MSC Finance and Accounting Programme Handbook 2022-23

MSc Finance & Accounting
2022–23
Programme handbook
Contents
1 CONTENTS
2 WELCOME MESSAGE ................................................................................................. 4
3 PROGRAMME OVERVIEW ........................................................................................... 5
3.1 Aims, Objectives, Learning Outcome and Skills Mapping........................................ 5
3.2 Programme Structure.............................................................................................. 9
3.3 Assessment Criteria for Foundation Modules ........................................................ 11
3.4 Marking Criteria for Compulsory Modules, Electives and Project .......................... 12
3.5 Assessment Schemes, Exam Papers and External Examiners ............................. 16
3.5.1 Assessment Schemes for MSc Finance & Accounting ................................... 16
3.5.2 Marking and Exam Papers ............................................................................. 17
3.6 Prizes.................................................................................................................... 19
3.7 Association with Professional Bodies .................................................................... 21
3.7.1 Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) ................................ 21
3.7.2 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) ............................... 21
3.8 Pre-study Online Modules ..................................................................................... 22
3.8.1 BS2600 Financial Accounting Primer (Required) ........................................... 23
3.8.2 BUSI97080 Introduction to Maths .................................................................. 24
3.8.3 BUSI70070 Plagiarism Awareness Module (Required) .................................. 25
3.8.4 BUSI97176 Ethics and Professional Standards in Finance (Required) .......... 26
3.9 Foundation Modules ............................................................................................. 27
3.9.1 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Application of R for Finance
28
3.9.2 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Accounting & Valuation .. 29
3.9.3 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Financial Modelling ......... 30
3.9.4 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Markets and Securities ... 31
3.10 Careers ................................................................................................................. 32
3.10.1 BUSI97331 Careers & Professional Development ......................................... 32
3.11 Compulsory Modules ............................................................................................ 34
3.11.1 BUSI97318 Corporate Finance (Autumn Term) ............................................. 35
3.11.2 BUSI97319 Financial Accounting* (Autumn Term) ......................................... 36
3.11.3 BUSI97320 Investments and Portfolio Management (Autumn Term) ............. 37
3.11.4 BUSI97317 Management Accounting* (Autumn Term) .................................. 39
3.11.5 BUSI97328 Advanced Corporate Finance (Spring Term) ............................... 40
3.11.6 BUSI97327 Fundamentals of Derivatives (Spring Term) ................................ 41
3.11.7 BUSI97321 Applied Econometrics* (Spring Term) ......................................... 42
3.12 Electives ............................................................................................................... 43
3.13 Final Project .......................................................................................................... 44
4 INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS ............................................................................... 46
4.1 Term Dates ........................................................................................................... 46
4.2 Student Year Planner............................................................................................ 47
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4.3 Academic Director and Programme Team contact details ..................................... 48
4.4 Plagiarism and Cheating ....................................................................................... 50
Proofreading ................................................................................................................ 51
4.5 Group Work and Peer Review............................................................................... 52
4.6 Module Excellence Surveys (MODES) .................................................................. 52
4.7 Global Skills Development .................................................................................... 54
5 INDICATIVE MODULE LIST........................................................................................ 55
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2 WELCOME MESSAGE
Welcome from Academic Director
I am delighted to welcome you all to the 2022/2023 Master of Finance

and Accounting. You are embarking on an exciting and enjoyable
year where you will immerse yourselves in finance and get to grips
with both the theory and the practice.
The faculty will be working hard to stimulate you and help you to
understand the concepts of financial theory and to show how theory
and practice interact; to obtain maximum benefit you too will need to
work hard. The pay-off will be a thorough grounding and competence
in finance that will stand you in good stead throughout your career.
The Hub is the Business School’s bespoke on-line learning platform. Each programme has an
online Hub, which contains all the module resources as well as provides a space for all module
communication (so students will just need to check the Hub rather than receive numerous
emails).
This programme handbook contains key information about the programme; you should make
sure that you read it carefully and use it for reference during the year. . Please pay careful
attention to the checklist of getting started tasks that you need to complete in the first week,
which can be found on the Hub.
We are extremely fortunate in having a very experienced programme team to ensure the
smooth running of your programme; they are available to deal with any queries that arise. As
the academic director, I am happy to meet you to discuss any issues you would like to raise;
I can always be contacted by email (j.sefton@imperial.ac.uk). I hope you all have a fruitful
year at Imperial.
With best wishes
James Sefton
Academic Director
MSc Finance & Accounting, MSc Financial Technology and MSc Investment & Wealth
Management
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3 PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
3.1 Aims, Objectives, Learning Outcome and Skills Mapping
MSc Finance & Accounting: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of MSc Finance & Accounting programme is to provide a balance of professional,
quantitative and analytic skills that will enable the student to choose from a wide variety of
careers including accountancy, management consultancy and the financial sector. Within
the financial sector, the programme is intended to equip students for work in a range of roles
that may include an advisory or executive role in an equity research department or capital
markets group; a specialist within the treasury department of a large corporation;
intermediation with small and medium sized business in retail banking.
The MSc offers a range of careers-related activities which form an integral part of the
programme. Please consult the Careers section in the Key Information area of the Hub for
further information.
Learning Outcomes
• Understand how financial accounts are prepared and used in decision making,
particularly capital budgeting and valuation;
• Have a strong grasp of the legal and regulatory environment in which both non-
financial and financial corporates operate;
• Formulate a corporate strategy and where necessary support these ideas with a
detailed priced proposal;
• Demonstrate a critical awareness of fundamental finance theories and models and
their use and context in real financial markets;
• Be able to use the above models to look at funding solutions and managing corporate
risk;
• Apply mathematical tools to financial problems including the pricing of financial
instruments and products;
• Analyse economic and financial data and evaluate investment decisions. Apply
econometric theory and software to draw valid conclusions
Knowledge objectives
• The practice of management accounting in corporate decision making and the aims
and design of a corporate strategy;
• How to prepare financial statements and to use the information for both investment
decision making and valuation;
• The fundamental ideas in finance which include: expected utility, risk aversion, mean
variance portfolio analysis, two fund separation, efficient markets and risk
management;
• Futures and option pricing and interest rate models;
• The core knowledge base including the essential facts, concepts, principles and
theories relevant to the chosen area of specialisation.
Skills objectives
• Analyse and evaluate financial models using a wide range of appropriate techniques
and assess their empirical validity;
• Prepare and use quantitative financial data to make valuation estimates;
• Analyse both corporate financial and strategic decision making and assess a
company’s real and financial investment decisions and goals;
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• Advise and support a wide range of organisations (governmental and non-
governmental) in evaluating their decisions.
• Write and present ‘short reports’ and complete a substantive piece of research work;
• Produce creative and realistic solutions to complex problems based on finance theory;
• Prepare and analyse company financial accounts;
• Use R programming language to illustrate and examine concepts;
• Execute econometric analysis of financial data;
• Use Bloomberg and Reuters Eikon to access and study financial data sets.
• Communicate effectively in context through oral presentations, computer software,
presentations and written reports;
• Critically review evidence including its reliability, validity and significance;
• Transfer techniques and solutions from one discipline to another;
• Use Information and Communications technology;
• Manage resources and time effectively in order to achieve intended goals;
• Learn independently with open-mindedness and critical enquiry;
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development;
• Work effectively as a team member;
• Clearly identify criteria for success and evaluate his or her own performance against
those criteria.
Skills Mapping
Here at Imperial College Business School you have the opportunity to develop a wide range
of professional skills through a variety of different mediums. These skills will not only aid
your personal development but also make you more competitive within the marketplace.
Importantly, this involves more than just workshops. It involves a blend of learning through
both curricular and non-curricular activities. In order to rationalise the approach to
developing these skills we have created a matrix outlining the different categories and the
methods in which you will learn them.
Categories
We split professional skills into three main categories. This provides you with the chance to
identify the structure of skills learning and how useful they can be in the workplace.
Category Description Example

Personal Personal effectiveness on an Working in teams or time
Development operational level. This includes the management.
dynamics of working individually or
as a member of a team.
Communication Verbal, non-verbal and written skills. CV writing or presentation
skills.
Technical & Essential workplace tools and VBA, R
Analytical techniques beyond curriculum
teaching.
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Professional Foundation Compulsory Electives Project Optional Careers
Skills Modules Modules Workshops Development
Type
Personal An important You will The electives The project The workshops Workshops and
Development emphasis is quickly realise, provide you with gives you the and GSEPS one to one
placed on this in once the an excellent opportunity to modules and sessions give
the September compulsory opportunity to put previous and online study you the
term. You will modules start, expand your taught skills into skills modules opportunity to
start thinking that you need personal action. Project offered provide learn about the
about your to sharpen up development and time you with the operational
approach to your personal skills and put management opportunity to approach to take
learning as an management them into will certainly be develop a range in the workplace
individual, team skills whilst practice. Some needed here. of personal skills and the way to
and cohort working emphasise from team- conduct yourself
member and as effectively on collaboration, based skills to within the
an international team others will personal working
student. coursework. require more organisation and environment
practical skills. effectiveness.
Communication You will spend Throughout The electives The project The workshops Workshops and
time developing the you choose will allows you to and GSEPS one to one
an compulsory help develop develop your modules and sessions will
understanding of modules you your written online study help you
communication will be communication communication skills modules develop your
and how to required to skills. Some of and helps you offered provide communication
come across communicate the more learn how to get you with the skills to enable
effectively. with fellow technical your message opportunity to you to
students, modules will across develop a range communicate
complete enable you to effectively. of effectively within
coursework learn the more communication the workplace
and negotiate technical skills from and at
your way language of writing technical interviews.
around work finance. presentations to
priorities. You networking
will also be effectively.
introduced to
financial
terminology.
Technical and You will be In addition to Electives The MSc project The workshops Workshops and
Analytical introduced to the the actual provide students requires you to offer a direct one to one
hub and R that subject matter with a number of use technical route to sessions provide
you will use taught, there technical skills and analytical improving your you with the
regularly will be many related to skills. Data technical and tools to get
throughout the technical and subject matter of collection and analytical skills. through an
year. analytical skills the module. analysis will You will be able assessment
to develop. These can require many IT to master centre.
This will range from and numerical packages such
involve specific skills skills. as VBA.
learning skills such as financial
from analysing modelling to
case studies to maths formulae
effective use for risk analysis.
of VBA, R and
spreadsheets.
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Personal Skills Development for Individual Modules – MSc Finance & Accounting
Spreadsheets/ Analytical &

