MSc Finance and Risk

The success of virtually all organisations depends crucially on their ability to operate in the face of various risks. Risk management is increasingly recognised as central to the success of the organisation. This programme addresses such questions as:

• What types of risks exist in various settings?
• What are the appropriate ways to classify, measure and manage risk?
• How do firms, financial institutions, governments and markets increase, decrease or change the nature of risk?
• What techniques can be used to transfer risk in markets, firms or societies?

Through this programme you'll acquire a broad knowledge of risk management and regulation. By choosing from a list of elective courses you'll be able to customise the programme according to your desired area of specialisation.

The programme is supported by Deutsche Bank, including a series of practitioner seminars run by Deutsche Bank as part of the core course.

GMAT/GRE

GMAT or GRE is required for all applicants without a UK undergraduate degree (GMAT strongly preferred).

GMAT is recommended for applicants with UK undergraduate degrees, especially those whose quantitative skills are not demonstrated by their undergraduate studies.

More about GRE/GMAT

You'll take courses to the total value of four full units. These will be made up of compulsory finance courses and optional courses offered by the Department of Finance and other departments where regulations permit. These elective courses can offer you flexibility to tailor your degree to your academic and professional interests.

MSc comparison: an overview of all the master’s programmes

The Department of Finance is one of the largest and most highly respected finance groups in the UK and Europe.

With a longstanding reputation for excellence in both teaching and research, we offer various undergraduate, postgraduate and executive programmes.

Our research and teaching span the full range of financial sub-fields, including:

• corporate finance
• asset pricing theory
• risk management
• empirical analysis of capital markets
• behavioural finance
• portfolio analysis
• derivatives pricing
• microstructure
• financial econometrics.

We're also closely associated with two leading research groups at LSE – the Financial Markets Group and Systemic Risk Centre, which host seminars, conferences and public lectures by renowned academics and practitioners.

Our research is regularly published in leading academic journals globally. Faculty members work closely with national and international institutions, such as the Bank of England and the World Bank, informing policy at the highest levels.

The department was ranked the top place to study finance in the Good University Guide 2024.

Learn more about our programmes and research.

Department of Finance

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified prospective students. At LSE, we want to recruit students with the best academic merit, potential and motivation, irrespective of background.

We carefully consider each application and take into account all the information included on your application form, including your:

• academic achievement
• additional test scores
• two academic references
• CV
• academic statement of purpose.

See further information on supporting documents

Contact us

If you have any questions about the academic programme or admissions process please contact the Department of Finance Admissions team at finance.admissionsenquiries@lse.ac.uk.

Applications for this programme are considered on a rolling basis. This means that applications will close once the programme is full.

There is no fixed deadline. However, if you’d like to be considered for any funding opportunities, you must submit your application (and all supporting documents) by the funding deadline. See the fees and funding section below for more details.

For this programme, all students pay the same tuition fees, regardless of their fee status.

Deposit

To secure a place on the programme offer holders will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of 10% of the tuition fee.

For offers issued before May, the deposit will be due within 28 days of receiving the offer.

For offers issued from May onwards, the deadlines are as follows:

• May: within 21 days
• June: within 14 days
• July and August: within 7 days

For this programme, all students pay the same tuition fees, regardless of their fee status.

Deposit

To secure a place on the programme offer holders will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of 10% of the tuition fee.

For offers issued before May, the deposit will be due within 28 days of receiving the offer.

For offers issued from May onwards, the deadlines are as follows:

• May: within 21 days
• June: within 14 days
• July and August: within 7 days

Formative work

This is work that doesn't count towards your final grade. For the majority of courses, you'll be set weekly problem sets which you should complete before the following week’s class, where the teacher will work through solutions and answer questions. This provides you with an idea of how well you understand the material throughout the year.

Summative work

This is work that counts towards your final grade.

Different courses set different types of summative work, however students should expect several pieces of work to be submitted over an eleven-week term. Some courses require weekly submission of problem sets which all make up a small percentage of the final grade. In some courses you will also take in-class assessments during your usual teaching time, under exam conditions. For some courses, exams will take place during the January exam period or Spring Term exam period.

Graduates of the department have excellent career prospects. Our MSc programmes prepare students for a range of careers in investment banking, consulting and the wider financial services sector.

Recent graduates from this programme have gone on to work in fields such as finance and banking, consulting, insurance, management, regulation and supervision, and public administration, among others.

Recent employers (past three years):

• BlackRock
• CICC
• Citi
• Deloitte
• Deutsche Bank
• Goldman Sachs
• JP Morgan
• KPMG
• UBS

Recent employment locations (past three years):

• Beijing
• Frankfurt
• Hong Kong
• London
• New York
• Shanghai

In addition to the internationally recognised research environment and academic rigour of its teaching programmes, a great advantage of studying at LSE is the reputation it holds amongst employers for producing high level graduates. Both the LSE Careers service and the Department of Finance aim to help its students be as successful as possible on the job market once they graduate from the programme.

NB: This programme isn’t intended as suitable preparation for the PhD Finance at LSE (if you’re interested in PhD study, please see the MSc Finance and Economics).