Investment Management and Financial Analysis

MSc

  • Entry year 2026
  • Duration Full time 1 year
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Overview

Top reasons to study with us

  • 14

    14th for Accounting and Finance in the UK

    QS World University Rankings by Subject (2025)

  • 90

    90th for Accounting and Finance

    QS World University Rankings by Subject (2025)

  • Designed for recent graduates with quantitative backgrounds aiming to gain CFA Level II.

If you aspire to have a successful career in investment management, investment banking, trading, or hedge funds, our MSc Investment Management and Financial Analysis is designed for you.

You will acquire in-depth investment knowledge while developing technical skills in data analytics, programming, and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, as well as soft skills in communication, teamwork, and leadership.

The programme offers unique opportunities to take the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I and/or II examinations as part of your master's, and/or prepare for the CFA Institute’s Certificate in ESG Investing. Designed with a strong focus on employability, the programme’s curriculum emphasises practical knowledge and skills, enabling you to apply your learning effectively throughout your career.

Practical training

MSc Investment Management and Financial Analysis provides training on key financial databases such as Datastream and Bloomberg and offers opportunities to gain practical experience in programming languages (e.g. Python, R, SQL, VBA and MatLab) designed for those without prior programming experience. These skills and the knowledge you will acquire will enable you to perform comprehensive financial and quantitative analysis, including:

  • model development,
  • investment trading and strategy development,
  • and testing and implementation using real data.

Led by industry experts

This programme allows you to experience a practitioner’s approach to fund management. It has been designed and is led by a multi-year award-winning hedge fund manager at a world-leading hedge fund and a member of the CFA Institute's Council of Examiners, who has written questions at all three levels of CFA exams.

You will be taught by world-leading faculty members on topics at the forefront of modern portfolio management, such as machine learning and textual analysis, behavioural finance, cryptocurrencies and ESG.

Support for CFA exams

Extensive support and preparation are provided for the CFA Level I and Level II exams with dedicated and experienced tutors from Fitch Learning. A non-CFA pathway also exists for those who wish to engage in the programme without the CFA focus. Our programme is also open to you if you have obtained either Level I or Level II CFA prior to the programme, and offers you opportunities to complete other CFA levels.

Flexible pathways and core modules

Based on your selected pathway, you will take up to six core modules and can select up to two optional modules to tailor your learning to your personal career aspirations.

For the CFA pathway, the core modules include:

  • Data Analytics for Finance and Investments
  • Asset Pricing and Investments
  • Financial Technologies
  • Advanced Investments
  • CFA Level I and II Training

If you choose the non-CFA pathway, you will study an alternative core module in place of the CFA Level I and II Training:

  • Corporate Finance and Financial Markets.

The core module ‘Career Accelerator: Technical Toolkit and Professional Development’ will help you develop soft skills (such as communication), database management skills (such as SQL, Bloomberg, LSEG Workspace and Datastream), coding skills (such as VBA, Stata, Python and R) and practical skills in using industry-standard accounting software (such ase.g., Xero).

The programme culminates in a rigorous research project, which will showcase your ability to evaluate and implement investment strategies and manage portfolios successfully.

Careers

This programme is designed for those interested in a career in Investment Management, Investment Banking, Hedge Funds or a trading role. It is designed to provide you with a strong focus on employability, and its curriculum emphasises practical knowledge and skills from a practitioner’s perspective, enabling you to apply your learning effectively throughout your career.

Employability skills are key to this programme. The curriculum has been developed to deliver "desk-ready" graduates with a strong academic background and professional attitude. You will also receive career support from our specialist Financial Careers Coach. Potential careers on completion of your Master's include working as an asset analyst/trainee fund manager or in the fields of asset management, investment banking or financial services.

LUMS Accounting and Finance master’s students not only go on to work at blue chip Investment Banks, Investment Management firms, Consultancy and Financial Analytics firms but also at smaller and medium size boutique financial firms, often via relationships with LUMS alumni.

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

2:1 Hons degree (UK or equivalent) in Finance, or in Accounting with a significant number of finance and/or quantitative modules studied. Applicants from other commerce (e.g. Business Studies or Economics, that contain finance or quantitative modules) or science-related (e.g. Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Computer Science or another quantitative subject) subjects are also encouraged to apply.

If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.

English language requirements

We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.

We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.

If your score is below our requirements, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language programmes.

Contact: Admissions Team +44 (0) 1524 592032 or email pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Pre-master’s programmes

Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored pre-master’s pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University master’s degrees. Visit INTO Lancaster University for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.

Course structure

Detailed module information for this postgraduate programme will follow shortly. However, if you have any questions please contact the department.

Fees and funding

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General fees and funding information

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Scholarships and bursaries

You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status and course. You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.

Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.

If you're considering postgraduate research you should look at our funded PhD opportunities.

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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.

Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.

QS Top 100 logo

Top 100 in the world for Accounting and Finance

Lancaster is ranked 14th in the UK and joint 90th in the world for Accounting and Finance according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, one of nine subjects at Lancaster to be featured in the top 100 in these prestigious listings.

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025

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Important Information

The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

Our Students’ Charter

We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. Find out more about our Charter and student policies.