MSc Quantitative Financial Economics

Key details

MSC QUANTITATIVE FINANCIAL ECONOMICS

Start Year

2023

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Master of Science

Duration (years)

Become an expert in the economics of quantitative financial economics with an emphasis on financial markets and asset pricing models. Develop a range of transferable skills that will help prepare you for a career in a wide range of financial professions.

Our MSc in Quantitative Financial Economics gives you general training in economics, while specialising in the area of quantitative finance. It’ll also give you a firm grasp of some of the methods, models and techniques used by firms in the financial services sector and beyond.

You do not need to have previously studied economics before taking this course – yet you’ll graduate ready to make your mark in finance, with potential roles including financial or market analyst.

About

MSc Quantitative Financial Economics is part of our Applied Training Programme, which is designed to provide key skills in economics. It’s ideal if you’re a graduate without an economics background, yet wish to develop the analytical skills of an economist. It’s also suitable if you’re an economics graduate wishing to develop specialist expertise in this area without committing to full research training.

The core of your course consists of compulsory modules including Economic Concepts and Financial Econometrics. Alongside this, you’ll study international finance and topics such as theories of exchange rate determination. You’ll also explore how financial markets work, with a technical module involving the study of financial models that can explain equilibrium asset prices and the term structure of interest rates.

You’ll discover the area of risk management and trading, with a module that includes an introduction to techniques designed to measure market and credit risk. You’ll also gain insight into how trader behaviour contributes to bubbles and crashes.

Towards the end of your 12 months with us, you’ll write a dissertation on an area that most interests you in this field, which will be supervised by a member of the School of Economics.

We offer specialised structural support to help you negotiate your masters course. This includes compulsory, intensive pre-sessional training before the start of teaching on your course modules. This training incorporates the techniques of calculus and matrix algebra and an introduction to the specialist econometric software that you'll use in your MSc programme.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

Your coursework will be in a variety of forms – including take-home assignments, seminar presentations, written tests, computer tests and your dissertation (which you’ll submit at the end of August).

Throughout your course you’ll be given guidance on your work and constructive feedback to help you improve. You’ll receive written feedback for all pieces of coursework and further guidance will be available from module organisers.

If you have additional needs due to disabilities such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia, please talk to our Student Support Service about how we can help.

Structure

The MSc Quantitative Financial Economics is a one-year course. In each semester, you’ll take three modules, followed by writing your dissertation in the period between June and August.

In your autumn semester, you’ll take Economic Concepts, Financial Econometrics and Financial Markets. In Spring, you’ll take International Finance, Risk Management and Trading, and your choice of Applied Econometrics, Financial Mathematics, Money and Banking, and Environmental and Natural Resource Economics.

Although you’ll write your dissertation between June and August, you’ll begin your dissertation module with a sequence of dissertation training lectures and workshops in spring. Here you’ll discover how to choose a topic, how to access data and search literature, how to reference, and how to analyse quantitative data.

You’ll be able to take advantage of further dissertation training workshops in late June and early July.

Teaching and Learning

UEA’s School of Economics is lively, friendly, research orientated and committed to excellence in teaching. We have an international reputation in many key areas, including theoretical and applied economics. Our research interests include behavioural and experimental economics, competition economics, environmental policy, conflict, contests and corporate behaviour, finance and financial markets.

Teaching of each of your modules will be spread over two semesters. In a typical module, you’ll have lectures and seminars. Your seminars are more interactive than lectures and provide you with an opportunity to raise questions arising from lectures.

In your econometric modules, you’ll learn how to conduct econometric analysis using specialist econometric software.

You will also become practiced in independent study, spending time working on coursework assignments, preparing for seminars, and doing your own wider reading.

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Open Days

Assessment for Year 1

If you have additional needs due to disabilities such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia, please talk to our Student Support Service about how we can help.

Compulsory Modules

ECONOMIC CONCEPTS

Code ECO-7011A

Credits 20

Introducing micro and macro economic analysis, this module will familiarise you with a wide range of economic tools which can be applied to issues relating to your Applied Training Programme. It covers, in particular, consumer and producer choice, market equilibrium, market structure, externalities and public goods, the macroeconomics of inflation, unemployment and growth and macroeconomic policy.

FINANCIAL ECONOMETRICS

Code ECO-7009A

Credits 20

Are you interested in working with financial data? Would you like to be able to forecast future movements of stock prices or test the efficiency of financial markets? If so, this module will introduce to you the empirical techniques you need to satisfy these interests. The module is divided into two parts. The first part covers basic econometric techniques. You’ll be shown how to estimate a regression model in a variety of contexts, interpret your findings, and test the relationships between variables. As you progress, you’ll learn how to identify problems with the models (such as multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity) and how to address these problems. In lectures you’ll learn about the techniques, and in seminars you’ll apply these techniques to a variety of economic problems and estimate models with real data. In the second part of the module you’ll apply the techniques learnt in the first part to problems in financial economics. These applications include estimation of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), testing the Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH), and using stock price data to in the valuation of options. Throughout the module, seminars take place in computer labs and you will gain skills in analysing data using the widely used econometric computer package STATA. By the end of the module, you’ll be able to estimate appropriate regression models, identify problems which may arise and know how to address them. In particular, you’ll know how to apply these methods in financial contexts. In addition, you’ll be able use STATA and will have acquired a range of skills that are currently highly marketable in the financial industry.

FINANCIAL MARKETS

Code ECO-7012A

Credits 20

This module explores modern portfolio theory and asset pricing, behavioural finance, and the efficient markets hypothesis. You’ll examine modern equilibrium asset pricing models, which in turn build upon the concepts of portfolio theory. You’ll be introduced to the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and discuss approximations and extensions, including the Single Index model and various factor models such as the recent Fama-French (2015) 5-factor model. Key concepts will be illustrated through lectures and seminars, using numerous real-world examples in Excel.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE

Code ECO-7015B

Credits 20

Are foreign exchange rates predictable? How can a firm hedge foreign exchange risk? What effect do interest rates have on currency values? Why are exchange rates so volatile? Are exchange rates based on macroeconomic fundamentals, or determined by speculative activity? These are the types of questions you will explore on this module. International Finance lies at the intersection of finance and macroeconomics. You’ll begin by learning the general finance tools of option pricing and risk management, before focusing on how to apply these tools to look, in particular, at exchange rates. This will involve understanding the structure of the foreign exchange market, examining theories of exchange rate determination, and looking at the foreign exchange futures and options markets. You’ll learn through a mixture of lectures, which have regular intervals for team or individual work, as well as seminars and self-study. Assessment comprises of technical and essay questions. By the end of the module you’ll be equipped for further study in financial economics or a career in the finance industry, particularly in roles related to foreign exchange.

ECONOMICS DISSERTATION (60 CREDITS)

Code ECO-7023X

Credits 60

Economics Dissertation is the “icing on the cake” of an Economics MSc. It is a module that brings together the skills that you have learnt throughout your degree programme and applies these skills to study a particular topic of your interest. This module gives you an opportunity to spend a period of 2 or 3 months working exclusively on a topic of your own choice, at your own pace, with guidance from a supervisor. The module commences with a sequence of “dissertation training” lectures during the Spring Semester, including such themes as choosing a topic, accessing data, searching the literature, referencing, and qualitative data analysis. There are further dissertation training lectures during late June and early July, held in computer labs, with the objective of providing the types of econometric skills often required in dissertation research. The Econometric software STATA is used, the same as used in taught modules in Econometrics. At the end of the Spring semester, you will submit a research proposal stating the research question you would like to address and proposing a suitable methodology. You can also select to work on a dissertation topic either with a business, charity, or other organization. In all cases, it is your responsibility to come up with a research proposal although you are encouraged to speak with instructors and the PG Course Director for advice and guidance. On the basis of your proposal, a suitable supervisor will be allocated to you. At least three meetings with the supervisor should take place between May - July. The total contact time over these meetings should be at least three hours. At the first meeting, the research proposal is discussed. By the time of the third and final meeting, you should ideally have supplied a first draft of the dissertation for your supervisor to provide feedback on. The deadline for the dissertation is at the end of August and the word limit for dissertations is either 8,000 or 12,000, depending on which MSc you are taking. If you want to work on a dissertation topic with a business, charity, or other organization you must get your dissertation topic pre-approved by the PG Course Director.

RISK MANAGEMENT AND TRADING

Code ECO-7017B

Credits 20

The first part of the module begins by introducing concepts such as risk in financial markets, and discusses the stylised facts of financial returns. With the aid of the econometric computer package STATA and using real data, we test models in empirical finance. Students will learn how to calculate risk using daily and high-frequency data, and how to calculate realised volatility. The second part of the module introduces algorithmic trading using Excel VBA, as well as the role of behavioural finance in financial markets.

Optional A Modules

(20 credits)

APPLIED ECONOMETRICS

Code ECO-7001B

Credits 20

This module builds on econometrics material covered in earlier modules and is divided into two parts: 1) Time series methods (including ARIMA modelling, stationarity testing, ARCH/GARCH models, Volatility Spillover, VARs , Cointegration and VECMs) 2) Microeconometrics (including panel data methods, and models for binary response variables) There is an emphasis on the practical application of common estimation techniques, with the specialist econometric software package Stata used extensively.

FINANCIAL MATHEMATICS

Code ECO-7013B

Credits 20

This technical finance module is suited to students who wish to pursue a career in the financial sector. The focus is on valuation and risk analysis of financial products, and the module is highly analytical, with weekly exercise sessions in computer labs. Topics covered include: continuous-time stochastic processes, stochastic models for security prices, bonds, term structure of interest rates, futures and forwards, options, swaps, hedging and credit risk.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS

Code ECO-7020B

Credits 20

Gain a thorough grounding in the key issues in environmental and resource economics. This module provides an overview of the economic and econometric principles that serve as pivotal tools in ensuring that natural resources are sustainably valued and managed in a global economic environment. The applied nature of the module is complemented by technical papers that form the subject of the discussions in seminar sessions. Open to postgraduate students enrolled on both ATP and APP programmes, this module will enhance the econometric principles taught in the Autumn Semester by applying analytical and statistical methods to the field of environmental economics so as to emphasise the empirical relevance of these theories.

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Open Days

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

Bachelors Degree - 2.2 or equivalent

Degree subject

Any Subject area

Additional entry requirements

INTO University of East Anglia

If you do not meet the academic requirements for this course, you may be able to study one of the International Graduate Diploma programmes offered by our partner INTO UEA. These programmes guarantee progression to selected master's degrees if students achieve the appropriate grade. For more details please click here:

International Graduate Diploma in Economics

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.0 (minimum 5.5 in only two components with 6.0 in the others)
PTE (Pearson): 64 (minimum 59 in two components only with 64 in the other two)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO University of East Anglia

If you do not meet the English requiremetns for this course, our partner INTO UEA run pre-sessional English courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk

Intakes

This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.

September 2023 opportunities. Discover more

Scholarship Finder

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Will a Master's help my career?

Discover why further study can have a positive career benefit.

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Course Reference Number: 6884254

MSc QUANTITATIVE FINANCIAL ECONOMICS