MSc Quantitative Finance / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course description

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Why study Quantitative Finance at Alliance Manchester Business School?

Our MSc Quantitative Finance programme is particularly suitable for students with a degree in Finance, Financial Economics, Actuarial Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (see  entry requirements ), as well as relevant work experience (non-compulsory). It is also suited to those wishing to gain salary enhancements, or students wishing to pursue advanced studies in quantitative finance. 

  • Learn how to forecast and manage risk and return
  • Gain the skills to price any financial instrument
  • Learn how to engineer new methods and financial products
  • Build advanced knowledge of the main theoretical and applied concepts in quantitative finance, financial engineering and risk management, using current issues to stimulate your thinking
  • Prepare for careers involving the design and management of new financial instruments, the development of innovative methods for measuring, or predicting and managing risk.

CFA training 

We have teamed up with Kaplan Schweser to facilitate student preparation for the CFA exams. 

  • MSc Accounting , MSc Accounting and Finance , MSc Finance and MSc Quantitative Finance course students who perform well in Semester one and show a strong interest in CFA will get free access to Kaplan's online training materials for CFA Part One. 
  • Gain student support from Kaplan with access to tuition material, online question banks and progress tests, and mock exam runs. Plus tutor support and 1-2-1 sessions.
  • The CFA Program builds a strong foundation of advanced investment analysis and real-world portfolio management skills. 
  • Take the first step to earning the Chartered Financial Analyst ® (CFA) credential to prepare for the Level I exam 
  • The CFA is the most respected and recognised investment designation in the world.

Trading BootCamp Week 

Together with Amplify Trading , a global financial trading and training firm, we offer a week long Trading BootCamp for MSc Accounting, MSc Accounting and Finance, MSc Finance and MSc Quantitative Finance course students. 

  • experience a live trading floor provided by two experienced traders with specialist software 
  • engage with contemporary financial markets and apply your classroom theory in practice
  • watch live breaking news, economic data and geo-political events, and use your knowledge and skills in trading different asset classes
  • a fantastic opportunity to prepare you for successful careers after graduation.
The Finance Zone    
  • gain access to one of the UK's most comprehensive collections of specialist financial and business databases that are used by top researchers around the world. 
  • Databases include Bloomberg, Datastream, Thomson ONE, Compustat, WRDS, Capital IQ and many more. Read more about the specialist financial and business databases

Special features

Worshipful Company of International Bankers Affiliation

Our accounting and finance division courses are now affiliated with the Worshipful Company of International Bankers (WCIB). Every year the best dissertation out of the following four courses will receive the WCIB Prize worth £300.

  • MSc Accounting 
  • MSc Accounting and Finance
  • MSc Finance
  • MSc Quantitative Finance

The winner will also enter the competition for the prestigious WCIB Lombard Prize

Coursework and assessment

The course teaching is shared by Alliance Manchester Business School and the School of Mathematics and Statistics and delivered through lectures, case studies, seminars and group project-based work. Assessment varies depending on course units taken.  It may include a combination of course work and examination.

Course unit details

During the course you will be taking 180 credits in all. The eight taught units during semester one and two total 120 credits and consists of both compulsory and optional taught units which can be viewed in the list below.  

Over the summer period, you will carry out your Research Dissertation, worth 60 credits. The dissertation gives you the opportunity to apply what you have learned in the taught part of the course.  Our topics are aligned with the research interests of leading financial institutions from the City of London and internationally.

Examples of recent dissertation project topics include:

  • Investigating dynamics and determinants of risk-neutral PDs
  • Using hazard models to forecast corporate bankruptcy
  • Analysing asset pricing implications from real options models
  • Pricing sovereign CDS contracts
  • Estimating liquidation probabilities of hedge funds

Course unit list

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Interest Rate Derivatives BMAN63012 15 Mandatory
Derivative Securities BMAN70141 15 Mandatory
Asset Pricing Theory BMAN70381 15 Mandatory
Time Series Econometrics BMAN71122 15 Mandatory
Stochastic Calculus for Finance BMAN71541 15 Mandatory
Credit Risk Measurement and Management BMAN71572 15 Mandatory
Current Issues in Empirical Finance BMAN70162 15 Optional
Cross Sectional Econometrics BMAN70211 15 Optional
Corporate Finance BMAN71152 15 Optional
Portfolio Investment BMAN71171 15 Optional
Behavioural Finance BMAN74112 15 Optional
Computational Finance MATH60082 15 Optional
Generalised Linear Models and Survival Analysis MATH68052 15 Optional
Scientific Computing MATH69111 15 Optional
Displaying 10 of 14 course units

Scholarships and bursaries

Masters scholarships for Accounting and Finance programmes for UK/EU students

We are delighted to be able to offer five scholarships available across the four Accounting and Finance programmes with a value of £10,000 towards the cost of the tuition fee. The scholarships will be awarded in line with our scholarship deadlines so early application is advisable.  Read more >>

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk