13
13th for Accounting and Finance in the UK
QS World University Rankings (2024)
75
75th for Accounting and Finance
QS World University Rankings by Subject (2024)
Designed for recent graduates with quantitative backgrounds aiming to gain CFA Level II.
The investment management and financial analysis sectors require industry professionals with advanced technical knowledge, plus practical experience with programming. Our Investment Management and Financial Analysis MSc (IMFA) programme is designed to equip you with these skills, and help you acquire your CFA Level II professional qualification.
As such, this programme offers modules that are academically more advanced and, at the same time, more practice-oriented than those offered by a typical UK master's programme in finance. You will study technical and practice-oriented modules. LUMS accounting and finance specialists and expert tutors from Fitch Learning will prepare you to complete CFA Level II. Core modules embed training in financial programming languages including VBA, R and MATLAB, and provide hands-on experience with data platforms such as Thomson EIKON or FactSet.
You can elect to prepare for the February CFA Level I exam or if you already have CFA Level I, you will study alternative modules to benefit a career in Investment Management or Financial Analysis. You then prepare for the August CFA Level II exam. An alternative non-CFA pathway is available for those who do not want to acquire the CFA qualification, or those who already have the qualification but still wish to benefit from this practitioner-oriented programme.
You will study the following modules, outlined in the course structure:
Term 1 core modules:
Students without CFA Stage 1 will also study Topics in Professional Analysis
Students who have already attained CFA stage 1, or those on a non-CFA pathway will also study Quantitative Methods for Finance
Term 2 core modules:
Students without CFA 1 will take the February examination.
Term 3
Students taking the CFA Level II examination will complete the following modules followed by the examination in August:
Students not taking the CFA Level II examination will instead complete a dissertation.
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. Read more about where our graduates go in the careers information below.
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.
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
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 the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.
You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
This module builds your personal and interpersonal skills alongside technical content. There are three elements to the module:
The financial markets and the world of investment management have undergone significant change since the global financial crisis. Investment managers need to keep abreast of these developments and take advantage of such changes. This module introduces the key changes in market conditions, including high-frequency trading, dark pools and the move to bring off-exchange instruments such as credit derivatives on exchange. Within the world of investment management, we look at developments in liability-driven investment, alternative investments and new approaches to diversification.
The key aims of this module are to:
This module looks at the core tool set of the buy-side analyst, and emphasises that the key to adding value is in understanding where to find the ‘raw materials’ to include within the calculations, and the impact accounting policy choices have on the outcome. Estimation of intrinsic valuation is obtained by the application of valuation techniques. These techniques will determine the value based on assumptions of future performance and several other judgements. The base of these forecasts will be derived from the current financial position of a company. As what happened in the past is not necessarily what will happen in the future, an integrated financial model will allow research analysts to predict key indicators of performance and value by forecasting key financial drivers. It will further their ability to explore the potential developments of a company in the future. In addition to basic valuation techniques, insights are provided into how to use best practice to construct a good, professional model.
The module aims to address advanced financial reporting issues from both conceptual and technical angles within the context of International Financial Reporting Standards and US GAAP. It assesses the impact of accounting theory in resolving major reporting issues and examines the importance of relevant academic research to the area. Additionally, it examines the importance of financial reporting for business analysis.
The aim of the module is to provide a thorough understanding of the issues that are relevant to the asset management industry with special emphasis on understanding and measuring investment performance.
Our discussions will focus on mutual funds, hedge funds and exchange-traded funds with less emphasis given to other fund management vehicles. The course will not cover security analysis.
The purpose of this module is to give you a solid grounding in the quantitative empirical research skills that are necessary for producing high-quality research, both in the academic as well as in the applied context, in the areas of empirical asset pricing and portfolio allocation.
The module aims to equip you with a good background in software packages and programming languages commonly used in the finance industry, such as Excel/VBA and R. In addition, it will provide training in advanced features of Bloomberg to retrieve and manage financial data and create reports.
You are advised to use a Windows laptop for this course. MacBooks are not supported in this class.
The first part of the module (CFA Level II training) aims to prepare you to take the CFA Level II examination.
The second part of the module (Capstone project) is aimed at providing the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct an empirical investigation of key current financial issues. The main aims are to:
Empirical Asset Pricing and Investment Strategies
The class introduces the fundamentals of investment strategies and some of the main strategies used by hedge funds and proprietary traders. In class and through reading exercises and discussions, the strategies are illustrated using real data, and you will learn to use “backtesting” to evaluate a strategy or fund performance. The class is highly quantitative. It requires you to work independently, analyse and manipulate large datasets, and use mathematical modelling.
During the five weeks (Week 1-5) of the Summer Term, you must attend all the lectures and training sessions designed to provide an introduction to the key literature and research methods. During and following this taught component, you will need to undertake independent research that (i) reviews the academic literature relating to investment strategies and market anomalies and (ii) reports empirical evidence of the effectiveness of a chosen investment strategy or asset pricing anomaly.
SAS, Python, and MATLAB will be introduced and used extensively for the chosen investment strategy. To undertake this module, you will need to achieve at least 65% on average for your first-semester coursework. High achievement in econometrics-related subjects, previous knowledge in at least one of the following programming languages or econometric packs (e.g. EVIEWS, VBA, STATA, MATLAB, SAS, Python, R, C++, Fortran, Gauss, Mathematica), or strong desire to input hard work to learn programming will be critical for high achievement in this dissertation topic.
This module will enable you to understand the key concepts and methods in data science, econometrics, and quantitative finance to carry out independent empirical work required for the job market, more advanced modules in accounting and finance and the MSc dissertation streams.
This module aims to prepare you to take the CFA Level I examination.
| Location | Full Time (per year) | Part Time (per year) |
|---|---|---|
| Home | £16,270 | n/a |
| International | £32,760 | n/a |
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small College Membership Fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2025, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses.
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
For most taught postgraduate applications there is a non-refundable application fee of £40. We cannot consider applications until this fee has been paid, as advised on our online secure payment system. There is no application fee for postgraduate research applications.
For some of our courses you will need to pay a deposit to accept your offer and secure your place. We will let you know in your offer letter if a deposit is required and you will be given a deadline date when this is due to be paid.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
If you are studying on a programme of more than one year’s duration, tuition fees are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
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.
| Scheme | Based on | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Based on {{item.eligibility_basis}} | Amount {{item.amount}} |
We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.
Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.
MSc Investment Management and Financial Analysis is an evolution of the MSc Advanced Financial Analysis programme. We are proud of our AFA alumni and look forward to seeing our IMFA graduates achieve equal success as they complete their studies with us.
Lancaster is ranked 13th in the UK and joint 75th in the world for Accounting and Finance according to the QS World Rankings by Subject 2024, one of 11 subjects at Lancaster to be featured in the top 100 in these prestigious listings.
QS Rankings by Subject 2024Lancaster University has been awarded 5 Stars for Accounting and Finance by QS.
Overall, Lancaster is rated 5 Stars for Teaching, Employability, Global Engagement, Research, Facilities and Environmental Impact.
Lancaster University QS profile
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.
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