Finance and Management, MSc, Heriot-Watt University

About Finance and Management, MSc - at Heriot-Watt University

MSc Finance and Management at Heriot-Watt University gives you the platform to develop highly employable, specialist expertise across the modern practices of financial management and business management.

This highly respected masters degree programme has been developed in response to industry demands for dynamic graduates who can combine expertise in financial management with the ability to implement effective business management strategies across organisations of any size.

Taught with a genuine industry focus by professionals and leading researchers from the fields of financial management and business management, this programme will open up many new career opportunities.

Whether you come from a relevant honours degree or an industry position in finance or business this programme will meet your ambition and equip you with a wealth of globally attractive and highly employable qualities.

This programme will improve your confidence, communication, creativity and fine-tune your team work and organisational skills. Group work and classroom discussion will give you insights into the working practices and perspectives of many different cultures and prepare you for a global career where you will work with colleagues from all over the world.

MSc Finance and Management includes a bespoke range of courses which will equip you with highly employable expertise across crucial areas of financial management and business management, specifically:

• Project management
• Financial research
• Financial analysis
• Portfolio management
• Corporate governance
• Corporate market analysis
• Business strategy

Gaining up-to-date expertise across these areas will put you in the position to succeed in roles such as financial analyst, investment banker, financial consultant and corporate finance specialist in highly lucrative areas such as asset management, corporate finance and banking.

The blend of skills and qualities developed through MSc Finance and Management can also be applied to managerial positions in small businesses where proper control of corporate finances is essential or to larger businesses and public sector organisations where financial management can play a critical role in defining organisational success.

Rankings: Scotland's number 1 for Finance

Heriot-Watt University enjoys a well-earned reputation as one of the best universities in Scotland at which to study the fields of both finance and business management.

The Guardian University rankings place us as the number 1 university in Scotland for Finance and number 2 for Business Management whilst our own students rank Heriot-Watt as the second best place to study both finance and business in Scotland via the National Student Survey.

Some of the factors which help us achieve such high rankings for our Finance and Business departments include:

• Our industry-focused, highly specialised course content
• Our blend of theoretical and practitioner-led teaching
• Our world-leading academics and their high-impact research
• Our leafy campus environment and welcoming international community
• The city of Edinburgh and its student experience, financial industry and cultural offerings

Cutting-edge research and an ethical approach

Heriot-Watt University is one of the UK's leading research-led universities with a mission to lead in both ideas and solutions. Our department of finance puts this unique approach to academia into practice through the Heriot-Watt University Centre for Finance and Investment (CFI).

The CFI brings together globally recognised researchers from Heriot-Watt with senior practitioners from the financial industry to stimulate debate and collaboration in research and teaching.

This year, postgraduate students had the chance to attend the CFI Research Seminar Series and an Ethical Finance Debate organised in partnership between the CFI and the University's Ethical Finance Hub.

This debate posed the question, 'Is ethical finance the pursuit of shareholder value?' and invited key practitioners from within the industry to share their points of view and offer world-class insights:

• Prof Robin Angus, Executive Director Personal Assets Trust and Honorary Prof. at Heriot-Watt 
• Bill Dinning, Non-Executive Director, Medical Defence Union
• Professor Iqbal Asaria CBE, Islamic finance consultant and academic
• Tomas Carruthers, Chief Executive Officer, Social Stock Exchange

Learning from industry: London Stock Exchange

At Heriot-Watt University we aim to ensure that all teaching is applicable to the real world and on MSc Finance and Management you will learn cutting-edge theory from experienced academics and see how this is put into practice through industry experiences and insights.

We enjoy a close relationship with the educational departments of the London Stock Exchange and this has led to exciting opportunities for students to visit the London Stock Exchange and learn from 'Inside the Markets'.

This year's 'Inside the Markets' trip gave our students of MSc Finance programmes the chance to tour the London Stock Exchange and discuss with professional traders how their theoretical knowledge can be put into practice in the real world.

June Nabira, studying Heriot-Watt's Capital Markets course, reflecting on the London Stock Exchange trip,

It expanded my knowledge in capital markets and how they run. I had already completed a course in capital markets at Heriot-Watt which gave me a foundation in the topic and the trader was really insightful and was speaking from experience

June Nabira, studying Heriot-Watt's Capital Markets course

Heriot-Watt University also hopes to become one of only two universities in the United Kingdom to offer students a state-of-the-art stock trading simulator which will help finance students gain true-to-life first-hand experience in preparation for future careers as stock traders.

Read more about the trip here: Heriot-Watt London Stock Exchange Trip

Guest speakers and links to industry

Our Edinburgh campus provides MSc Finance and Management with unparalleled links to Scotland's Financial Industry.

The City of Edinburgh is a powerhouse of the Scottish economy and the second largest financial hub in the United Kingdom. It is home to a number of international financial firms including Standard Life, RBS Groups and the Bank of Scotland and boasts a financial district with multinational corporations such as JP Morgan, Franklin Templeton, State Street and HSBC.

Our graduates are held in high-regard throughout Edinburgh's financial industry and can be found in advanced positions within these organisations. These links could give you invaluable networking opportunities during this programme of study and you may well benefit from the excellent reputation of our alumni as you look to begin your career after graduation.

Throughout the most recent year of this programme, students on Finance and Management had the opportunity to hear talks covering areas such as competitive strategy and emerging economics in the global market place from a number of industry experts including:

Ivan Rossignol, Chief Technical Specialist, Trade & Competitiveness, of the World Bank spoke about the challenges facing multilateral financial institutions given the integration of most economies into the global financial system

• Bryan Buchan, CEO of Scottish Engineering and former managing director at the Bausch & Lomb plant, spoke about competitive strategy
• Alastair Atkinson, CEO of Dysis Medical and honorary professor at Heriot-Watt University
• Dr Andrew MacLennan, Managing Director of Strategy Execution Ltd, a leading strategy implementation consultancy in Scotland.
• Ken Shaw, Head of Employability & Talent Development, City Strategy and Economy, City of Edinburgh Council

Programme duration

• MSc: 12 months (full time), 24 months (part-time)
• PG Diploma: 9 months (full time), 21 months (part-time)

Notes about fees for this course

Status*Full-timePart-timePer courseScotland / Non-UK EU£6,960 £3,480 £870England / Northern Ireland / Wales£6,960 £3,480 £870Overseas£15,120 £7,560 £1,890

* If you are unsure which category you fall in to, you should complete a fee status enquiry form, which allows us to assess your fees.

** Fee per course

Scholarships and bursaries

We aim to encourage well-qualified, ambitious students to study with us and we offer a wide variety of scholarships and bursaries to achieve this. Over £6 million worth of opportunities are available in fee and stipend scholarships, and more than 400 students benefit from this support.

View our full range of postgraduate taught scholarships.

Entry requirements

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As an international student you may require a valid visa to study at Heriot-Watt University. Read more about the requirements in our Guide to the United Kingdom International Student Visa Requirements.