Numerical Critical Personal
Written Presentations Software Reasoning Verbal Teamwork Skills
September Modules
Foundations in Finance and Accounting      
Core Careers Track Part 1    
Compulsory Modules
Applied Econometrics      
Corporate Finance     
Financial Accounting      
Investments and Portfolio Management      
Management Accounting      
Advanced Corporate Finance       
Fundamentals of Derivatives      
Electives
Advanced Company Valuation     
Contemporary Financial Accounting      
Advanced Financial Statistics      
Banks, Regulation and Monetary Policy     
Corporate Governance and Stewardship     
Climate Finance     
Corporate Law and Tax Strategy       
Enterprise Risk Management     
Entrepreneurial Finance     
Insurance      
International Finance     
Mergers & Acquisitions    
Real Estate Investments     
Structured Credit and Equity Products       
Sustainable Finance Investment     
Wealth Management and Alternative Investments       
Innovation and Strategy in FinTech      
Individual Project /Applied Project   Depends on topic    
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3.2 Programme Structure
The programme consists of four required (and two optional) online modules, one foundation
module, eight compulsory modules, one key elective and two or three further electives
(depending on the project you do).
Term Element Compulsory Coursework Module Exam/Test

/ Code Schedule
Elective
Financial Accounting Primer Required 100% BUSI97289 N/A
(pre-study – Aug 2022)
Finance Careers Primer** Required 100% BUSI97332 Complete by 31
Online (pre-study – August 2022) October
Modules Introduction to Mathematics
Optional BUSI97080 N/A
(pre-study – Aug 2022)
Complete final
Plagiarism Awareness Module Required 100% BUSI70070 test by 25
September 2022
Ethics and Professional Standards
Required 100% BUSI97176 July 2023
in Finance
Markets and
Compulsory 100%
Securities
Accounting and 3 – 7 October
Compulsory 100%
Foundation Valuation 2022
(Sept 2022) Foundations in Financial
Finance & Compulsory 100%
Modelling BUSI97626
Accounting
Application of R Test in Autumn
for Finance Compulsory 100% term Week 8
(cont. in Autumn
Term) Test in Autumn
Autumn term Week 8
(Oct – Dec Corporate Finance Compulsory 30% BUSI97318
2022) Financial Accounting (0.67) Compulsory 30% BUSI97319 12-16 December
Investment and Portfolio Mgt Compulsory 20% BUSI97320 2022
Management Accounting (0.67) Compulsory 30% BUSI97317
Complete a TOTAL of three or four electives, depending on the project chosen;
You must choose a minimum of one ‘Key’ elective;
You may only select a maximum of one elective in Spring Term
Applied Econometrics (0.67) Compulsory 50% BUSI97321
Spring Fundamentals of Derivatives Compulsory 50% BUSI97327 13-24 March
(Jan-Mar Advanced Corporate Finance Compulsory 40% BUSI97328 2023
2023) Contemporary Financial Accounting Key 40% BUSI97314
International Finance Elective 15% BUSI97045
Advanced Company Valuation Elective 50% BUSI97070
Advanced Financial Statistics Elective 15% BUSI97143
Banks, Regulation &
Key 40% BUSI97069
Monetary Policy
Corporate Governance and
Key 30% BUSI97604
Stewardship
Summer Climate Finance Elective 50% BUSI97799
(Apr – Jun Corporate Dealmaking Key 50% BUSI97074
2023) Corporate Finance for Practitioners
Elective 45% BUSI70098
(International Elective)
Enterprise Risk Management Elective 30% BUSI97156 19 June – 30
Entrepreneurial Finance Elective 30% BUSI97606 June 2023
Insurance Elective 50% BUSI97157
Mergers and Acquisitions Key 50% BUSI97058
9
Term Element Compulsory Coursework Module Exam/Test
/ Code Schedule
Elective
Private Equity & Venture Capital Elective 40% BUSI97051
Real Estate Investments Key 50% BUSI97064
Structured Credit & Equity Products Elective 15% BUSI97139
Sustainable Finance Investment Elective 100%
Innovation and Strategy in FinTech Elective 50% BUSI97068
Wealth Management and Elective 30% BUSI97063
Alternative Investments
Term Element Compuls Coursework Module Deadlines

ory/ Code
Elective
Research Project or BUSI97313 17 August 2023
July-
Applied Project or Compuls 100% BUSI97323 17 August 2023
August
Applied Project ory
2023 BUSI97330 2 September 2023
(Work Placement)
Resit Sept 2023
Period All exams (Exact dates TBC)
* Not all combinations of electives are possible, as some electives run concurrently. Normally, a
minimum of 20 students need to be enrolled on an elective in order for it to run. If fewer than 20
students have chosen a particular elective, it is at the discretion of the Imperial College Business
School elective committee if it will go ahead or not. Students will be notified one week prior to the start
of an elective if the minimum threshold to run the module hasn’t been reached. Students affected will
be asked to select an alternative elective. Places will be made available on alternative elective
choices.
**To complete the careers module, student must undertake a number of required workshops
throughout the year. Please see the Careers & Professional Development section for further
details.
In addition to the electives, students may also take the following optional modules:
• C++ for Finance

• VBA
Further information is available in the Electives section of this handbook.
Modules are split into three groups for your award criteria:
Compulsory
• Corporate Finance – 7.5 ECTS
• Financial Accounting – 5 ECTS
• Investments and Portfolio Management – 7.5 ECTS
• Management Accounting – 5 ECTS
Pathway
• Applied Econometrics – 5 ECTS
• Fundamentals of Derivatives – 7.5 ECTS
• Advanced Corporate Finance – 7.5 ECTS
• Spring Elective – 7.5 ECTS
Specialised
• 3 Summer Electives (7.5 ECTS each) + Applied project (7.5 ECTS)
or
• 2 Summer Electives (7.5 ECTS each) + Research project (15 ECTS)
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3.3 Assessment Criteria for Foundation Modules
Module Element Assessment Weighting
Application of To be assessed by 50% coursework and

R for Finance 50% final test 25%
Foundations in Accounting To be assessed by 30% coursework and

Finance & and Valuation 70% online quiz 25%
Accounting
Financial
To be assessed by 100% MCQ test
Modelling 25%
Markets and
To be assessed by 100% MCQ test
Securities 25%
A pass in the Foundations in Finance & Accounting module is a requirement for the
degree award.
To pass the Foundations in Finance & Accounting module, students need to achieve a pass
mark in every element.
To gain a pass in this module, students will be required to achieve an average of 50% or
above across the four weighted components, with a minimum mark of 40% in each
component.
If students do not achieve a pass or get less than 40% in any individual element they will have
the opportunity to resit any coursework element they have failed no later than September 2023
and to resit the exams no later than the first week of October 2023.
Foundations in Finance & Accounting will appear in the official transcript as Pass or Fail.
11
3.4 Marking Criteria for Compulsory Modules, Electives and Project
At Imperial College Business School, all postgraduate work is marked to the following scheme
(please see page 15 for more information):
Marks Interpretation
85+ Marks represent an exceptional distinction performance
70 – 84% Marks represent a distinction performance
60 – 69% Marks represent a merit performance demonstrating a clear grasp of the

relevant concepts and facts
50 – 59% Marks represent a pass performance demonstrating an adequate grasp of

most of the relevant concepts and facts
40 – 49% Marks represent a fail performance.
30 – 39% Marks represent a fail performance (with significant shortcomings).
0 – 29% Marks represent a fail performance (with major shortcomings).
The Pass Mark for all postgraduate taught modules is 50%. Students must pass all specified
module groups in order to be awarded a degree. Students who undertake a re-sit of an
assessment will have the overall module mark capped at the pass mark
Compensation of module marks
Whilst a mark of below 50% for a module is a failure according to the College assessment
scheme, in some cases, this may be compensated. Compensation is when a module can be
passed and credit can be awarded by the Board of Examiners where the student has achieved
a marginal fail. This normally applies when the average for the module overall (for instance,
when the exam mark is combined with the coursework mark) is between 40-49%. A student
must also have satisfied all other requirements for a Pass award (e.g. achieving 50% for the
module group overall (a module group is a grouping of modules such as compulsory modules/
specialist modules etc.)). Where a student achieves less than 40% for the module overall, the
module cannot be compensated. Compensated passes can be awarded for up to a maximum
of 15 ECTS credits.
Calculation of degree outcomes
Degree outcomes are determined by two conditions:
(1) The average achieved across all modules (the “overall” weighted average)
(2) The average achieved for module groups (module groups are predetermined groupings of
similar modules that make up a programme; (see individual programme assessment
scheme for details of how modules are grouped)).
If a student achieves (1) an average of a certain classification (e.g. 70, for a distinction), and
(2) the average of each of the module groups is at or above that same classification (e.g. 70,
for a distinction), then the student is awarded their degree at that classification (e.g. a
distinction).
Students who do not achieve a higher degree classification by meeting both (1) and (2) above
will be considered ‘borderline’ if they fall into one of the following categories:
Students who do not meet (1):

