How is the teaching quality and content of Msc Finance at LSE?

Anonymous #1

How is the teaching quality and module content of Msc Finance at LSE? How is the course assessed?

Reply 1

thegeek888

Original post by Anonymous

How is the teaching quality and module content of Msc Finance at LSE? How is the course assessed?

For £42,384 a year plus separate living and travel costs, it is almost as much as an MBA at some universities!!! :biggrin:

lol

More importantly, the modules of study are 'intense' as it is only a 10 month course and very indepth to use the knowledge in a lucrative role in The City of London or even New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Tokyo, Sydney, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I wonder are you a full time or part time student? :s-smilie:

https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Graduate/degree-programmes-2023/MSc-Finance-full-time

In previous years the City Speaker Series has included representatives from:

Alliance Bernstein
Bessemer Venture Partners
Citi
Credit Suisse
CQS
Fidelity
Goldman Sachs
Houlihan Lokey
HSBC
JP Morgan
McKinsey
Moelis & Co
Morgan Stanley
Nomura
Proctor & Gamble
Standard Bank

London School of Economics

London

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

Original post by thegeek888

For £42,384 a year plus separate living and travel costs, it is almost as much as an MBA at some universities!!! :biggrin:

I am somewhat interested in the part-time course in the future so I was wondering how rigorous the study is to do it part-time while working in the busy finance sector. Did you do this course? Do you know how the modules are assessed? Are there many exams? Or are there coursework and assignments? Cause the website is not very clear just say continuous assessment.

Reply 3

thegeek888

Original post by Anonymous

The programme

1. The MSc Finance (part-time) is a 21-month programme taught over two years. All teaching takes place on the central LSE campus in Holborn from 18:30 - 22:00.

2. In the first year, classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3. In the second year, classes are taught Monday-Thursday.

4. Exact days will vary according to optional course choices.

5. There is a short break part way through each class where catering is provided in the form of sandwiches, salads, snacks, drinks, tea and coffee.

Teaching

6. Teaching will be delivered in Autumn and Winter Terms.

7. Some optional revision sessions will take place in the Spring Term to help prepare students for exams.

8. Optional online Saturday sessions run throughout the first year to assist students who wish to revise or catch up on study.

9. In the first year, students will have two mid-term assessments (30%) at the end of Autumn Term and two final assessments (60%) in the Spring Term.

Second Year

10. In the second year, the assessment structure varies depending on the electives chosen.

11. Students complete courses amounting to the total value of four units, with two full-unit compulsory courses in the first year, and then four half-unit optional courses in the second year.

12. You will study two full-unit compulsory courses. These courses must be passed in order to progress to the second year.
The modules

Corporate Finance

Corporate Finance provides a comprehensive overview of firms' investment decisions and the cost of capital. This is in turn linked to a firm's financial structure and the market environment where a firm operates. It studies in detail major financial decisions including dividend choice, going public, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring in financial distress.

Asset Markets

Asset Markets familiarises students with the workings of financial markets, and equips them with the fundamental tools of asset valuation. It takes students from fundamental concepts to up-to-date applications in fixed-income, equity and derivatives markets.

Second Year

13. In the second year, students deepen their knowledge by taking four optional half-unit courses. Elective topics include financial systems, risk management, portfolio management methods, advanced derivatives and structured financial products, fixed income, advanced corporate finance, and applied financial valuation.

14. You can choose from a range of evening courses and a limited number of daytime courses. You are strongly encouraged to choose from the dedicated evening courses as these have been especially designed to cater to the needs of working students.

15. You may have coursework assignments or presentations, either individual or group work. This varies between courses. You will also be required to submit a 6,000 word structured project for at least one of your courses. Final exam style assessments take place in the summer.

16. Teaching will be delivered in Autumn and Winter Terms. Revision sessions take place in the Spring Term to help prepare students for exams. Some courses will have optional Saturday sessions.

17. Students are expected to attend five pre-sessional classes in September before class teaching resumes.

Optional courses

Evening courses
(* denotes a half unit)

Fixed Income Securities and Credit Markets*
Provides a thorough grounding in recent developments in fixed income securities pricing, hedging and portfolio management.

Topics in Portfolio Management*
Provides analytical and statistical tools for the management of investment portfolios.

Mergers, Buyouts and Corporate Restructurings*
Covers advanced topics in Corporate Finance and Valuation and introduces students to valuation techniques for both securities and projects.

Financial Engineering*
Covers the basics of derivatives theory, and applies them to a multitude of financial securities and structured products.

Risk Management in Financial Markets*
Gives an overview of risk management in the context of portfolios of mixed income securities and derivatives, as well as dealing with credit risk.

Private Equity and Venture Capital*
Provides a thorough grounding in the theory of and recent developments in private equity.

Daytime courses

International Finance*

Examines recent developments in international finance, incorporating theoretical, empirical, policy and institutional dimensions.

Entrepreneurial Finance*

Evaluates business plans, growth opportunities and Venture Capital (VC) financing, covering a broad set of instruments used by entrepreneurial firms.

Quantitative Security Analysis*

Uses information in financial statements and macro-economic variables to come up with the inputs into Merton-type models of viewing corporate securities as contingent claims on a firm’s assets.

Sustainable Finance and Impact Investing*

Provides a conceptual foundation in sustainable finance and impact investing along with a clear understanding of the empirical facts associated with how sustainable finance and impact investing affect firm and fund performance in conjunction with the response of investors.

Formative work

18. This is coursework that does not count directly towards your final grade. For the majority of courses, you will be set weekly problem sets which you should complete before the following week’s class, where the teacher will work through solutions and answer questions. This provides you with an idea of how well you understand the material throughout the year. An indication of the formative coursework and summative assessment for each course can be found in the relevant course guide.

Summative work

19. This is coursework that counts directly towards your final grade. All of the dedicated courses on the MSc Finance programme contain a summative coursework element.

20. Different courses set different types of summative work. However, students should expect two or more pieces of work to be submitted over an eleven week term. Some courses require weekly submission of problem sets which all make up a small percentage of the final grade.
It is a worthwhile course, and I wish you success. I will be applying for Law LLB at LSE.