Finance - Investment & Asset Management

Course Outline
Our MSc Finance (Investment & Asset Management) is a one-year programme that will provide you with a broad range of theoretical, technical, and professional skills required to develop a career in international finance. Our graduates have excellent prospects and take on roles such as investment manager, financial consultant, investment consultant, trader, risk manager, quantitative analyst and portfolio construction analyst with Irish and international financial institutions.

The programme is designed for graduates with any business background who want to specialise in investment management and STEM students who want to apply their skills in the field of finance. As the programme is designed and run by experienced industry professionals it has a significant practical bias and focuses on developing the skills required by the industry. The syllabus is constantly evolving to incorporate new developments in industry practice and employer requirements.

We recognise the importance of professional qualifications in career development and award academic credit to students sitting a professional examination while on the programme. The programme is a member of the CFA® Institute University Affiliation Programme and a CAIA® Association Academic Partner and incorporates the curriculum of both. This ensures the programme stays current with industry developments and provides students with the knowledge necessary to pass their examinations.

In total students take 90 credits:

PART I

AC6031 Issues in Modern Finance (5 credits)
AC6101 International Project Finance (5 credits)
AC6105 Managing Financial Institutions (5 credits)
AC6113 Financial Analysis & Forecasting (5 credits)
AC6116 Quantitative Analysis (5 credits)
AC6119 Capital Markets & Funds Industry Regulation & Ethics (5 credits)
EC6005 Derivatives for Risk Management (5 credits)
FI6004 Analysis of Debt Instruments (5 credits)
FI6005 Equity Valuation (5 credits)
FI6006 Professional Development (5 credits)

And either

AC6030 Python and Machine Learning for Finance (5 Credits)

Or

AC6108 Venture Capital and Private Equity (5 Credits)

PART II

AC6126 Professional Examination Report (5 credits) And Either
AC6127 Asset Management Research Report (30 credits) Or
AC6129 Corporate Internship (30 credits)

Applicants must normally have a Second Class Honours Grade 1 in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) in:

A business-related programme (e.g. Commerce, Law, Business Studies, Economics, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Information Systems etc.) or
A programme with a significant quantitative element (e.g. Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, Science, Computing etc.)
Applicants who achieve a Second Class Honours Grade 2 in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) but meet all other requirements and applicants from other degree disciplines with at least a Second Class Honours Grade 1 in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) will be considered under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) on a case by case basis.

Applicants with a primary honours degree who have passed all three levels of the CFA programme are also eligible to apply.

Applicants who are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university-approved English language requirements. Vsit our PG English Language Requirements page for more information.

Closing Date
Rolling deadline. Open until all places have been filled. Early application is advised.

1 year full-time.

Start Date 9 September 2024

Skills and Careers Information
Upon completion of the MSc Finance (Investment & Asset Management), you can expect to have excellent career prospects with the international investment, asset management, finance and banking industries. Our students have gone on to work for the following companies:

Abbey Capital, Advantage Futures (Chicago), Bank of Ireland Treasury, Colonial First State (Sydney), Core Financial Partners (Los Angeles), Davy Stockbrokers, Deutsche Bank, Emerge Capital, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs (New York), Goodbody Corporate Finance, HSBC (Shanghai), JDX Consulting (London), Mitsubishi UFG Fund Services, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust (Chicago), PwC Wealth Management, Rubrics Asset Management, SMBC Aviation Capital, TOBAM Asset Management, Willis Towers Watson.