12
A) Candidates who fall within 2 percentage points of the overall boundary for a higher
classification (e.g. between 68 and 70, for a distinction) may be considered for that higher
classification based on their academic performance.
i) Those who achieve an overall weighted average of n9.50 (whereby n can range from zero
to 9, but of practical relevance are primarily 49.50, 59.50 and 69.50) and above will have
their overall weighted average rounded to the higher classification. This rounding, of the
overall weighted average, is automatic. However, the degree outcome is contingent on
having achieved condition (2) as described above (each module group must be at an
average at or above the higher classification). If a student’s overall weighted average is not
in the higher degree classification then it will be because at least one of their module
groupings is also not in the higher degree classification and therefore the borderline criteria
will need to be applied.
ii) Those who achieve an overall weighted average of between n8.00 and n9.49 (for example
48.00–49.50, 58.00–59.50 and 68.00–69.50) will be considered for the higher classification
using the borderline criteria outlined below.
It is only the overall weighted average, for the entire degree, that is considered for rounding.
All other marks are presented to 2 decimal places and are not rounded. We do not round
marks at the module total level or module group level.
Students who do not meet (2):
B) If a student does not meet the higher degree classification because they have one module
grouping that is not in that higher degree classification then they will be considered for
uplift using the borderline criteria.
The borderline criteria will be applied in scenarios A(i), A(ii) and B, and includes ALL of the
following:
• No more than one module group being in the lower degree classification. The
average for this module group must fall within 2 percentage points of the higher
degree classification for which the student is considered.
• Compulsory module group/Term One module group being in the higher degree
classification
• More than 50% of individual assessments in the higher classification
• No compensated modules or assessment that have been re-taken (without approved
mitigating circumstances)
• The end of year project/report being in the higher degree classification (where
applicable and specified in the programme assessment scheme).
The above is the minimum criteria that normally applies. An examination board retains
discretion in applying the criteria.
In addition, the following guidance is provided to staff in relation to projects:
70% + A mark of this level corresponds to a distinction

The Report indicates exceptional success in tackling the Project. All the
Project’s objectives have been met as fully as could reasonably be expected.
The student has shown initiative and been rigorous in the collection and use
of data. Where appropriate, relevant literature has been critically evaluated.
The standard of the Report presentation is very high.
A mark of this level should be reserved for Reports of exceptional merit which
has something extra and which surprises. The supervisor will be required to
justify why a distinction has been awarded in the section provided.
13
60 - 69% A mark of this level corresponds to a merit.
The student has tackled the problem conscientiously and logically and has
produced sound conclusions. Presentation is of good standard.
50 – 59% The student’s work has been no more than moderate overall or would have
deserved a higher grade but for areas of significant weakness.
< 50% The student’s work has failed to reach a satisfactory standard. A mark below
50% should be used to indicate a “fail” in the Project.
14
15
3.5 Assessment Schemes, Exam Papers and External Examiners
3.5.1 Assessment Schemes for MSc Finance & Accounting
Weighting
All modules are equally weighted except three compulsory modules and the Research Project,
and the Foundations in Finance & Accounting module which is zero weighted.
The Autumn term modules Management Accounting and Financial Accounting and the Spring
term module Applied Econometrics are each weighted as 2/3 of a full module.
The Research Project carries a double weight.
There are three module groups;
• Compulsory Modules
• Pathway Modules
• Specialised Modules
Pass
 An average of 50% or above in each of the 3 module groups

 At least 70% of the largest individual component marks in each module being a minimum
of 50%
 A pass mark in the Foundations in Finance & Accounting module (an average of 50% or
above across the assessments, with a minimum mark of 40% in each individual
component)
Merit
 An average of 60% or above in each of the 3 module groups:

of 60%
component)
Distinction
 An average of 70% or above in each of the 3 module groups:

of 70%
component)
NB: Please refer to the Resits information in the Academic Regulations & Policies document on
the Hub, if applicable.
Compulsory module group: Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting, Investments and

Portfolio Management, Management Accounting
Pathway module group: Applied Econometrics, Fundamentals of Derivatives, Advanced

Corporate Finance, Spring Elective
Specialised module group: 3 Summer Electives + Applied project or 2 Summer Electives +

Research project
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3.5.2 Marking and Exam Papers
The following describes the process for examined modules.
The essentials of this process are laid down by the College and are requirements that apply to all
taught programmes.
The Board of Examiners is made up of all members of the School's academic staff who teach on
the programme (called 'internal examiners') plus a number of external examiners drawn from
other universities. A representative of the College Registry also normally attends Board
meetings. The external examiners are appointed for no more than four consecutive years. School
examiners have, in the past, been, drawn from LBS, Manchester, Cranfield, Lancaster, City,
Open University, Universita’ Commerciale La Bocconi, Oxford University, and LSE. Each external
is allocated a number of subjects in their area of expertise. The Board Chairman is normally the
Academic Director.
*This year, the external examiners for MSc Finance & Accounting are as follows:
Dr Amrit Judge Nottingham University

Professor Chendi Zhang University of Exeter Business School
Professor Roman Kozhan Warwick Business School
Professor Dennis Philip Durham University Business School
Dr Pantelis Kazakis University of Glasgow
The details provided above are for information only. Please note that it is not appropriate for
students to contact the externals directly regarding their studies. Any issues that you have in
relation to your assessment should be raised internally with your Programme Team in the first
instance or with the College Registry, if necessary. Issues with results can only be raised with
College Registry once the External Examiners’ meeting has taken place and results have been
released by Registry.
All examination scripts will be marked in detail by the Module Leader or appointed marker with a
second marker undertaking sample check marking to ensure that the mark awarded is
appropriate. A sample of scripts, along with coursework samples, are sent to the External
Examiner to ensure that the standard of marking at Imperial College Business School is
commensurate with elsewhere in the UK. External Examiners also approve draft examination
questions prior to the examination being set.
Specimen questions are provided ahead of the examination to guide students on content only.
The format is subject to change and the Module Leader will provide full information during the
module.
If candidates have experienced serious illness or other major problems which they consider to
have affected their academic performance, they should complete a mitigating circumstances
form. Please see the relevant section of the Academic Regulations and Policies document on the
Hub.
Candidates who are judged to have failed by the Board of Examiners are allowed by College
regulations ONE further entry to the examination(s). Students who need to re-sit will be given the
option to either re-sit in the August re-sit period, or during the next academic session. Students
with more than one re-sit exam will need to choose whether to re-sit exams either in August or in
the next academic year. At the discretion of the Programme Director, students are allowed to split
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re-sit exams between the August re-sit period and the next academic year. Students will still only
have one re-sit opportunity per examination.
A candidate will be required to re-sit if they achieve less than 50% in the overall module average
(the combined examination and coursework marks). In this instance a candidate must re-sit any
examination in which they achieved less than 50%, in order to increase their overall average
above 50%. For modules assessed by coursework only, candidates will be given the opportunity
to re-sit the relevant failing coursework components (e.g. those under 50%).
Information on re-sitting examinations, resubmitting coursework, resit/resubmission fees,

examination feedback and reasonable examination adjustments can be found in the Academic
Regulations and Policies document on the Hub.
In line with the College Regulations for Taught Programmes of Study, anonymity is observed and
maintained during the marking process for all written examinations by using random identifier
numbers only. Anonymity is also observed in the marking process for coursework in the same
way, a random identifier will be assigned to group and individual assignments, but practical
assessments (e.g. participation, video submissions and presentations) and supervised projects,
cannot be marked anonymously. For group assignments please choose one person to submit
your group assignment.
For individual and group assignments you should name your file with the assignment name and
file extension e.g. Group Assignment.pdf or Assignment 1.doc.
Where a student breaches their own anonymity, for example by writing their name visibly on an
assessment or naming a file with their name or CID, or by discussing the assessment with a
member of faculty, the student forfeits their right to anonymity.
If you have any additional educational needs, for example, dyslexia, AD(H)D etc it is advised that
you contact our Disability Advisory Service (DAS) and register with them as soon as possible.
The DAS will provide you with a telephone appointment should you require one. They are able to
advise you on the range of services that are available to you during your time at Imperial and
assist you in gaining access to the support you need. Find out more about the Disability Advisory
Service team: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/disability-advisory-service/about-us/contact-us/  
Should you wish to make an application for additional exam arrangements you should contact the
Head of Exams and Assessment, Jo Chaffin, as soon as practicable after you have started the
MSc Finance and Accounting programme. This should be done no later than six weeks before
your first assessment so your application can be processed for approval with student records. Jo
can be contacted on j.chaffin@imperial.ac.uk. Details of how to apply for additional exam
arrangements can also be found in the ‘Academic Regulations and Policies’ document on the
Hub.
*External examiners are subject to change
18
3.6 Prizes
Each year, outstanding MSc Finance & Accounting students are awarded a prize in various areas
of finance in recognition of their academic achievements.
Below is the list of prizes* currently available to students.
MSc Finance & Accounting Outstanding Student Prize - £500

Awarded annually to the MSc Finance & Accounting student with the best all round performance
in examinations, electives and project work taken together.
MSc Finance & Accounting Best Applied Project Prize - £250

Awarded annually to the MSc Finance & Accounting student with the highest mark in their
Applied Project.
MSc Finance & Accounting Corporate Finance Prize - £200

Awarded annually to the MSc Finance & Accounting student with the highest average in
Corporate Finance and Advanced Corporate Finance combined.
MSc Finance & Accounting - Accounting Prize - £200

Awarded annually to the MSc Finance & Accounting student with the highest average in Financial
Accounting, Management Accounting and Contemporary Financial Accounting combined
Best Research Project Prize (shared across the Finance Suite) - £250
Awarded annually to the student on the Finance suite of MSc programmes with the highest mark
in their Research Project.
There are also a number of School wide prizes available, details of which are in the Information
Guide on the Hub.
Dean’s List for Academic Excellence

