MSc in Finance

With the aim of evaluating corporate financial performance and making financially rational decisions, this course introduces students to financial accounting, reporting and analysis. This module aims to develop awareness in students of the way in which accounting is embedded in a particular socio-economic, political and cultural context and challenges the perception that accounting is a purely technical, uninterested and neutral practice. Within this framework, the module seeks to provide students with a broad introduction to the need for external accounting systems, the principles explicit and implicit within such systems, and the strengths and weaknesses in such systems. 

This course aims to introduce in an intuitive and rigorous way the fundamental mathematical and statistical tools of financial analysis, portfolio investment and risk management. Topics covered include basic statistical principles and mathematical operations, probability theory, discrete and continuous distributions, inferential statistics (confidence intervals hypothesis testing) and regression. Moreover, students will use statistical software including Excel’s Data Analysis ToolPak and Stata to perform complex statistical analysis.

This course covers the application of the net present value rule and other criteria for project appraisal, the use of discounted cash flow and other valuation models in making investment decisions, risk, return and capital budgeting under uncertainty, the cost of capital and capital structure, dividend policy and how firms issue securities.

This course addresses topics in capital asset allocation, the history of risk and return, asset pricing theories (CAPM, APT, Consumption based asset pricing), market efficiency, the predictability of asset returns, the term structure of interest rates and bond portfolio management, futures and options, international portfolio management and performance measurement and evaluation.

The course aims to provide students with a solid understanding of the interactions between the macroeconomic environment and capital markets. In particular, it will cover the role of macroeconomic mechanisms and the international political economy in shaping risks and opportunities across financial assets. The course also includes case studies and class discussions on how global economic events are covered by the financial press.

The purpose of the workshop is to address the question ‘what is the skill of writing?’.  According to the American writer Edwin Schlossberg, “the skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think”.  The workshop explores this statement.  This exploration and subsequent understanding is of paramount importance for any business activity, since much of the communication in the business world takes place in writing, usually within tight deadlines, ranging from short, simple e-mails to long, rich documents.  The salient gain of the participants from the workshop is the understanding of different modes and purposes of writing, as well as of different types and purposes of documents.  The main topics covered during the workshop include: the requirements of different types of documents, such as reports, case studies, research papers and proposals, proper referencing, and the research process.

‘What is a successful presentation and how is it achieved?’  ‘What does our audience see and hear during a presentation?’  This workshop aims to provide participants with knowledge on the techniques and tools needed for a successful presentation.  Presentations are means of communication in the business world.  This communication may have several aims: to describe, to explain, to clarify, to persuade.  During the workshop, participants learn how to capture the audience’s attention and how to communicate efficiently and confidently without ‘stage fear’.  Some of the topics covered during the workshop are: structuring an effective presentation, using verbal and non-verbal communication during the presentation, using audio-visual aids, dealing with questions.  A special feature of the workshop is that participants have the opportunity to see themselves presenting both at the beginning of the workshop and at the end, as the first and last presentations they make are video-taped.

This course offers an introduction to using Python (a fast-growing, open-source programming language) in financial data analysis. More specifically, this course covers the basics of coding with Python, as well as the use of various Python libraries for the purposes of numerical computing, data analysis, data wrangling and data visualization.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a thorough understanding of fixed income instruments and bond portfolio management. It covers the theories of the term structure, estimation of the term structure of interest rates (spot and forward), passive bond portfolio strategies (immunization, cash flow matching, contingent immunization, bond index funds), active portfolio strategies (interest rate forecasting, bullet, barbell and ladder strategies), bond portfolio risk management (single duration, convexity, and multi-factor models of the term structure of interest rates).

This course aims to develop and sharpen students financial modelling skills. It brings together statistical and decision analytical frameworks such as regression analysis and optimisation with finance theory and information technology. It helps participants to deepen their understanding of finance concepts through the development of a wide range of financial models in areas such as cash flow modelling, risk analysis, portfolio optimisation, and option pricing. It is a practical course based on instructed computer workshops. These workshops focus on financial modelling with excel, including scenario and sensitivity analysis, risk analysis using @Risk, optimisation with Solver, and the development of VBA functions.

