Financial Economics (Taught)

The demand for highly skilled experts in financial economics continues to increase rapidly in the modern economy. This demand exists in the public sector (central banks, international organisations, academic institutions) and especially in the private sector (commercial banks and insurance companies).

This course is designed to meet this demand, training graduates in the quantitative skills, foundational theories, and core techniques which are used to analyse and understand financial markets.

Financial economics is a fascinating area, having a history marked by outstanding achievements. A remarkable feature of this discipline is that its theoretical highlights (such as the Black-Scholes formula) turned out to be extremely important in practice. Fundamental ideas and tools of financial economics that were developed at the interface between mathematical economics and finance created new markets essentially based on concepts suggested by academics.

A central goal of the course is to demonstrate the use of these ideas and tools in contexts where they are indispensable and widely exploited. The course will expose you to quantitative techniques and theory that will be useful in the financial industry - a portfolio manager, risk management consultant, or financial analyst. Our course contains material that is recognised as classic in the field but also reflects new trends in the area, such as elements of behavioural and evolutionary finance.

Studying on our MSc Financial Economics, you will combine rigorous training in core principles of economics, econometrics, and finance. You will also be free to develop your expertise in specialist areas of your choosing through our broad range of optional course units, such as:

• Development microeconomics;

• International macroeconomics;

• Financial econometrics;

• Global economic history.

See a full list of mandatory and optional course units below.

This course is eligible for the 1+3 studentship offered by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP), offering a unique, fully-funded route into postgraduate research. If your application is successful, you’ll be able to seamlessly transition from master's-level study to a PhD.