The Dean’s List recognises students whose overall performance in their programme is above
70% and is within the top 10% of the cohort from each Business School taught programme.
Dean’s Community Award for Students

The Dean’s Community Awards encourage and recognise citizenship amongst Business School
students who excel in extra-curricular activities.
The Dean’s Community Awards encourage and recognise citizenship amongst Business School
students who excel in extra-curricular activities.
Nominations are accepted from students, faculty members and professional staff. Nominations
can be for an individual student or a team of students. Self-nominations or anonymous
nominations will not be considered. Students found proven to have committed an academic
offence or disciplinary breach will be precluded from receiving a School award.
When judging this award, consideration will be given to students who have made a significant
contribution to the Business School community or wider society. Contributions should be current;
the Panel will give greater weight to initiatives that have taken place in the current academic
session. As these awards celebrate extra-curricular activities, nominations relating to academic/
assessed work such as projects will not normally be considered.
19
There are six categories:
1. Improving Society – someone who has made a positive contribution to raising social
awareness e.g. raising awareness of social causes with the cohort, volunteering,
organising a fundraising or community engagement activity.
2. The Power of Innovative Thinking – someone who thinks outside of the box,
demonstrating creative thinking e.g. innovative contributions or leadership that takes a
project, event or solution to the next level.
3. Inspiring Brilliant Minds – someone who has broadened the minds of others e.g.
organising an event or activity that provoked inspiring discussion or innovation and
enhanced your learning and development.
4. Pioneering Practical Solutions – someone who identified an opportunity to benefit their

cohort or the School and takes action e.g. someone who has developed a new initiative to
improve the student experience.
5. Sustainable Business Thinking – someone who raises awareness of business practices

that are economically sustainable, socially responsible and actively promotes an
environmentally friendly culture both in the College and the wider community.
6. Inclusive Business - someone who consistently promotes (or has shown by a specific
action) practices and behaviours that enhance equality, diversity and inclusion in our
community of students, staff, or wider society. "
*All prizes are subject to change and to College approval
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3.7 Association with Professional Bodies
The MSc Finance & Accounting programme at Imperial College Business School is associated
with a number of respected accounting bodies.
3.7.1 Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global body for professional
accountants. It has 233,000 members and 536,000 students in 178 countries and the ACCA
qualification is recognised world-wide.
The MSc in Finance & Accounting programme is accredited by ACCA and students can gain
exemptions to the following papers on successful completion of their programme.
• Business and Technology

• Management Accounting
• Financial Accounting
• Corporate and Business Law
Further information about ACCA can be seen here:

http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/about-us.html
3.7.2 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the

global body of management accountants. It has more than 229,000
members and students in 176 countries and the CIMA qualification is
recognised world-wide.
The MSc in Finance & Accounting programme is also accredited by CIMA which entitles students
to 12 exemptions upon successful completion of the CIMA Masters Gateway exam following
completion of their MSc.
Further information about CIMA can be seen here:

http://www.cimaglobal.com/About-us/
21
3.8 Pre-study Online Modules
Students are required to complete the following online modules:
Before your arrival at the School:
1. Financial Accounting Primer (Required)

2. Introduction to Mathematics (Optional)
Experience tells us that students without a basic knowledge of these subjects will struggle on parts
of the programme. If you have not yet completed these modules, you should do so before the
autumn term starts in October.
September:
3. Plagiarism Awareness module (Required)
Summer term:
4. Ethics and Professional Standards in Finance (Required)
Although the marks for the test and quizzes for modules 1, 3 & 4 above will not count towards
your final grade, it is a programme requirement that you pass them.
It is a Business School requirement that you complete module 3 above.
22
3.8.1 BS2600 Financial Accounting Primer (Required)
Module Aims:
This primer aims to provide foundational knowledge to postgraduate students that do not have
accounting knowledge or experience. It is made up of eight sessions and will take around 20
hours to complete.
Module Contents:
This module introduces the basic financial statements, namely the balance sheet, the income
statement and the cash flow statement. It is a legal requirement for companies and large
organisations to report their financial status through these statements.
The basic pro-forma of these statements, how they are prepared, and the limitations of the
statements are explained. It is imperative for business people to be able to interpret and analyse
this information to support good decision-making.
Learning Outcomes:
On completion of the module, students will:
• Articulate the objective of general-purpose financial reporting frameworks

• Describe the components of a typical annual report
• Describe the components of a complete set of financial statements
• Articulate the elements of financial position and sub-classifications of asset and liabilities
• Articulate the elements of financial performance and sub-classifications of income and
expenses
• Describe a range of accounting models for financial and non-financial items
• Reflect on the extent to which economics is reflected in today's financial statements
Reflect on the root causes of today’s financial reporting anomalies.
Topics covered:
• Objective and use

• Elements of financial information—the financial accounting building blocks
• Components of financial statements and annual reports
• Classification of financial information
• The extent to which economics is reflected in today’s financial statements
• Recognition gap
• Measurement models
Root causes of financial reporting anomalies.
23
3.8.2 BUSI97080 Introduction to Maths
Module Aims:
This module reviews mathematical techniques that you will generally have encountered in your
earlier studies. The material is presented in a self-contained way. This module is highly
recommended to those who have not studied this subject for a while and need to refresh their
maths knowledge.
Learning Outcomes:
When you have completed the online module, you will be able to:
• Take derivatives and integrate simple commonly encountered functions

• Employ product and chain rules and integrate by parts
• Understand and manipulate simple equations involving vectors and matrices
• Be familiar with commonly encountered matrix functions such as determinants and
eigenvectors
• Understand simple properties of linear ordinary differential equations
Topics covered:
• Differentiation
• Integration
• Taylor expansion
• Linear algebra
• Differential equations
This pre-sessional module is not examined. However, in preparation for the start of your MSc
programme, it is in your interest to complete all the learning materials, quizzes and activities.
24
3.8.3 BUSI70070 Plagiarism Awareness Module (Required)
Module Aims:
How would you define plagiarism? Do you know what plagiarism is? Do you know there are
different types of plagiarism? We’ve asked lots of students what they think plagiarism is, and
most of them say plagiarism is when you ‘cut and paste’ or copy other people’s work.
This is only one half of a definition of plagiarism. You need to have a full understanding of what
plagiarism is, and why it is an academic offence.
Learning Outcomes:
After working through this module, you should:
• be able to explain what plagiarism is, and identify six different types of plagiarism
• be familiar with the concept of academic integrity
• be able to explain how to avoid plagiarism
• know what your department and the College policy is on plagiarism
• be able to explain the difference between paraphrasing and using a quotation in your
work
Assessment:
You are required to complete each stage of the course and pass the online quiz with a minimum
grade of 70% by the 25th of September 2022. Students who have not completed the course will
have their exam marks withheld until they have done so.
25
3.8.4 BUSI97176 Ethics and Professional Standards in Finance (Required)
Module Aims:
This module aims to introduce students to corporate responsibility and professional standards for
financial analysts. This online module will be available in the summer term and, at the end of it,
students are required to take a compulsory test, which must be passed before they can be
awarded the MSc.
Module Outline:
In this module, students will review the key factors and responsibilities for ethical practice in
finance.
There are nine sessions in total for students to complete. Each session will include a practitioner
video commentary, a web-based lecture, suggested readings, practical examples and questions
to test the key concepts learned in that section.
Assessment:
This module is assessed by 100% coursework. You are required to complete and pass the online
Ethics and Professional Standards in Finance module during the summer term.
26
3.9 Foundation Modules
The September modules will introduce you to the tools of modern finance and enhance your
career development skills.
Foundations in Finance & Accounting
 Application of R for Finance

• Hands-on introduction to R programming
• Development of good practice and knowledge to tackle complex problems
• During September students will be required to complete online Data Camp modules.
Teaching will begin in Autumn term.
 Accounting and Valuation

• Systematic exploration of accounting and corporate valuation tools
 Financial Modelling
• Elements of probability theory
• Review of matrix algebra and statistics
 Markets and Securities

• Introduction into securities trading, pricing and investment
• Review of probability theory and optimisation
27
3.9.1 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Application of R for Finance
Module Instructor:
Name: Liam Gao (Module Leader)

Email: j.gao@imperial.ac.uk
Module Aims:
The module is designed for students with no programming experience and provides the
foundations of programming in R. Variables, arrays, conditional statements, loops, and functions
are explained. Furthermore, the module will focus on modelling, leveraging the skills of R that
apply to modern financial markets, from simple linear regression and estimation to volatility
modelling, asset pricing and other relevant topics in finance.
Module Outline*:
• Variables, Matrices, Indexing and Operations
• Logical Operators, Flow Control, User Defined Functions
• Data Reading/Writing, Graphics with R
• Optimization: maximization/minimization of a function of many variables with and
without constraints.
• Elements of regression analysis
• Application: Portfolio Optimization
• Slightly More Advanced Application: e.g. Trading Strategy
• Revision & In-class Test
Learning Outcomes
• Be confident with the basics of programming in R
Assessment:
• Coursework (50%)
• Final Test (50%)
28
3.9.2 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Accounting & Valuation
Module Leader:
Name: James Sefton

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate, Room 3.08
Telephone: 020 7594 9128
Email: j.sefton@imperial.ac.uk
Module Aims:
The module aims to provide a thorough understanding of the key background material underlying
corporate finance and indeed much of modern finance.
After a brief overview of the aims of financial intermediation, the module focuses on the principal
user of capital; the corporation. We start by looking at its legal and organisational structure, and
discuss how it reports its activities in the annual accounts. Probably a company’s most important
decision is which projects to invest in. After introducing the time value of money, we discuss
various investment or capital budgeting decision rules.
In the second half, we focus on techniques to value securities and in particular common shares.
We will do this both theoretically and through a number of case examples. We ask how financial
analyst might approach this problem, and techniques that are used to verify or corroborate their
estimates of fair value.
Finally, we will look at some alternative approaches to valuation that ‘anchor’ the value of the firm
either to its book value or to its current earnings. With examples, we will discuss when the
Residual Income Model (RIM) or the Abnormal Earnings Growth Model (AEG) would be more
appropriate, and what we can learn from these alternative approaches.
Learning Outcomes:
• Have an understanding of the more specialised courses on the theory of investments and
corporate finance
Module Outline:
The module discusses the following concepts:
• Introduction to Financial Intermediation

• The legal and organisation structure of the corporation
• Basic Accounting – Principles and Financial Statements
• Financial Statement Analysis and Corporate Valuation
• The Timeline of Cash Flows, and their Present and Future value
• Capital Budgeting and Investment Decision Rules
• Free Cash Flows, Enterprise Value
• EVA and the Residual Income Valuation Model
• Valuation using the Abnormal Earnings Growth Model
After introducing the concepts, most of the main ideas are reinforced using case studies.
Assessment:
1. Coursework (30%)
2. Online Multiple-Choice Test (70%)
29
3.9.3 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Financial Modelling
Module Instructor:
Name: Walter Distaso

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate - Room 3.02
Telephone: 020 7594 3293
Email: w.distaso@imperial.ac.uk
Module Aims:
This module intends to provide students with the essential background in probability and
statistics for the compulsory and elective modules of the MSc Finance and Accounting
programme.
Learning Outcomes
• Be able to master the most important techniques of statistics and probability, tailored to
applications in finance, risk management and financial engineering.
Module Outline:
1. Motivation: some empirical finance questions

2. Random variables and probability distributions
3. Moments of a random variable
4. Probability distributions
5. Joint, marginal and conditional distributions
6. Functions and transformation of a random variable
7. Hypothesis testing
8. Univariate regression
9. Matrix Algebra
Assessment:
• Multiple Choice Test (100%) during week 4th – 8th October 2022
30
3.9.4 BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting: Markets and Securities
Module Instructor:
Name: Lara Cathcart

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate - Room 3.09
Telephone: 020 7594 9126
Email: l.cathcart@imperial.ac.uk
Module Aims:
This module firstly provides a broad overview of key financial markets; Stocks, Bonds and
Derivatives. Secondly it introduces the concepts of risk and return and how diversification
influences risk and return.
Module Outline:
• Bonds
• Equity
• Portfolio Analysis
• Derivatives
Learning Outcomes:
• Develop an understanding of the main financial instruments including debt, equity and
financial derivatives and of the concepts of market efficiency, portfolio risk and
diversification.
Assessment:
• Multiple Choice test (100%) during week 4th – 8th October 2022
31
3.10 Careers
3.10.1 BUSI97331 Careers & Professional Development
Module Instructors:
Name: Careers
Room: Central Library Building, Level 2
Telephone: 020 7594 1510/6432
Email: ibcareers@imperial.ac.uk
Module Aims:
The aims of this module are to allow students to:
1. Carefully consider their career plans and improve their knowledge of their sector(s) and
job role(s) of choice
2. Gain bespoke careers support for their situation and goals
3. Develop their professional skills and maximise their chance of career success
Module Outline:
This module will be delivered by a combination of Imperial Business School Careers Consultants,
external consultants and professionals working in the sector.
For 2022-2023 MSc full time students, it is expected that the four steps below are completed, as
well as optional activities that students can choose to participate in.
1. Careers Primer (this should be completed by 31st October 2022)
Students who are not seeking employment due to already having a role lined up, returning to a
previous employer or family business, or pursuing entrepreneurial activities will still need to
complete the Careers Primer to enhance their career development and self-awareness.
*121 appointments with a Careers Consultant cannot be booked until the Careers Primer is
complete.
2. Careers Appointment (to be completed by the end of 28th February 2023)
This meeting is a 20-minute appointment with a Careers Consultant where students will have the
chance to discuss the year ahead and their post-study career goals. The Careers Consultant will
provide advice and signpost to related sources and activities based on the student’s individual
career objectives.
*Please note that 1:1 appointments are available all year round and can cover any topic the
student wishes to discuss, such as reviewing their CV or cover letter, helping them to prepare for
an interview, or negotiating the salary of a new job – anything careers, or recruitment orientated
that is relevant to
3. Attend Careers Induction session at least 1 Careers Session from the below list
• Succeed at Interview
Presenting with Impact
Job Search for Experienced Students
4. Attend careers session to establish online profile and personal brand
• Accelerate Your Career Online – The LinkedIn Guys
32
Spring Careers Masterclass workshops
Professional Development will be ongoing throughout your career, and to kickstart this a stream
of masterclasses on soft skill development will be offered in the Spring term. Content will be
aligned with skills most sought after by employers in 2023 and focus on building emotionally
intelligent graduates and students are strongly encouraged to engage with this part of the
program.
Learning outcomes
• Knowledge of the careers support available to them at Imperial Business School and how
to access this
• Understanding of their chosen sector(s), including typical roles and the recruitment
process
• Development of their CV and cover letter, online profiles, and interview technique
Assessment
To complete the Careers Module, students will:
• Complete the Careers Primer

• Attend Careers Induction and 1 workshop of choosing from list above
• Attend ‘Accelerate Your Career Online’
• Attendance 1 x 1:1 appointment (minimum) (to discuss any careers related
topic)
33
3.11 Compulsory Modules
The seven compulsory modules are:
1. Corporate Finance
2. Financial Accounting*
3. Investment & Portfolio Management
4. Management Accounting*
5. Advanced Corporate Finance
6. Fundamentals of Derivatives
7. Applied Econometrics*
Four compulsory modules are taught in the autumn term and three in the spring term.
Full modules are delivered over 27 hours of lectures, with a 3-hour lecture and a 1-hour class per
week.
*0.67 weighted module delivered over 18 hours of lectures, with a 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour
class per week.
We endeavour to record the lectures and have them available to view via the Hub. However, this
is not a substitute for live class attendance. The system occasionally does not work due to
technical errors, so this should not be relied upon as an alternative to attending at the time of the
lecture whether in person, or online.
You are expected to attend all lectures, classes and workshops.
The following sections provide information about the Autumn and Spring Term compulsory
modules.
34
Autumn Term Modules
3.11.1 BUSI97318 Corporate Finance (Autumn Term)
Module Instructor:
Name: Jamie Coen

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate – Room 5.01B
Email: TBC
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the module, you will be able to:

• Apply financial data to compute the cost of equity and the cost of capital for any firm
• Identify the optimal mix of debt and equity financing for a firm
• Evaluate manager’s dividend and share buyback policies
• Implement DCF methods to value the equity in a firm or the entire business
• Select appropriate financial multiples for application to investment analysis.
Module Aims:
This is an introductory module in Corporate Finance. The module has four main objectives:
1. Overview the key factors that affect the cost of capital for corporations
2. Develop an understanding of the capital structure decisions for corporations
3. Develop an understanding of firm’s payout policy decisions
4. Evaluate how investment and financing decisions are related (valuation)
Emphasis will be placed on appreciating the limitations and challenges that are faced when
applying the theoretical framework of corporate finance to real world problems.
Module Outline:
Lecture 1: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance

Lecture 2: Capital Structure I
Lecture 3: Capital Structure II
Lecture 4: Dividend and Payout Policy
Lecture 5: Valuation and Financing
Lecture 6: Risk Management
Lecture 7: Secondary Markets, Regulation and Cost of Capital for Corporations
Lecture 8: Long-term Equity Financing: Traditional ways and recent innovations
Lecture 9: Revision
Assessment:
• Exam (70%)
35
3.11.2 BUSI97319 Financial Accounting* (Autumn Term)
Module instructor:
Name: Mike Wells
Email: mjcwells@imperial.ac.uk
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the module you will be able to:
• Articulate varying elements and sub-classifications of asset and liabilities.
• Describe a range of cost models.
• Apply accounting tools to non-financial assets and liabilities
• Analyse financial performance based on standard reporting tools
Module Aims:
The module aims to provide students with an understanding of financial accounting and
reporting in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and an
overview of some of the main judgements and estimates in preparing IFRS financial
information.
Module Outline:
1. Objective and concepts underpinning financial reporting in accordance with International
Financial Reporting Standards
2. The elements and the subclassification of assets and liabilities
3. Historical cost, amortised cost and the cost model
4. Fair value measurement, the fair value model and the revaluation model
5. Financial statement presentation
6. Accounting for non-financial assets
7. Accounting for non-financial liabilities
8. Accounting for financial instruments
9. The elements of financial performance and reporting financial performance.
Assessment:
• Final Exam (70%)
* For the purposes of the overall degree classification, this module is weighted at 0.67 of a full module.
Teaching will be delivered over a total of 18 hours, by way of a 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour class per week
for 9 weeks.
36
3.11.3 BUSI97320 Investments and Portfolio Management (Autumn Term)
Module Instructor:
Name: Robert Kosowski

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate – Room 5.01C
Telephone: 020 7594 3294
Email: r.kosowski@imperial.ac.uk
Module Aims:
This module will use fundamental tools of economic theory, and quantitative techniques, to analyse
portfolio choice and asset valuation. It provides students with a critical understanding of important
investment and portfolio management techniques used for portfolio management by fund
managers, risk managers, banks’ trading desks, pension funds and other financial institutions.
There will be many practical examples that students are asked to solve.
Learning Outcomes:
• implement trading strategies,
• analyse the risk of portfolios,
• undertake stock selection and, assess asset valuations and construct portfolios
Module Outline:
This is an approximate schedule of topics that will be covered. Any possible pre-session
readings will be confirmed at a later date.
Week 1: Introduction and Fixed Income Markets

