Finance and Investment

The dynamic and fast-moving industry of investment offers wide variety of careers; it demands professionals with high level of finance knowledge, technical skills and the abilities that quickly adopt to new challenges.

The MSc Finance & Investment degree at Birmingham City University will equip you with the knowledge, skills and abilities required to start a graduate level career and make a difference in the industry.

As the investment professionals of the future, you will gain knowledge as well as the essential soft skills like adaptability and lifelong learning skills. While you progress throughout the course, you will become more effective and creative in problem solving. You will develop ways of analysing and thinking about investments that will remain with you in the years ahead when new and different investment opportunities become available.

The course curriculum is aligned with professional programs - the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA)*, the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment (CISI) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA), and is well suited in preparing students to complete the relevant professional examinations.

You will be provided a solid grounding in finance theories, investment techniques and strategies as well as their real-life application. You will also have the opportunity to gain real world trading techniques from professional traders with first-hand knowledge of the financial markets.

We offer flexible learning that will enable you to specialize in particular subject areas, as well as allowing you to tailor your course to a specific career aim. Based at the University’s new campus in the UK’s second city, you’ll live and study in a vibrant environment and engage with local, national and international businesses. You will be taught by highly-qualified, research-active academics with industrial and professional experience.

The international focus of the course is derived through a variety of means including the student body, the teaching team and the use of international teaching materials. Moreover, the course also enables you to be confident in the application of industry-specific skills, for example, with the use of platforms such as Thomson Reuters Eikon and DataStream, and with problem-solving approaches having been exposed to real-life scenarios through industry guest-speaker workshops.

To help you develop the skills that leading employers ask for, and let you see how traders work, we can access Thomson Reuters Eikon in our iCITY Trading room.

You will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course. This will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The Professional Placement will enhance your employability and transferable skills and allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. These skills enrich your experience and provide an added advantage in your endeavours to pursue their future professional careers in a highly competitive industry.

*Trademark Disclaimer: CFA Institute does not endorse, promote or warrant the accuracy or quality of the products or services offered by Birmingham City University. CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.