This module provides students with the foundational knowledge and analytical skills needed to evaluate investment opportunities, assess risk and return, and construct well-diversified portfolios. It explores various asset classes, investment strategies, market efficiencies, and behavioural finance principles. Additionally, students will learn how to analyse equities, fixed-income securities, alternative investments, and derivative markets. The course equips students with both theoretical and practical insights into investment management, preparing them for real-world financial decision-making.
The module develops the ability to design, build and critically evaluate financial models that can be used to support investment and risk-based decision making under uncertainty. Students will learn to translate assumptions, data and analytical outputs into structured representations of financial payoffs and risk exposures. The module equips students with the practical judgement required to apply modelling techniques responsibly in environments faced by financial managers, risk professional and investment practitioners.
The module introduces students to professional ethics and conduct guidelines, and specifically the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct set by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute and the Code of Practice guidelines established by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). The module critically examines real-world failures in financial risk management, governance, and regulatory oversight by applying these frameworks to evaluate ethical breakdowns and professional misconduct in the world of finance. The module further develops the ability to apply ethical reasoning and judgement to complex and ambiguous situations in financial and risk management environments. Finally, the module explores emerging ethical challenges in the finance profession including the implications of artificial intelligence, data governance, and sustainable finance for responsible conduct.