This course offers an introduction to using Python (a fast-growing, open-source programming language) in financial data analysis. More specifically, this course covers the basics of coding with Python, as well as the use of various Python libraries for the purposes of numerical computing, data analysis, data wrangling and data visualization.

This course applies the modern theory of Finance to the management of the corporation's short-term assets and liabilities. It discusses working capital management, short-term borrowing and investment strategies, as well as corporate risk management. Topics covered under these headings include: optimal inventory management, trade credit and the management of credit risk, optimal cash management, the choice between private and public funding, different forms of bank borrowing sources and their use, the measurement and management of accounting, transactions and economic exposure, multinational working capital management, financing of foreign operations, interest rate and currency swaps, interest rate and currency options, capital budgeting and the cost of capital for multinationals and the measurement and management of political risk.

This course builds on the Corporate Finance and Valuation course to examine the way companies raise debt and equity capital both in private and global capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructuring. The relationships between the interests of corporate managers, shareholders and lenders, as well as issues of corporate governance, are an important part of the course content.

This course offers an introduction to using Python (a fast-growing, open-source programming language) in financial data analysis. More specifically, this course covers the basics of coding with Python, as well as the use of various Python libraries for the purposes of numerical computing, data analysis, data wrangling and data visualization.

Financial risk management (FRM) has gone through enormous changes since its inception in the late 1970s.  From its origins as a cash flow matching technique, FRM has now instituted the use of advanced analytical techniques, quantitative finance tools as well as sophisticated pricing formulas and hedging strategies. The module focuses on the management of financial intermediaries, and aims to analyze financial risks such as interest rate risk, FOREX and market risk, choose appropriate hedging strategies and monitor their implementation.  The prime objective is to provide a) a thorough grounding in the way banks and insurance firms operate, b) the necessary theoretical knowledge and statistical tools to measure different kinds of risks, and c) a comprehensive examination of the techniques and instruments for managing those risks in the banking and insurance industry.

The main objective of this course is to provide an insight to the recent trends and developments in the financial services industry addressing the main challenges and solutions related to the FinTech landscape. The students who attend this course will be equipped to deal with the existing finance ecosystems by developing valuable skills in new FinTech applications such as lending and personal finance, crowd-funding and business financing, payments and retail transactions, various types of cryptocurrencies, and banking infrastructure and tools.

Understanding the ethical basis of human behaviour is of fundamental importance for building commitment to organizational goals and for imparting integrity and a sense of the common good in organizational members. The course examines a broad array of matters relating to ethics, including: individual and organizational obstacles to ethics; ethics information processing methods and judging theories; an action-learning framework for ethics leadership; adversarial win-lose ethics methods; integrative win-win ethics methods; dialogic transcendent ethics method; reflection and developing personal and contingency ethics leadership approaches; developing on ethics leadership action-learning plan. The course focuses also on sustainability, corporate social responsibility and corporate accountability with further emphasis placed on business strategies that aim to create long term value and a positive environmental, social and economic impact. Actionable knowledge is achieved by applying theory in real life situations through critical analysis and debating on prominent cases and in class discussions on current trends and developments on sustainable business activities.

The Program culminates with theEquity Valuation course. The purpose of this course is to provide practical valuation tools for valuing and analyzing companies and give students a real world view of the role and activities of an equity security analyst. The course integrates the theoretical knowledge acquired during the course and the practical input from leading financial analysts to understand the process of analyzing companies and the valuation process.     Students will be introduced to the practice of modern financial analysis from leading financial analysts and will be given the opportunity to apply their skills by valuing a company of their choice. Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to use modern valuation techniques, appreciate the linkage between strategic business analysis, financial accounting, corporate finance and the macroeconomic environment, understand and utilize the information in financial statements and prepare a valuation report in different contexts (security analysis, initial public offerings, credit analysis and mergers and acquisitions).

