used in financial econometric research. Students will have the opportunity to take the methods to the data in guided computer workshops.

This course aims to build knowledge in financial analysis techniques. It will allow students to understand the key elements of financial analysis by undertaking fundamental and technical analyses. The course helps students understand and use credit analysis. It will also discuss financial distress in depth to build students’ ability to think about the implications of financial performance for investors and financial institutions.

The course combines theoretical valuation models with practical applications to help students prepare themselves for the role of financial analyst in the industry.

This course explores the application of asset pricing models in security valuation and portfolio management. It bridges finance theory with quantitative analysis for students pursuing careers in investment and asset management. Prerequisites include a good foundation in economics, finance, statistics, and calculus. The course demands a 10-15 hours’ weekly commitment with a focus on quantitative methods.

This course aims to equip students with a solid understanding of the latest financial technologies, including blockchain, cryptocurrencies, payment and lending, and robo-advisors, as well as the analytical skills necessary to interpret and leverage financial data through Python programming. It combines theoretical knowledge with hands-on practical skills, preparing students for a variety of roles in the fintech industry.

The course is intended to introduce fixed income securities to undergraduate students. It will deal with pricing of bonds, measuring and managing interest rate risk, theories of term structure of interest rates and bond portfolios.

Multinational corporations face a range of risks in an international setting, including exchange rate, political and financing risk. The course considers the complexities of financial management in these settings. It aims to develop students understanding and ability to apply finance theory to international financial management. This course will develop student skills in the analysis of issues including globalisation and the multinational corporation; foreign exchange markets and exchange rate determination; international capital markets, debt and banking; risk management and foreign currency derivative securities.

Covering the intellectually and commercially fertile ground at the accountancy/finance interface. Considering financial analysis from both theoretical and practical angles. Do you need to understand financial reporting to be an investor? How should we assess the success of an acquisition? Why do accountants think mergers don’t exist? How do companies decide on financing strategies? Does corporate governance and ethics really matter – do share prices react to it? These are some of the questions we will address alongside using DataStream and the ThomsonReuters Eikon system. The course might give you some ideas for your dissertation too.

This course aims to provide an overview of quantitative methods needed to conduct empirical research in finance and financial economics.  The course is intended to enable students

i) To develop knowledge and understanding of the theoretical practical approaches to quantitative methods in finance.

ii) To develop the practical quantitative skills to equip students for dissertations in finance and for on-going work in the finance area.

iii) To develop intellectual skills by understanding of the appropriate use of statistical techniques for various financial problems.

iv)  To develop the ability to write extended research reports on original topics in finance

All Accountancy and Finance students must undertake a dissertation. Students taking a joint degree may undertake the dissertation in either discipline, but not both.  It is designed to show that you are able to:

Carry out a substantial piece of research on a chosen subject without close supervision

Critically analyse and evaluate work carried out by others

Reach your own conclusions based upon your analysis and evaluation of relevant evidence, whether this is prior research only or prior research coupled with your own research.  

Write-up the results of your work in a clear, coherent and logical way.

All Accountancy and Finance students must undertake a dissertation. Students taking a joint degree may undertake the dissertation in either discipline, but not both.  It is designed to show that you are able to:

Carry out a substantial piece of research on a chosen subject without close supervision

Critically analyse and evaluate work carried out by others

Reach your own conclusions based upon your analysis and evaluation of relevant evidence, whether this is prior research only or prior research coupled with your own research.  

Write-up the results of your work in a clear, coherent and logical way.

The main aim of this course is to provide students with a thorough understanding of basic derivative contracts: options, forwards, futures, swaps, interest rate derivatives, written on a variety of underlying instruments. It will introduce students to essential areas in derivatives from both theoretical and practical perspective: the pricing mechanism of derivatives and mathematical derivation of Black-Scholes model, the derivatives trading, the organization and structure of derivatives markets. The course will equip students with good analytical skills in order to be able to incorporate derivatives into asset portfolio management, use them for hedging purposes, apply different derivatives trading strategies.

As the title suggests, this course aims to prepare students for taking their dissertation in the subsequent sub-session by providing them with a background on what is expected of an academic dissertation and how to meet the expectations.