Accounting & Finance Masters at Strathclyde Business School

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Over the last few decades, the finance arena has changed more dramatically than any other area of business. Capital markets around the world have been liberalised, competition has increased, technology has evolved rapidly and national markets must be considered in an international context. These changes have led to an increased demand for well-educated finance specialists who are able to respond to the challenges and complexities of financial markets.

Strathclyde Business School has stepped up with a range of postgraduate programmes designed to fit all needs in the finance sector, providing high-level training for those interested in developing a career in accounting or finance.

In addition, the Masters courses offered by Strathclyde assume little or no knowledge of finance; some students may have studied some finance/business in their undergraduate studies but the department also accepts students who have completed a variety of undergraduate programmes for the majority of the programmes.

Each of the intensively taught one year courses draws on the acclaimed research output of Strathclyde academic staff to cover the theoretical bases of the subjects, and also their extensive industry experience to provide much sought after vocational and practical skills. While some programmes are taught exclusively by the Department of Accounting and Finance, others are multidisciplinary courses such as the MSc Financial Technology which is delivered by lecturers and researchers from across three departments: Accounting & Finance, Management Science, and Computer Science.

Strathclyde has nine MSc courses focused on accounting and finance – MSc Finance; MSc Financial Technology; MSc International Banking & Finance; MSc International Accounting & Finance; MSc Investment & Finance; MSc Sustainable Finance; MSc Economics & Finance; MSc Finance & Management; and MSc Quantitative Finance – and all students have the opportunity to take part in a financial bootcamp each year.

A bootcamp may conjure up images of physical endurance, military training or physical exercise but for students at Strathclyde’s Department of Accounting and Finance it has a different meaning – a chance to engage in finance skills for a week in a real world simulation.

The bootcamp is run by Amplify, a global financial trading and training company in collaboration with Strathclyde Business School, to deliver a financial markets simulation experience during the academic year, providing students with the chance to experience a real-life trading simulation.

Amplify is a leading provider of training programmes to the financial industry and Strathclyde’s accounting and finance students are offered the same analyst-level practical training that Amplify offers to its clients such as Bank of China, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Bank of America.

The experience is one the students have really welcomed and benefited from. This year over 250 students received the level 5 Diploma certificate upon completion of the bootcamp in January.

Now graduated, Marie-Therese Kerr completed the bootcamp last year, and said, “The Amplify simulations have been so pivotal in defining my career ambitions. Despite being intense, I came away from both the sell-side and buy-side simulations instilled with a sense of excitement for future opportunities post university. Throughout the sell-side simulation, we had the opportunity to interact with ‘clients’ to fulfil orders and adjust prices based on quick analysis of market news whilst managing risk. A career in financial markets felt like the perfect blend of quantitative analysis and interpersonal skills that I had been seeking.”

Tzu-Chieh Yuan from Taiwan took the MSc Investment and Finance at Strathclyde. She said, “Taking part in the Bootcamp was a great decision – overall, it’s a very impressive experience, especially the financial trading simulation. We learned strategies from the pre-camp online material and induction sessions during the boot camp then put our learning into practice at the week-long bootcamp. Everyone at the Bootcamp has a dream to work in an investment company – well, we certainly got that experience!”

The bootcamp is just one of the elements of the learning experience at SBS and the Masters courses also offer other aspects which add value to the programmes.

Tsu-Chieh Yuan points out that, for example, “The Investment and Finance course provides other opportunities like Bloomberg training. We also benefited from hearing from many alumni who work in the banking industry who came in to share their career stories and students can ask questions or discuss their career plans.”

The MSc Investment and Finance programme has been developed with the requirements of the Chartered Financial Analysts Institute (CFA Institute – the primary professional body) in mind and the course provides a good starting point for anyone seeking CFA qualification.

It’s well worth looking at the Strathclyde Business School’s Department of Accounting and Finance webpages to get more in-depth information about each of the programmes.

Whatever programme you may be interested in, Strathclyde Business School is well-placed for easy access and links to the UK’s major financial centres of Edinburgh, London and Glasgow’s own expanding international financial services district. The Department of Accounting and Finance offers postgraduate research programmes and a range of undergraduate programmes too.

To find out more about our programmes and scholarships on offer register for our webinars.

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