The purpose of this course is to present the principles of alternative investments, aiming to equip students with the ability to effectively utilize outside capital. It covers the execution and evaluation of classic and new hedge fund strategies, alongside comprehensive risk management techniques, including an in-depth focus on climate risk and sustainable ESG investments. Students will learn through both theoretical and practical perspectives, including detailed analysis of various alternative investment classes such as venture capital, real estate, and artwork, emphasizing their significance in diversified portfolios. Additionally, the curriculum integrates the principles of sustainable investment, exploring how environmental, social, and governance factors influence investment decisions and market trends. The course systematizes knowledge on investment categories and analyzes the global market's current state and future development prospects of alternative investments, including the growing importance of sustainability in financial strategies. This prepares students for adept investment management in a dynamically evolving financial landscape

The MSc Thesis is a research project of a student’s special interest in a faculty member’s area of expertise. The students will have the opportunity to construct a detailed plan of a research project; to review specific literature on the selected topic; to identify relevant research questions from the literature; to be able to turn general research questions into empirical ones; to select and justify an appropriate research design; to select and employ suitable methods or techniques to investigate the empirical questions; to analyze financial or social data and to write a report covering a review of the relevant literature, the research questions, an explanation and justification of the design, a description of the conduct and analysis of the research, and a discussion of the findings in relation to the literature and methodological issues.

An Internship brings together the academic with the business world, providing benefits both to students and to companies.  It has the status of a course, hence it is an obligatory requirement for the fulfilment of the M.Sc. Degree, it carries credits and it is graded.  The expected duration is three (3) months, from beginning March to end May.

The benefits for students include the opportunity for the blending of academic and on-the-job learning; the use of the explicit knowledge gained during the program, the attainment of tacit knowledge, the development and diversification of skills, the acquisition of work experience, the identification and/or refinement of career goals, the creation and/or development of a professional network.  The benefits for companies include the opportunity to meet some company needs with highly qualified and motivated students, the identification of talent for potential future employment, the enrichment of current perspectives and practices with the intern’s novel ideas, the enhancement of social responsibility activities.

Understanding the ethical basis of human behaviour is of fundamental importance for building commitment to organizational goals and for imparting integrity and a sense of the common good in organizational members. The course examines a broad array of matters relating to ethics, including: individual and organizational obstacles to ethics; ethics information processing methods and judging theories; an action-learning framework for ethics leadership; adversarial win-lose ethics methods; integrative win-win ethics methods; dialogic transcendent ethics method; reflection and developing personal and contingency ethics leadership approaches; developing on ethics leadership action-learning plan. The course focuses also on sustainability, corporate social responsibility and corporate accountability with further emphasis placed on business strategies that aim to create long term value and a positive environmental, social and economic impact. Actionable knowledge is achieved by applying theory in real life situations through critical analysis and debating on prominent cases and in class discussions on current trends and developments on sustainable business activities.

The Program culminates with theEquity Valuation course. The purpose of this course is to provide practical valuation tools for valuing and analyzing companies and give students a real world view of the role and activities of an equity security analyst. The course integrates the theoretical knowledge acquired during the course and the practical input from leading financial analysts to understand the process of analyzing companies and the valuation process.     Students will be introduced to the practice of modern financial analysis from leading financial analysts and will be given the opportunity to apply their skills by valuing a company of their choice. Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to use modern valuation techniques, appreciate the linkage between strategic business analysis, financial accounting, corporate finance and the macroeconomic environment, understand and utilize the information in financial statements and prepare a valuation report in different contexts (security analysis, initial public offerings, credit analysis and mergers and acquisitions).

The purpose of this course is to present the principles of alternative investments, aiming to equip students with the ability to effectively utilize outside capital. It covers the execution and evaluation of classic and new hedge fund strategies, alongside comprehensive risk management techniques, including an in-depth focus on climate risk and sustainable ESG investments. Students will learn through both theoretical and practical perspectives, including detailed analysis of various alternative investment classes such as venture capital, real estate, and artwork, emphasizing their significance in diversified portfolios. Additionally, the curriculum integrates the principles of sustainable investment, exploring how environmental, social, and governance factors influence investment decisions and market trends. The course systematizes knowledge on investment categories and analyzes the global market's current state and future development prospects of alternative investments, including the growing importance of sustainability in financial strategies. This prepares students for adept investment management in a dynamically evolving financial landscape

The course will cover a number of time-series techniques that can be applied to the study of financial economics. Specifically, the topics covered in this course will include: linear stochastic time series models and their applicability to financial data; the existence of unit-root processes in financial and macro-economic data; the application of co-integration techniques to financial data; the application of ARCH and GARCH techniques in modelling volatility in financial markets; and the application of stochastic volatility techniques in financial markets.

