The following are some suggested readings that may prove helpful to you in preparing for your arrival at LSE, and for finding out about some of the courses that you may be interested in taking.
It is not essential that you read all the books on the list during the summer - the intention is simply to give you an idea of the level and range of material covered in the various courses. For most of the courses, the readings listed below are those recommended in the course guides. So if you decide to take any of these courses, you will probably be asked to read these books during the course of your studies. You should, however check the course guides when you register for your courses at the start of term to confirm what reading is required for the course. It is possible that one or two of these readings are updated over the summer.
If, after reviewing this material, you have further questions about the programme please contact your Programme Manager in the Department of Finance.
Core courses
The recommended textbook for this course is Berk and DeMarzo, Corporate Finance, 5th Edition, Pearson.
The organisation of topics of the course follows closely the treatment in Berk and DeMarzo, Corporate Finance, 5th Edition, Pearson, and Bodie, Kane and Marcus, Investments, 12th Edition, McGraw Hill.
Optional courses
The primary source for this course is a comprehensive set of Lecture Notes, tutorials and case studies and the main reference is Pietro Veronesi: Fixed Income Securities, (Wiley 2010)
Useful references are:
- Investments, by Z. Bodie, A. Kane, and A. Marcus, McGraw-Hill Irwin;
- Modern portfolio theory and investment analysis, by E. J. Elton, M. J.Gruber, S. J. Brown, and W. N. Goetzmann, Wiley Press;
- Modern investment management, by Bob Litterman and the Quantitative Resource Group, GSAM, Wiley Press
- Robert Higgins and Jennifer Koski, Analysis For Financial Management 13th edition (McGraw-Hill 2022)
No one book covers the material of the entire course. Books recommended include:
- The Volatility Surface: A Practitioner's Guide, 2nd Edition, by Jim Gatheral
- The Volatility Smile by Derman, Miller and Parlk
Background reading can be found in:
- Volatility: Practical Options Theory by Adam Iqbal
- Derivatives Markets by Robert McDonald
- Options, Futures and Other Derivatives by John Hull
The main reference is:
- John C. Hull, Risk Management and Financial Institutions, Wiley, 2015, 4th edition.
Additional useful references are:
- Michel Crouhy, Dan Galai and Robert Mark, Risk Management, McGraw-Hill, 2001
- Philippe Jorion, Value at Risk, McGraw-Hill, 2007, 3rd edition
- Jon Danielsson, Financial Risk Forecasting, Wiley, 2011
- John C. Hull, Options, Futures and Other Derivatives, Pearson, 2012, 8th edition
- Darrell Duffie and Ken Singleton, Credit Risk, Princeton University Press, 2003
- Ulf Axelson, Tim Jenkinson, Per Strömberg, and Michael S. Weisbach. Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts: An Empirical Analysis. August 28, 2007;
- Steven N. Kaplan and Per Strömberg. Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity, Social Science Research Network, June 2008;
- Cendrowski, Harry. Private Equity: Governance and Operations Assessment. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2008;
- Lerner, Joshua. Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Casebook. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2000;
- Acharya V V; Franks J R & Servaes H (2007) "Private Equity: Boom and Bust?" Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 19(4) , Fall 2007, 44-53