The finance pathway comprises the following modules:

YEAR 1

FN0135 Financial Decisions and Accounting [semester 1]

FN0137 Financial Environments and Markets

YEAR 2

MN0256 Introduction to Managing Corporate Finance

YEAR 3

MN0368 Financial Appraisal, Risk and Corporate Valuation

The Financial Environments and Markets module is designed to introduce students to the financial institutions which are the foundation of the UK financial sector. Student will study the functions of these institutions and how they interrelate and interact.

Studies in finance are usually introduced at a late stage in academic and professional courses and this course is fairly unusual in having a finance element, semester 1 of Financial Decisions and Accounting, at the start of the course before students even start studying financial accounting.

We feel there are good reasons for this. It encourages students to take a broader view of accounting, confronting at an early stage the fundamental reasons for business activity and the role of Accounting in meeting the needs of users. It also encourages an involvement at the earliest stage in the business cycle i.e. what business projects are to be invested in and why, and how those projects can and should be financed.

Students will examine techniques for appraising alternative investment opportunities, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of each technique. We will encourage students to think of one particular investment appraisal technique as being optimal (i.e. better than the others, and better than nothing) despite what may be major problems in implementing it reliably in practice. Students also learn about the variety of financing arrangements which are possible and the appropriateness of each in any given situation. At level one information technology skills in finance will be developed in Computer Applications in Accounting.

Studies in Finance will be maintained and developed in Introduction to Managing Corporate Finance in year 2.

At a more advanced level (i.e. at level 3) in Financial Appraisal, Risk and Corporate Valuation students learn more about investment appraisal—in particular how to evaluate and minimise risk. This will involve looking at investments as a portfolio rather than individually. Students also study financing and valuation issues in greater depth and the cost of capital by looking at the theoretical work which exists to date; we will encourage our students to discover and evaluate theories about optimal financing and distribution policies and whether or not these can be applied in practical situations.

Students also study and acquire a familiarity with the financial markets and complex financial instruments, as well as treasury management and the optimal and profitable management of short and long term cash resources.