Topics: Module Outline and Introduction,
Overview of Fixed Income Market
Yield to maturity
Week 2: The Term Structure of Interest Rates
Topics: The Term Structure of Interest Rates
Interest Rate Risk
Duration
Week 3: Foreign Exchange Markets
Topics: Spot and Forward Exchange Rates,
FX Swaps versus Currency Swaps,
CIP and UIP Conditions
Week 4: Mean-Variance and Diversification
Topics: Naïve Diversification versus Markowitz Diversification,
The benefits of international diversification
Week 5: Constructing Optimal Portfolios

Topics: Translating signals into Portfolio Allocation,
Robust Portfolio Allocation
Week 6: The Capital Asset Pricing Model

Topics: The CAPM model,
Multi-factor generalizations and the APT
Week 7: Options, Futures, and the Role of Derivatives in Risk Management

37
Topics: Option and futures characteristics
Option strategies
The role of derivatives in risk management
Week 8: Valuation of Derivative Securities

Topics: Extending the no-arbitrage principle to forward and option pricing
Replicating portfolios and Binomial trees
Week 9 Revision (Module summary and revision exercises)
Assessment:
• Exam (80%)
38
3.11.4 BUSI97317 Management Accounting* (Autumn Term)
Module Instructor:
Name: Jeremy Fernando

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate – Room 5.01B
Email: j.fernando@imperial.ac.uk
Module Aims:
Management Accounting comprises various techniques for the calculation of cost and
performance, and also includes organization-wide control systems such as budgets and
balanced scorecards. This module will address the technical and calculative aspects of
management accounting practices, which support the effective definition and delivery of strategic
objectives.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this module you will be able to:
• Demonstrate critical skills in relation to the operational and strategic relevance of
management accounting information
• Apply information for the purpose of organisational performance evaluation
• Evaluate the costing principles underlying the classification and processing of cost
accounting data
• Apply standard techniques to the solution of simple short and long-run financial decision
problems by selecting and utilising relevant information
• Critically evaluate different analyses of costs traditionally thought of as overheads as a
means to manage current activity and to inform ongoing financial and strategic planning
Module Outline:
• Participate in managerial decision processes where accounting based information may be
an important input
• Read and interpret management accounting reports concerned with economic analysis of
multi-product or multi-segment businesses and ask significant questions regarding the
costing practices used to prepare such reports
• Structure planned and actual operational information according to the hierarchical
principles of variance analysis to support both operational and strategic decision-making
• Develop coherent and technically appropriate sets of performance measures aiming at a
balance between leading and lagging, financial and non-financial indicators.
• State the problems of using accounting data for evaluating the performance of cost, profit
and investment centres in business organisation
Assessment:
• Exam (70%)
for 9 weeks.
39
Spring Term Modules
3.11.5 BUSI97328 Advanced Corporate Finance (Spring Term)
Module Instructor:
Name: Raj Iyer

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate – Room 5.08
Email: r.iyer@imperial.ac.uk
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Demonstrate the main aspects of corporate financial decision making, and in particular
financing decisions, investment decisions, corporate governance, mergers and
acquisitions, and the lifecycle of corporate financial policy.
• Be able to apply the concepts and methods to analyse real-life business decisions.
• Be able to analyse and solve problem sets based on topics discussed in lectures
Module Description:
This module covers corporate financial decision-making at an advanced level. It provides an

overview of corporate investment policy and company valuation, financing decisions and capital
structure, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, external financing at different stages
of a firm’s lifecycle, and recent phenomena in corporate financial innovation.
Module Outline:
The module will cover investment and financing decisions, corporate governance, and mergers
and acquisitions in presence of taxes, conflicts of interests, and asymmetric information. Each
component below will include a lecture and a case study.
• The corporate investment policy component will review common valuation techniques as
well as the Weighted Average Cost of Capital, the Adjusted Present Value techniques and
real options.
• Outside financing and capital structure will include an analysis of both the static trade off
and the pecking order theories as well as a thorough analysis of corporate finance with
asymmetric information and a case study on dividend policy.
• Corporate governance will address both executive compensation and other governance
mechanisms. Concepts will be applied to an in-depth examination of standard shareholder
agreements.
• Mergers and acquisitions will cover valuation, financing and negotiation techniques.
• Raising external capital. IPOs and related asset pricing anomalies. Financing technology
intensive firms.
• Angel investments, venture capital and crowd-financing. New trends in financing
innovation.
Assessment:
• Exam (60%)
40
3.11.6 BUSI97327 Fundamentals of Derivatives (Spring Term)
Module Instructor:
Name: Savitar Sundaresan

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate – Room 5.01A
Telephone: 020 7594 6449
Email: s.sundaresan@imperial.ac.uk
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Describe the intuition behind the valuations of derivatives contracts.
• Estimate several different pricing models for derivatives contracts.
• Construct and participate in a synthetic derivatives trading market.
• Appraise current financial conditions and develop trading strategies to take advantage of
them
Module Aims:
Derivatives play a fundamental role in financial theory and practice. Firms and portfolio
managers use derivatives to hedge specific risks, while other players use derivatives for
speculation. Global derivatives markets are some of the largest in the world, and a thorough
understanding of the strategic opportunities of derivative instruments, as well as their risks is
ever more important. This module aims to impart intuition and technical skills on pricing
derivative securities, and using them for hedging, investment, and risk management.
Assessment:
• Exam (50%)
41
3.11.7 BUSI97321 Applied Econometrics* (Spring Term)
Module Instructor:
Name: Walter Distaso

Room: 53 Prince’s Gate – Room 3.02
Telephone: 020 7594 3293
Email: w.distaso@imperial.ac.uk
Office Hours : Contact with lecturer will be by weekly office hours, details to be confirmed on the
Hub during term-time
Learning Outcomes:
• construct adequate econometric models,
• estimate the chosen econometric models,
• evaluate the outputs of those models
• apply the models to inform business decisions.
Module Aims:
The aim of this module is to acquaint the students with a range of modern econometric techniques
which are an essential part of advanced empirical research.
The module will focus on the range of empirical analyses made possible by each new methodology,
rather than the methodologies themselves.
Module Outline:
The module consists of 9 weekly lectures and classes. Each of the first 8 lectures will cover a
different topic in applied econometrics focusing on financial applications, including a series of
empirical examples to illustrate the theory in practice. The lecture in week 7 will be delivered
by a guest lecturer, who is usually a professional working in the industry and talks about
topics that are of great interest to potential employers. The last lecture will focus on revising
the material.
Problem sets will be distributed to students at the end of each lecture. Students will have to
solve the problems prior to classes. Problem sets will then be discussed in classes with the
TA. Suggested readings will be either uploaded onto the Hub or a link will be provided. It is
very important that the students make an effort to go through them before the lectures. In
addition, there is a coursework assignment that students need to perform in groups. The
coursework uses real world databases and requires the application of the methodologies
taught in the lectures. The group coursework enhances and stimulates a team building
approach from students.
Assessment:
• Exam (50%)
for 9 weeks.
42
3.12 Electives
There is a total of 27 contact hours for each elective. Electives are taught in the spring and summer
terms.
Students choose and complete 4 electives, unless they get approval to do the Research Project
(rather than the Applied Project) in which case they only take 3 electives.
KEY ELECTIVES
A number of modules within your programme will be designated as “Key” electives. These
modules, whilst not compulsory, are considered to be central to your programme of study.
All students are required to choose a minimum of one ‘key’ elective.
ELECTIVES
Students should then choose three further electives (if completing the Applied Project) or two
further electives (if completing the Research Project).
These additional modules can be selected from either the “Key” Electives or the Electives lists.
OPTIONAL ELECTIVES
In addition to the electives, students may also take the following optional modules:
1. C++ for Finance

2. VBA
Should you take and pass the above C++ for Finance or VBA modules you will receive a
certificate of completion for each. Your marks will not count towards your final grade and the
module(s) will not appear in the official transcript.
FURTHER INFORMATION
You will receive full information about the process of choosing your electives, and details of each
module offered (including module outlines), via the Hub, during the autumn term.
Not all combinations of electives are possible, as some electives run concurrently. Normally, a
minimum of 20 students need to be enrolled on an elective in order for it to run. If fewer than 20
students have chosen a particular elective, it is at the discretion of the Imperial College Business
School elective committee if it will go ahead or not. Students will be notified one week prior to the
start of an elective if the minimum threshold to run the module hasn’t been reached. Students
affected will be asked to select an alternative elective. Places will be made available on alternative
elective choices.
43
3.13 Final Project
The vast majority of students are expected to complete the Applied Project which has a practical
focus and is designed for those who wish to pursue a career in a financial institution. For the small
number of students who wish to follow an academic career and want to go on to a PhD programme,
we offer the Research Project, which is more appropriate for this context.
Applied Project
This is a project undertaken by you independently, which you will work on over the Spring and
Summer terms. In scope it is broadly equivalent to one elective and the work will be presented via
a 5 minute presentation and in a 3,000 word report.
Typically the Applied Project falls into one of these five categories:
• Corporate Investment Project

