Postgraduate MSc
Finance, Investment and Risk
Do you hold strong numeracy and analytical skills and want to work in a fast-paced, lucrative area in the finance or consultancy industry?
Accreditation
Do you hold strong numeracy and analytical skills and want to work in a fast-paced, lucrative area in the finance or consultancy industry?
Working in investment and risk means playing a crucial role in determining financial, safety and security risks and spotting investment opportunities for a business. It requires a detailed knowledge of the workings of enterprise and the ability to keep your cool in a pressured environment.
Study our CFA and GARP-accredited MSc Finance, Investment and Risk course to gain a strong knowledge of financial, risk and investment management principles and techniques, and the confidence necessary to work the trading floor via our real-life simulator, the Bloomberg Lab alongside the option to take an exciting Industrial Placement.
Watch our Postgraduate Placements video here.
You’ll learn about finance, investment and risk including modules on global derivatives markets, investments and portfolio management, credit risk and quantitative analysis and data management methods. You will finish your master's with a detailed report with the support of a dedicated expert supervisor.
This course has a higher focus on the quantitative side of finance which is more desirable in today’s job market.
~ Matthew Adams, MSc Finance, Investment and Risk
A minimum of a second-class UK degree, or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification, in finance, accounting, economics, business, mathematics, natural sciences or engineering related discipline.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, students who require a student visa to study cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
This course requires a Good level of English language, equivalent to B2 on CEFR.
Details on how to meet this requirement can be found on our English Language requirements webpage.
Examples:
IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component
PTE Academic 63 with a minimum of 59 in each sub-test
A degree from a UK university
A degree from a Majority English Speaking Country
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
You must complete all compulsory modules and select 30 credits at Level 7 from a list of optional modules that will be provided by the Division.
This module covers key concepts related to financial risk management, especially market risk in financial institutions. It broadly addresses the rationale for practising risk management, followed by approaches to measuring and managing risk.
The course will cover the following indicative topics:
• Taxonomy of Risks
• Essential Financial Products
• Introduction to Regulation
• Modelling Portfolio Risk
• Market Risk and VAR
• Credit Risk
• Risk-Adjusted Performance Measures.
Global derivative markets have exhibited spectacular growth in terms of volume of trading and use by both financial and non-financial institutions. Some of the world’s large institutions-Orange County, Baring, Metallgesellschaft, Negara, AIG, and Lehman Brothers have lost billions of dollars in the financial markets. Whilst national and international authorities have agonised over the regulation of derivative markets, it generated tremendous interest on the nature, operation, working mechanism and true significance of derivative products and markets in the financial system and the economy.
Main topics:
• Forwards: No arbitrage principle
• Futures: Marking-to-market, margins call and liquidity
• Swaps: Interest rate risk and measures for risk management
• Options: Arbitrage versus speculation, options trading strategies
• Credit Default Swaps: Selling protection or printing money
• Path Dependent Products
• Exotic Options
• Real-Estate and Subprime Loans: The bubbles that always burst
• Securitization Process and Asset-Backed Securities: Derivatives as weapons from mass destruction.
This module provides a general introduction to the quantitative methods used in financial applications and topics may include:
Statistical concepts
Probability distributions
Statistical inference, estimation and hypothesis testing
Correlation, spurious correlation and general dependence measures
Linear regression
Multiple linear regression
Logistic regression
Monte Carlo simulation
Modelling in Excel.
Indicative topics include:
• Overview of the Investment Industry
• Characteristics of debt securities and bond investment strategies
• Equity analysis
• Macroeconomic and industry analysis
• Equity valuation methods
• Equity portfolio management
• Hedge Funds
• Performance measurement.
Introduction of default risk concept and credit risk-related securities.
Credit rankings (internal and external rating) and the role of credit rating agencies, credit migration.
Default prediction and credit scoring models.
Default dependencies.
Credit risk portfolio models (risk-adjusted performance, stress-testing portfolio losses).
Corporate bonds and yield spreads.
Default risk pricing models (structural models and reduced-form models).
Market default models: (CreditRisk+, Credit Metrics™, KMV model).
Credit derivatives and credit risks of derivatives.
This module assumes basic knowledge and understanding of risk-return relationship, portfolio theory, and CAPM. It considers the investment and portfolio management decision in more detail by first examining the asset allocation decision and investments in a global context. It then attempts to evaluate different types of securities (bonds and stocks) in which investments can be made using a three-step top-down approach consisting of macro- and micro-market analysis, industry analysis and finally, company analysis. It then critically examines different equity portfolio management and performance evaluation strategies.
The module provides the knowledge required to understand issues in corporate governance and business ethics. Indicative topics are as follows; Corporate governance, Shareholder versus stakeholder view of the firm, Board of directors, Role of institutional investors, Performance and renumeration, Corporate purpose and corporate communications, Ethics and corporate social responsibility, Key ethical theories and practical ethical reflections.
Employers are in search for individuals who possess logical thinking, analytical capability, leadership, communication and the ability to work under pressure. This module develops the necessary research knowledge and skills for students to be able to successfully complete a piece of research in industry or consultancy contexts or academia.
More information to follow.
Duration: 1 year full-time
This flexible course is studied over one year full-time and consists of seven compulsory and two optional modules in Stage 1 with Stage 2 finishing with a piece of finance-related research.
The MSc Finance, Investment and Risk programme is available with an optional industrial placement, which will require you to complete the Industrial Placement Report.
Our enthusiastic team of international teaching staff are all experts in their field of study and are regularly published in leading journals worldwide. They guide and support your learning, bringing their subject to life and drawing you into the conversation.
We use a variety of teaching methods, including:
Classroom-based learning is supported by the latest online technologies and learning platforms.
Your progress on this course is assessed through a variety of means, including:
Students wishing to undertake the optional industrial placement will be required to successfully complete all stage 1 modules. The Industrial Placement is assessed by the completion of the Industrial Placement Report.
Industrial placements are the perfect way for you to enhance your career prospects and deepen your understanding of a specific area of expertise. This MSc programme is available with the option to take an in-company or self-employed industrial placement of up to 12 months (visa dependent), allowing you to gain work experience in the UK or overseas.
Our lively and active postgraduate community is brought about in part by our strong research culture and by the close community between our staff and students. Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books and embed their research in their teaching.
Students have regular contact with their course and module conveners with staff on hand to answer any questions and to provide helpful and constructive feedback on submitted work.
You can also get involved with extra-curricular academic and social activities with guest lectures, talks and workshops organised by our academic staff, research centres and the ASPIRE team. You can catch up with our most recent Open for Business Seminar Series.
Our Canterbury campus provides a welcoming environment and a close-knit student community. Kent Business School is based within the Sibson Building which opened in 2017 and its impressive design won the RIBA Regional and National Award. It houses well-equipped lecture and seminar spaces, as well as breakout spaces for group work, Bloomberg suite, computer labs, a dedicated MBA suite, and our ASPIRE Lab Space. There is also a café on site.
The School is conveniently located at the University of Kent’s campus, close to continental Europe and with easy access to London. World-famous Canterbury Cathedral is situated in the heart of the historic city centre, just a 25-minute walk or a short bus ride.
Kent Business School has close links with: ifs (Institute of Financial Services); dunnhumby, who partners the Consumer Insight Service in the Centre for Value Chain Research; Hong Kong Baptist University, with whom we offer a joint Master’s programme in Operational Research and Finance Business Statistics; University of Castellanza (Italy); Audencia Nantes Business School (France); Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences (Denmark); Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; University of Ingolstadt, Bayern (Germany); City University of Hong Kong; Renmin University of China, School of Business.
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
Kent Business School is a research-led business school. Our research strategy is developed around the core theme of sustainable innovation which cuts across the entire School. This theme can be seen as being divided into two sub-strands of research aimed at answering these main questions:
Kent Business School advances knowledge through constant promotion and support of innovative research. We have an impact on wider society through extensive collaborations with external partners which range from other academic institutions to a variety of local, national and international businesses as well as the NHS. Within this wider context, our main strategic aim has been geared towards establishing ourselves as a leading institution for research in sustainable innovation.
Kent Business School is a global leader in research and develops a wide portfolio of research related activities including workshops, conferences and research seminar series. This has led to a large number of international collaborations and to over 200 co-authored papers with international partners.
Specialising in public-sector critical accounting and accounting history.
Looking into a wide array of financial issues from derivatives pricing to real-estate modelling.
Innovating in wide-ranging topics such as operational research and systems thinking.
Studying issues surrounding consumer behaviours, product development and maintaining value supply chains among others.
People, Management and Organisation
Specialising in improving human resource management, organisational behaviour and leadership.
Strategy and International Business
Helping in the development of innovative business strategies for business all over the world.
Centre for Logistics and Heuristic Optimisation
Helping companies to solve complex strategic, tactical and operational problems.
Centre of Productivity and Workplace Performance
Contribute to the productivity debate and drive improvements at all levels; from the national economic output, to changes in the ways SME’s operate.
Centre for Quantitative Finance
Providing quantitative analysis of issues in the financial markets for businesses and policy makers.
Helping both academics and practitioners tackle the challenges emerging from the rapid development of new digital technologies
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Critical Perspectives on Accounting; Quantitative Finance; Human Resource Management Journal; Journal of Product Innovation Management; European Journal of Operational Research; and Psychology & Marketing.
Full details of staff research interests can be found on the School's website.
Our Finance and Investment Risk graduates find work in public and private sector both overseas and in the UK in a wide range of companies and organisations, including:
Many of our students also stay local and find job opportunities regionally in small and medium firms or even set-up their own businesses as well-equipped entrepreneurs.
You gain much more than an academic qualification when you graduate. We enhance your student experience and accelerate your career prospects to help you achieve your ambition.
From the moment you start with us, our efforts are focused on helping you gain the knowledge, skills and experience you need to thrive in an increasingly competitive workplace. As part of the course, undertake an Industrial Placement or opt for an In-Company Scheme to work on a real business case study. Go on our Business Start-up Journey and transform your idea into a business through ASPIRE. Our qualified careers practitioners provide support for up to three years after graduation.
Additionally, the Postgraduate Employability Edge programme, available to PGT students at Kent Business School takes place from Welcome Week through to the end of the academic year and is designed to enhance your career prospects further.
This course is accredited by GARP – Global Association of Risk Professionals - the leading professional body in financial education around the world. Kent Business School works closely with GARP to ensure that our risk management course offering meets the latest global industry needs
It is also accredited by the CFA Institute - Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. The mission of CFA Institute is served by generating value for core investment management professionals and engaging with the core investment management industry to advance ethics, market integrity, and professional standards of practice.
The 2024/25 annual tuition fees for this course are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Find out more about general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Search our scholarships finder for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both:
This programme attracts many applications from Chevening scholars. Chevening is the UK Government’s international awards scheme aimed at developing global leaders, and Kent is a Chevening partner.
For details of the funding available, see our Chevening Scholarships page.
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
Next steps
Learn more about the application process or begin your application by clicking on a link below.
You will be able to choose your preferred year of entry once you have started your application. You can also save and return to your application at any time.
Supporting your success
Kent ranked top 50 in The Complete University Guide 2024.
Fees and funding
Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.
Accommodation