The MSc Thesis is a research project of a student’s special interest in a faculty member’s area of expertise. The students will have the opportunity to construct a detailed plan of a research project; to review specific literature on the selected topic; to identify relevant research questions from the literature; to be able to turn general research questions into empirical ones; to select and justify an appropriate research design; to select and employ suitable methods or techniques to investigate the empirical questions; to analyze financial or social data and to write a report covering a review of the relevant literature, the research questions, an explanation and justification of the design, a description of the conduct and analysis of the research, and a discussion of the findings in relation to the literature and methodological issues.

An Internship brings together the academic with the business world, providing benefits both to students and to companies.  It has the status of a course, hence it is an obligatory requirement for the fulfilment of the M.Sc. Degree, it carries credits and it is graded.  The expected duration is three (3) months, from beginning March to end May.

The benefits for students include the opportunity for the blending of academic and on-the-job learning; the use of the explicit knowledge gained during the program, the attainment of tacit knowledge, the development and diversification of skills, the acquisition of work experience, the identification and/or refinement of career goals, the creation and/or development of a professional network.  The benefits for companies include the opportunity to meet some company needs with highly qualified and motivated students, the identification of talent for potential future employment, the enrichment of current perspectives and practices with the intern’s novel ideas, the enhancement of social responsibility activities.

Understanding the ethical basis of human behaviour is of fundamental importance for building commitment to organizational goals and for imparting integrity and a sense of the common good in organizational members. The course examines a broad array of matters relating to ethics, including: individual and organizational obstacles to ethics; ethics information processing methods and judging theories; an action-learning framework for ethics leadership; adversarial win-lose ethics methods; integrative win-win ethics methods; dialogic transcendent ethics method; reflection and developing personal and contingency ethics leadership approaches; developing on ethics leadership action-learning plan. The course focuses also on sustainability, corporate social responsibility and corporate accountability with further emphasis placed on business strategies that aim to create long term value and a positive environmental, social and economic impact. Actionable knowledge is achieved by applying theory in real life situations through critical analysis and debating on prominent cases and in class discussions on current trends and developments on sustainable business activities.

The main objective of this course is to provide an insight to credit risk and strengthen the analytical skills required in credit risk modelling. The course is structured to cover topics in credit risk, both at the individual level and the portfolio level. Financial industry’s popular credit models will also be discussed. Furthermore, the course will introduce credit analytics (e.g. credit scorecards) using a statistical software.

The course will cover a number of time-series techniques that can be applied to the study of financial economics. Specifically, the topics covered in this course will include: linear stochastic time series models and their applicability to financial data; the existence of unit-root processes in financial and macro-economic data; the application of co-integration techniques to financial data; the application of ARCH and GARCH techniques in modelling volatility in financial markets; and the application of stochastic volatility techniques in financial markets.

The MSc Thesis is a research project of a student’s special interest in a faculty member’s area of expertise. The students will have the opportunity to construct a detailed plan of a research project; to review specific literature on the selected topic; to identify relevant research questions from the literature; to be able to turn general research questions into empirical ones; to select and justify an appropriate research design; to select and employ suitable methods or techniques to investigate the empirical questions; to analyze financial or social data and to write a report covering a review of the relevant literature, the research questions, an explanation and justification of the design, a description of the conduct and analysis of the research, and a discussion of the findings in relation to the literature and methodological issues.

An Internship brings together the academic with the business world, providing benefits both to students and to companies.  It has the status of a course, hence it is an obligatory requirement for the fulfilment of the M.Sc. Degree, it carries credits and it is graded.  The expected duration is three (3) months, from beginning March to end May.

The benefits for students include the opportunity for the blending of academic and on-the-job learning; the use of the explicit knowledge gained during the program, the attainment of tacit knowledge, the development and diversification of skills, the acquisition of work experience, the identification and/or refinement of career goals, the creation and/or development of a professional network.  The benefits for companies include the opportunity to meet some company needs with highly qualified and motivated students, the identification of talent for potential future employment, the enrichment of current perspectives and practices with the intern’s novel ideas, the enhancement of social responsibility activities.