MSc Financial Management

This flexible MSc introduces you to more sophisticated tools and techniques that finance practitioners regularly exploit in their profession. If you are looking to upskill or for career progression, this course will equip you with financial management knowledge and skills sought by organisations worldwide.

This MSc in Financial Management equips you with a deep understanding of the tasks finance professionals undertake, and the skills required for a successful career in finance.

This course will equip you with the skills, knowledge and confidence that allows you to pursue a successful career in financial management.

You'll gain a deep understanding of the characteristics and functioning of financial markets in a global context and while you do not need to be a finance specialist to take this course, a strong interest in numbers and analytics is important.

You will learn how to:

• Understand the interplay between well-functioning financial markets and successful companies.
• Apply a full range of financial techniques to real-life business situations.
• Search and gather relevant financial information from multiple sources, including companies' annual reports and financial databases.
• Offer data-based solutions to complex and relevant business challenges, such as analysis of financial strategies, selecting valuable investment projects.

Blended learning

This programme offers online courses together with face-to-face workshops (six days, twice each year) in either Manchester or Shanghai (September and May or June dependent on where you choose to study). These valuable opportunities give you time to develop your global network, meet the Manchester academic team, and have full support from the lecturers.

The workshops are a chance to take time out from day-to-day working life, focus on your studies and undertake experiential learning. You'll apply theory to case studies based on real business problems while working in multicultural groups with colleagues from diverse professional backgrounds.

Alliance Manchester Business School

Our MSc in Financial Management is developed and delivered by Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS). AMBS was established in 1965, as one of the UK’s first two business schools.

We have a global network of over 60,000 alumni, spread across 176 countries. With triple accreditation from AACSB International, AMBA and EQUIS, we provide world-class, industry-focused education to professionals across the globe.

Financial Zone

From the moment you start the course, you will have access to Alliance Manchester Business School's Finance Zone, one of the UK’s most comprehensive collections of specialist financial and business databases.

These resources are used by top researchers around the world and include Bloomberg, Datastream, Thomson ONE, Compustat, WRDS, Capital IQ plus many more.

Lukas / Pexels

Course units

Units 1 - 4

1. Foundations of Accounting

• Introduction to accounting
• Accounting conventions and techniques to support organisational decision-making
• Foundations and principles of management and financial accounting

2. Foundations of Finance

• Introduction to finance
• Time value of money and asset valuation
• Cost of capital and capital budgeting techniques

3. Corporate Finance

• Introduction to corporate finance
• Cost of capital estimation and advanced capital budgeting techniques
• The choice between equity capital and debt capital

4. Global Financial Markets and Institutions

• Overview of the global financial system
• Banking and financial regulation, investment banking and private equity
• Risk management and hedging strategies

Units 5 - 8

5. Data Analysis and Statistical Techniques

• Basic econometric tools to estimate relationships between variables
• Formulation of empirical hypotheses to be tested
• Interpretation of results from statistical and econometric outputs

6. Financial Statement Analysis

• Strengths, limitations and developments in contemporary financial reporting
• Interpretation and assessment of firm performance
• Credit and debt analysis to predict the likelihood of financial distress

7. International Financial Management

• Principles underlying financial decision-making by multinational corporations
• Foreign direct investment decisions, exchange risk and hedging techniques
• Political risk measurement and management

8. Quantitative Methods for Financial Management

• Sophisticated statistical tools for finance practitioners
• Analysis and forecasts of time series data
• Empirical interactions between stock returns, exchange rates and other variables

Units 9 - 11

9. Venture Capital and Private Equity

• Introduction to venture capital and private equity
• Fundraising activities by private equity investors
• Identification of capital investment opportunities and capital allocation, and management of investments to maximise returns

10. Business Models and Financial Strategy

• Evaluation of alternative business models to create and capture value
• Short- and long-term financial decisions over the lifecycle of the firm
• Fintech and other innovative sources of finance

11. Group Project

• Identification of topic to study and formulation of plan to collect information and data on the topic
• Selection of suitable methods and analysis of information
• Dissemination of the results of the study

Entry requirements

• 1st or 2:1 UK Bachelor's honours degree or international equivalent from an institution recognised by NARIC
  Or
• A Master's degree or international equivalent from an institution recognised by NARIC.

We expect that most candidates interested in this Master’s will have a degree in engineering, mathematics, business, management, economics, science or other relevant subjects; however, your degree can be in any discipline if you can demonstrate that you have good numeracy and quantitative ability.

We can also consider:

• Candidates with a 2:2 UK Bachelor’s honours degree or international equivalent, with at least one year of relevant professional experience who can demonstrate their suitability and motivation for this Master’s course. The degree should be in a relevant subject with good grades in quantitative subjects. An interview may be required.

All candidates will require a high level of English language competency: speaking, writing, listening and reading.

Career opportunities

This is a great opportunity for professionals who are looking to step into a management-level role. You will be able to apply your professional experience to real-world projects that are relevant to your workplace.

The Financial Management Master's degree is ideal for candidates based in the UK and globally. You will acquire financial skills and expertise to develop your career in finance or secure a management position with a finance emphasis.