• Applied econometric or other type of quantitative analysis
• Writing and documenting new software for a financial application
• Accounting based topic
• Financial Technology Report
You will be provided with Applied Project information and guidelines, in December 2022. Your final
report must be submitted by 16 August 2023. Presentations will take place early in the summer
term.
The Applied Project may involve an outside partner, such as a work placement sponsor or a
prospective employer. Students who are successful in obtaining an approved work placement
during June/July/August will be transferred to the Applied Project (work-based) module after
approval. Work-based Applied Projects must be submitted by 1 September 2023.
Research Project
This is an original piece of academic financial research undertaken by you under the supervision
of a member of academic faculty. You will work on the Research Project during the Spring and
Summer terms and the research project must be submitted by 16 August 2023. In scope, the
Research Project is broadly equivalent to two electives and the work will be presented in a report
of a maximum of 10,000 words. You will be given information on academic Research Project topics
and guidelines in December 2022.
Plagiarism
If your completed MSc project is discovered to contain material from other sources that have not
been referenced correctly, then this will be referred to the Business School’s Plagiarism
Committee. If they deem it to be a major case of plagiarism they in turn will refer it to Registry. If
plagiarism is found to have taken place, a number of penalties will be considered, details of which
can be found in the College’s Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedures document (appendix
1, point 8). For severe cases it is possible that your MSc qualification could be withdrawn (e.g.
even if the plagiarism is discovered several years after submission). Please note that self-
plagiarism is also disallowed (e.g. reusing your own essay or your other thesis/dissertation).
The Business School has produced a short module on plagiarism and this is available on the
programme area on the Hub. This should be completed at the beginning of the programme. The
Education Quality Team will track who has completed it and exam marks will be withheld until the
assessment has been taken and a pass mark attained.
44
Further information on plagiarism is available in Section 4.4 of this Handbook and in the Academic
Regulations & Policies document on the Hub.
Submission of your project
You must submit your project by relevant deadline in August 2023. A plagiarism detection software
will be used to check and test your project for plagiarism.
Late submission
Late submission will be allowed only for reasons of mitigating circumstance such as serious illness
(supported by a medical certificate) or death of a near relative. Further details on mitigating
circumstances can be found in the 'Academic Regulations and Policies' document on the Hub. The
option to defer submission to the following year is not available. The submission dates are an
inflexible deadline, so you should ensure you pace your work such that you can easily meet it.
If you fail to submit your project, or submit late without mitigating circumstances, you will be
deemed to have failed your first attempt and will be given a further attempt in the next academic
session. Your re-submitted report will be capped at the pass mark. Research Project students
should also note that you will not have access to your academic supervisor after the original
deadline.
• Further details on mitigating circumstances can be found in the 'Academic Regulations and
Policies' document on the Hub.
45
4 INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
4.1 Term Dates
The Department of Finance* dates for 2022/22 are:
September Term Monday 05 September 2022 Friday 30 September 2022

Test and Coursework Submission 3 - 7 October 2022
Autumn Term Monday 10 October 2022 Friday 09 December 2022
Exams 12 – 16 December 2022
Spring Term Monday 09 January 2023 Friday 10 March 2023
Exams 13 – 24 March 2023
Summer Term Monday 17 April 2023 Friday 16 June 2023
Exams 19 June – 30 June 2023
Research and Applied Project
Wednesday 17 August 2023
Submission deadline
Applied Project (Work-based)
Friday 2 September 2023
Submission deadline
Official End of Programme Sunday 4 September 2023
* PLEASE NOTE:
The Department of Finance term dates may be different from other programmes in
the Business School and/or in the wider Imperial College. Please, therefore, refer
to the term dates above or those published on the Department of Finance
webpages only.
46
4.2 Student Year Planner
Please note: Dates may be subject to change
47
4.3 Academic Director and Programme Team contact details
Students can contact the Assistant Director for academic issues and they should contact the
Programmes Team for all other issues.
Email: fanda.programme@imperial.ac.uk
Programme Team Office: Room 3.05, 3rd Floor, 53 Princes Gate
Your Programme Team
Program Coordinator
Owen Howells-Ottin
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 1642
Room 3.05, 53 Princes Gate
Programme Coordinator
Meriam Shallal
+44 (0)20 7594 8231
Academic Director (MSc F&A)
Professor James Sefton

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7594 9128
48
Programme Coordinator
Ashleigh Andrews
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 1647
Programme Coordinator (MSc Finance)
Nadia Ouddane
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 0885
Programme Manager
Abi Tepania
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 1642
Programme Manager (MSc Finance)
Nicholas Dean
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 1762
Programme Director
Chris Neill
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 9126
49
4.4 Plagiarism and Cheating
Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s thoughts, words, images or diagrams as though
they were your own. Another form of plagiarism is self-plagiarism, which involves using your own
prior work without acknowledging its reuse. Plagiarism may be intentional, by deliberately trying to
use another person’s work by disguising it or not citing the source, or unintentional where citation
and/or referencing is incorrect.
Plagiarism must be avoided, with particular care on coursework, essays, reports and projects
written in your own time and also in open and closed book written examinations.
Examples of plagiarism include:
• not referencing the source of your ideas or arguments when they are derived from your
reading,
• taking verbatim the words of someone else’s work and putting it into your work without
quotation marks and referencing,
• taking whole sections out of books, articles, lecture notes, other reports or students’ work,
and including them in your report uncited.
When submitting your assessed work, via the Hub or in hardcopy, you will be required to confirm
that you have read and understood the definition of plagiarism. Submitting the assignment will
certify that the work presented is entirely your own, except where indicated. This includes your
final project or essay as well as all other assessed work.
Collusion
This is the term used for work that has been conducted by more than one individual, in
contravention of the assessment brief. Where it is alleged that there has been collusion, all
parties will be investigated. Sharing completed work with other students and allowing them to
copy is also considered collusion. There can be serious penalties for collusion, particularly if it is
found to have taken place in a remote examination.
Group work
When submitting group work, members of that group are deemed to have collective responsibility
for the integrity of work submitted by that group and may be liable for any penalty imposed if
plagiarism is detected, proportionate to their contribution. You should, therefore, retain an audit
trail of your contribution, as proof of which team members contributed to each section of the
work. For this reason, it is also important that you contribute to all pieces of groupwork. If
plagiarism is proven in a group assignment and an audit trail provides evidence that an individual
did not contribute the plagiarised text, individuals will normally be marked on their contribution to
the overall piece of work. If, for whatever reason, a student chooses not to contribute to an
assignment, they increase the risk of scoring a zero for that piece of work.
Plagiarism checks
All final year projects/reports/essays will be submitted to plagiarism detection software. Random
plagiarism checks will be made on coursework submissions and timed remote assessments
(TRAs).
Plagiarism penalties
50
Plagiarism is a serious offence. The External Examiners’ Board may penalise you for plagiarism,
and serious cases will result in an automatic failure of the coursework/TRA/project. The Board
reserves the right to take further action as it deems appropriate to protect the good name of the
School and the College, and this may involve expulsion of a student from the programme or
withdrawal of a degree award. Please note that there have been instances in recent years where
Business School students have committed Major Plagiarism or have cheated in an examination
and have been excluded from their programme.
If your completed project or essay is discovered to contain substantial amounts of verbatim
material from other sources that have not been acknowledged, then this will be referred to the
College. If plagiarism is found to have taken place, your degree qualification may be withdrawn
(even if the plagiarism is discovered several years after submission).
All students are expected to have:
• Satisfactorily completed the online module on plagiarism, available on the Hub

(examination marks will be withheld until this has been completed).
• Attended the plagiarism session organised by the Library in the Autumn term.
• Familiarised themselves with the recommended referencing style.
Additional information on how to reference correctly can be found in the Harvard Referencing
Guide. An electronic version of this guide and other referencing information can be found on the
Library’s website.
It is important that you learn how to properly attribute and acknowledge the work, data and ideas
of others. Students whose assessments can be shown to contain plagiarism are subject to
penalties as outlined in the College’s Misconduct Policy and Procedures.
You are expected to conduct all aspects of your academic life in a professional manner. A full
explanation of academic integrity, including information on the College’s approach to plagiarism
is available on the College website.
Proofreading
The Business School believes that academic writing is a specific skill and we encourage students
to spend time proof-reading their work in order to develop this skill; this is part of studying for a
degree. Students are advised not to use any third party proof-reader. It is pivotal that the content
of the work and the expression of ideas remains solely the work of the student.
Referencing in examinations
It can be good to include short quotations in your answers, because those words were said by
someone important, or describe an idea particularly well. At other times, a short quotation is
helpful to illustrate an example. Where you refer to a particular piece of academic work as the
source of an idea (without actually directly copying any text), you will gain credit if you show that
you know which piece it is (by adding "(author name(s), date)" as if you were writing a normal
academic assignment). You do not need to do this for ideas that are generally known (the earth
goes round the sun...). However, if you simply copy large amounts of material in your answer,
examiners will assume that this is because you do not understand it well enough to write it in
your own words.
When preparing for an exam or timed remote assessment (TRA), many students might learn
information word-for-word. Referencing is expected if you repeat this material in your
examination/ TRA paper. You should acknowledge the source (e.g. book, article, webpage,
lecture slides, lecture notes etc.) and attempt to paraphrase the text, in order to apply it to the
question being asked. If you would prefer to use the original text then quotation marks should be
used, in addition to citing the source.
51
Please be aware that if large sections of unreferenced text are found within a student’s
examination/ TRA paper it may be necessary to conduct a viva, in order to ascertain whether the
material has been copied or memorised. Even if it is determined that the material has been
memorised, then this would still constitute plagiarism if the source is not acknowledged. It is also
very unlikely that a large amount of pre-learned material (as opposed to a short definition or key
quotation) would help you to write a good answer to the question actually set by the examiner.
4.5 Group Work and Peer Review
All Business School programmes require students to work in study groups. Study groups are
responsible for joint work (including assessed work) in the form, for example, of case study
preparation and reports, essays, and class presentations.
You should be aware that you have a collective responsibility for the integrity of the piece of
group work submitted for assessment. This means that if part of the work is plagiarised, all group
members will be held accountable unless proof can be provided by each member of their
contribution. You should, therefore, retain an audit trail of your contribution for this purpose. You
should also retain documentation relating to the decisions taken on who will contribute what to a
piece of work as this may also be requested by markers.
Groups are responsible for how they allocate workload and contribution for a particular piece of
group work. Whilst doing this, students should leverage the strengths of their team members in
order to produce the best piece of work in the most efficient way. However, regardless of how
you decide to split the work across your team members you should be aware that, as stated
above, all team members have a “collective responsibility” for the final piece of work submitted
and all team members will normally get the same grade. The most substantial element of each
module is normally assessed individually – usually a formal examination. So, you should not feel
that you are not being given an opportunity to demonstrate your personal knowledge and skills.
The School operates a system of peer assessment when grading group work. This is to address
the issue of ‘free-riders’ (students who do not make a reasonable contribution to the final piece of
work). The peer assessment system is not meant to be used as a way of penalising someone
who you feel is weaker in some way, for example whose English or subject knowledge is not as
strong as other group members.
The peer assessment systems works in the following way. A grade will be awarded for a piece of
group coursework overall. A student’s individual mark, however, will depend on the effort their
team members think they have put in. Your Programme Team will go through the details of the
peer assessment process when your first piece of group work is due.
Any student whose work is to be marked down as a result of the peer assessment may be asked
to meet the Academic Director, Senior Programme Manager or Programme Manager. Their
contribution to the piece of work will then be discussed. This stage is a precaution to ensure that
individual students are not being victimised by the rest of their group. If there is evidence to
suggest that an individual student is being victimised then the rest of the group will be penalised.
4.6 Module Excellence Surveys (MODES)

