MSc Investment Analysis
Welcome to the MSc Investment Analysis course.
We hope you are looking forward to starting your Masters degree at the University of Stirling Management School. We welcome you to our beautiful campus.
We welcome you to the Stirling Management School (SMS) community and look forward to meeting you when you begin your studies in February. Teaching on your course begins on 1 February 2020 with the Flying Start Leadership Programme when you will engage in a range of activities designed to ensure your transition into University life is smooth, enjoyable, stimulating and stress free.
| Session | Date and time | Location |
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Stirling Management School welcome meeting You are invited to attend the School-wide welcome meeting, where you will be introduced to the School's staff and one another! We look forward to seeing you all there. |
Monday 1 February 2021 10:00 - 12:00 |
Online via Microsoft Teams |
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Welcome to your course Meet the Course Director, Dr Kevin Campbell, and staff teaching on your course as well as the Professional Services staff. This session will introduce you to your course, what you can expect from us and our expectations of you. It will help you to settle into university life and as well as guide you as to ‘how things work around here’. |
Monday 1 February 2021 12:00 - 14:00 |
Online via Microsoft Teams |
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Flying Start Leadership programme Your Flying Start Leadership Programme activities will take place during the week commencing 1 February. Your individual schedule will be available to you at a later date. |
Week commencing 1 February 2021 | TBC |
Got a question?
If you have any questions about the course, please contact the Programme Administrator, Allison Butler, who will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have.
Course director
Reading list
Please do not purchase any books until your course starts, as the suggested readings may change.
Suggested Preliminary Reading – Spring 2021
An increasingly important theme in investing is sustainability and the incorporation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in the decision-making process, so you will find it helpful to acquaint yourself with the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investing, which can be found at the UNPRI website, alongside many other useful resources.
A wide range of books (several of them recently published) are listed to provide variety and choice. Please note that it is not essential to read all of them.
Radical Uncertainty: Decision-making for an unknowable future
John Kay and Mervyn King
Little, Brown, 2020
This book challenges accepted strategies used to cope with uncertainty and uses examples from history, philosophy and economics to argue for a radical new model.
The Fix: How Bankers Lied, Cheated and Colluded to Rig the World's Most Important Number
Liam Vaughan and Gavin Finch
Wiley, 2017
This book by award-winning Bloomberg journalists is the inside story of the Libor scandal.
The End of Theory: Financial Crises, the Failure of Economics, and the Sweep of Human Interaction
Richard Bookstaber
Princeton University Press, 2017
A discussion of the reasons for the failure of traditional economic theory to fully explain how the financial system functions and how future financial crises might be prevented.
The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking and the Future of the Global Economy
Mervyn King
Little, Brown, 2016
This acclaimed book by the former Governor of the U.K. central bank (the Bank of England) explains the root causes of the 2008 financial crisis and how the financial system should be changed to avoid another crisis.
Between Debt and the Devil: Money, Credit, and Fixing Global Finance
Adair Turner
Princeton University Press, 2015
This book by the former head of the U.K. Financial Services Authority explains the role of private debt in the 2008 financial crisis and how public policy should manage credit creation.
Other People's Money: Masters of the Universe or Servants of the People?
John Kay
Profile Books Ltd, 2015
This Financial Times Book of the Year provides a critical analysis of the financial world that emerged from the 2008 financial crisis.
Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt
Michael Lewis
W. Norton & Company, 2014
This best-selling book about high frequency trading (HFT) explains how technology has fundamentally altered how financial markets function.
If you have no prior acquaintance with the finance/investment area you may find the following useful as an introduction
Investment Management (2nd edition)
Stephen Lofthouse
John Wiley & Sons, 2001
Written by a professional investor, it provides an excellent overview of practical investment from a UK perspective and also demonstrates how practice links with academic work.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street (latest, eleventh, or earlier edition)
Burton K Malkiel
WW Norton & Co, 2012
Another excellent introduction, from a U.S. perspective.
Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street
Peter L. Bernstein
The Free Press, 1993
An entertaining book chronicling the history of the development of the leading finance theories and the people behind their development.
If you prefer lighter reading, the following recently-published and critically-acclaimed novel by Robert Harris provides some interesting insights into the world of hedge funds and algorithmic trading:
The Fear Index
Robert Harris
Arrow Books, 2012
A number of books published in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis overlap with topics covered on the course:
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Michael Lewis
WW Norton & Co, 2010
Addresses mainly the events that occurred before, and those who predicted and made money from, the 2008 financial crisis.
Note: This book was made into a 2016 Oscar-winning film, which is now available on DVD and worth viewing http://www.thebigshortmovie.com/
Infectious Greed: How Deceit and Risk Corrupted the Financial Markets
Frank Portnoy,
Profile Books, 2010
ISBN: 9781846682933
First published in 2003, with a new introduction about the 2008-9 financial crisis.
Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Penguin/Allen Lane, 2010
Covers the genesis and dynamics of the financial crisis and critiques the strategies introduced to deal with it.
Several books provide useful, additional reading on financial accounting and reporting, and introductions to financial markets and investments, illustrations of which include:
Reading and Understanding the Financial Times (2nd edition)
Kevin Boakes
Prentice Hall Financial Times, 2010
ISBN: 9780273731818
The "Financial Times" Guide to Using the Financial Pages (5th edition)
Romesh Vaitilingam
FT Prentice-Hall, 2006
ISBN: 978-0-273-70503-1
Investors Chronicle Beginners’ Guide to Investment (3rd edition)
Bernard Gray
Random House, 2002
Global Financial Accounting and Reporting: Principles and Analysis
Peter Walton and Walter Aerts
Thomson, 2009
International Financial Statement Analysis
Robinson, van Greuning, Henry and Broihahn
CFA Investment Series
John Wiley & Sons, 2009
Module texts
Unless a final decision is pending, the following are ‘essential purchases’ for the Spring 2021 semester modules and will be available for purchase from the university pop-up bookshop on campus at the start of semester.
INVP001 Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance (Fourth European Edition)
David Hillier, Stephen Ross, Randolph Westerfield, Jeffrey Jaffe, Bradford Jordan
McGraw-Hill International Edition, 2021
Note: this is an adaptation of the U.S. Corporate Finance text by Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe and Jordan, aimed specifically at a European audience.
INVP002 Financial Reporting
Global Financial Accounting and Reporting: Principles and Analysis
Aerts W. and Walton, PJ.
Cengage Learning EMEA, (latest edition)
Financial Accounting and Reporting: A Global Perspective
Lebas, J.M., Stolowy, H., and Ding., Y.
Cengage Learning, (latest edition)
BFIP013 Quantitative Methods in Finance
Applied Econometrics
Dimitrios Asteriou and Stephen G. Hall
Palgrave, Macmillan Publishers Ltd
4th Edition 2019
Recommended
Introduction to Econometrics
Christopher Dougherty,
Oxford University Press
Fifth Edition 2016
Introductory Econometrics for Finance
Chris Brooks
Cambridge University Press
4th edition 2019
Quantitative Investment Analysis
Defusco, McLeavey, Pinto, Runkle and Anson
John Wiley & Sons
CFA Institute Investment Series
3rd edition 2016
BFIP025 Economics for Banking and Finance
Economics
Sloman J., D. Garrat and J. Guest
10th Edition 2018
Pearson