At the end of every module you will be asked to complete a survey in order for you to provide
feedback. The surveys will give you the opportunity to rate the module content and instructor(s)
and also give written comments on the learning environment and module overall. The School
issues a survey per instructor and at the end of each term students are also asked to score and
comment on the term as a whole. A link to the surveys can be found in the external tools section
of both the module itself and the programme area on the Hub. You will also receive a link to the
surveys via email (hosting@evasys.co.uk). In some instances lecturers may prefer to have
students complete a paper survey at the end of the final class. Also in the external tools section
52
you will also see a link to a short video called ‘Making Feedback Effective’. We would appreciate it
if you would please take the time to watch it before completing your first set of MODES surveys.
The MODES feedback is taken very seriously and is used to identify examples of good practice
and highlight areas that could be improved. The School really appreciates your support in
completing the surveys. If only a small number of students respond, the feedback will not truly
reflect the general thoughts of the cohort and therefore be less valid. MODES results are passed
onto the lecturers, Academic Director, Programme Director, Department Heads, the Dean and the
Associate Dean. Your feedback is completely anonymous and is not given to Faculty until they
have completed and submitted their marking, so you can be assured that the feedback you provide
will have no influence on the grades you receive. Once they have received the feedback, your
Programme Director will post a response to the themes and issues raised in the MODES on the
Hub.
Programmes achieving a 70% response rate, averaged across all modules in the term, will receive
an additional £5 per head for each student that responds into the programme’s social fund.
Alternatively, this amount can be donated to a charity of the programme’s choice – to be decided
by the Staff & Student Committee following consultation with the cohort.
The response rate will be calculated using an average across all surveys for that programme in
each term. For example if there are 6 modules in a term (say 3 in each block), then the overall
response rate will be an average of the response rate for the 6 modules combined.
Students need to have completed the surveys for all of their modules, including the term overall
survey, to be counted in the additional per head allocation of funds.
Surveys for optional workshops will not be included.
Those programmes which beat the response rate for the same term in the previous academic
session (2021/22) but do not achieve the 70% response rate average, will receive £2.50 per head
for each student that responds for the programme’s social fund/ donation to charity (a minimum
33% response rate needs to be achieved to be eligible).
A response rate update will be provided to all students before MODES is due to close.
53
4.7 Global Skills Development
The Global Skills Team provides a variety of year-round, face-to-face, and online support tailored
to the needs of all Business School students.
Global skills include the ability to engage effectively with individuals from diverse cultural
backgrounds and function well in international teams. Business School students represent over
80 countries, and this diversity enables individuals to develop their global mindset as they work
together throughout the year. We support these activities through workshops and consultations,
and also deliver guidance on a range of other academic, professional, and language skills.
Our provision includes:
• workshops on team working and cross-cultural competence

• weekly global business news discussion groups
• programme specific writing and presentation workshops
• presentation rehearsals
• 1-to-1 English language support
• 1-to-1 study skills consultations
• 1-to-1 language checks for CV and cover letters
1-to-1 consultations are available throughout the year and can be booked via Symplicity, the
Careers consultation booking platform: https://imperial-csm.symplicity.com/students/
To book an online of F2F consultation, select one of the labels: GSD (Global Skills Development)
For more information about Global Skills support, please contact Jim McCloskey:
j.mccloskey@imperial.ac.uk or Martin Lisboa m.liboa@imperial.ac.uk
54
5 Indicative Module List
Module Compulsory/
Module Title Term Credits
Code Elective
Pre- 0.00
BUSI97080 Introduction to Maths Optional sessional
BUSI97331 Careers & Professional Development Required AU 0.00
BUSI70070 Plagiarism Awareness Required Sept 0.00
BUSI97289 Financial Accounting Primer Required

Pre- 0.00
sessional
BUSI97332 Finance Careers Primer Required Sep 0.00
BUSI97176 Ethics and Professional Standards in Finance Required SU 0.00
BUSI97626 Foundations in Finance & Accounting Compulsory Sept 7.50
BUSI97328 Advanced Corporate Finance Compulsory SP 7.50
BUSI97321 Applied Econometrics Compulsory SP 5.00
BUSI97318 Corporate Finance Compulsory AU 7.50
BUSI97319 Financial Accounting Compulsory AU 5.00
BUSI97327 Fundamentals of Derivatives Compulsory SP 7.50
BUSI97320 Investments and Portfolio Management Compulsory AU 7.50
BUSI97317 Management Accounting Compulsory AU 5.00
BUSI97070 Advanced Company Valuation Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97314 Contemporary Financial Accounting Key Elective SP 7.50
BUSI70098 Corporate Finance for Practitioners Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97143 Advanced Financial Statistics Elective SP 7.50
BUSI97069 Banks, Regulation & Monetary Policy Key Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97604 Corporate Governance and Stewardship Key Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97074 Corporate Dealmaking Key Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97799 Climate Finance Elective SP 7.50
BUSI97156 Enterprise Risk Management Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97606 Entrepreneurial Finance Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97157 Insurance Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97045 International Finance Elective SP 7.50
55
Module Compulsory/
Module Title Term Credits
Code Elective
BUSI97058 Mergers and Acquisitions Key Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97064 Real Estate Investment Key Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97051 Private Equity & Venture Capital Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97139 Structured Credit and Equity Products Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97068 Innovation and Strategy in Fintech Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97063 Wealth Management and Alternative Investments Elective SU 7.50
BUSI97323 Applied Project Elective SU/SUP 7.50
BUSI97330 Applied Project (Work Placement) Elective SU/SUP 7.50
BUSI97313 Research Project Elective SU/SUP 15.00
56
Imperial College Business School
South Kensington Campus
London SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom
imperial.ac.uk/business-school

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MSc Finance & Accounting

Welcome from Academic Director

I am delighted to welcome you all to the 2022/2023 Master of Finance

With best wishes

MSc Finance & Accounting: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Category Description Example

Spreadsheets/ Analytical &

Term Element Compulsory Coursework Module Exam/Test

Term Element Compuls Coursework Module Deadlines

• C++ for Finance

Further information is available in the Electives section of this handbook.

Module Element Assessment Weighting

Application of To be assessed by 50% coursework and

Foundations in Accounting To be assessed by 30% coursework and

70 – 84% Marks represent a distinction performance

60 – 69% Marks represent a merit performance demonstrating a clear grasp of the

50 – 59% Marks represent a pass performance demonstrating an adequate grasp of

40 – 49% Marks represent a fail performance.

30 – 39% Marks represent a fail performance (with significant shortcomings).

0 – 29% Marks represent a fail performance (with major shortcomings).

Compensation of module marks

Calculation of degree outcomes

Degree outcomes are determined by two conditions:

Students who do not meet (1):

Students who do not meet (2):

In addition, the following guidance is provided to staff in relation to projects:

70% + A mark of this level corresponds to a distinction

3.5.1 Assessment Schemes for MSc Finance & Accounting

The Research Project carries a double weight.

There are three module groups;

 An average of 50% or above in each of the 3 module groups

 An average of 60% or above in each of the 3 module groups:

 An average of 70% or above in each of the 3 module groups:

Compulsory module group: Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting, Investments and

Pathway module group: Applied Econometrics, Fundamentals of Derivatives, Advanced

Specialised module group: 3 Summer Electives + Applied project or 2 Summer Electives +

The following describes the process for examined modules.

Dr Amrit Judge Nottingham University

Information on re-sitting examinations, resubmitting coursework, resit/resubmission fees,

*External examiners are subject to change

Below is the list of prizes* currently available to students.

MSc Finance & Accounting Outstanding Student Prize - £500

MSc Finance & Accounting Best Applied Project Prize - £250

MSc Finance & Accounting Corporate Finance Prize - £200

MSc Finance & Accounting - Accounting Prize - £200

Dean’s List for Academic Excellence

Dean’s Community Award for Students

4. Pioneering Practical Solutions – someone who identified an opportunity to benefit their

5. Sustainable Business Thinking – someone who raises awareness of business practices

*All prizes are subject to change and to College approval

3.7.1 Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)

• Business and Technology

Further information about ACCA can be seen here:

3.7.2 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the

Further information about CIMA can be seen here:

Students are required to complete the following online modules:

Before your arrival at the School:

1. Financial Accounting Primer (Required)

3. Plagiarism Awareness module (Required)

4. Ethics and Professional Standards in Finance (Required)

It is a Business School requirement that you complete module 3 above.

On completion of the module, students will: