Master in Finance

Career Success is a comprehensive mandatory course designed in collaboration with top recruiters, alumni and education providers with a clear goal: equipping Master in Finance students with key skills they will need to succeed in their Career Strategy. The foundations acquired through the classes during the academic year will be complemented by advising sessions (group and one-onone) with general and sector-specific advisors, as well as with the numerous employer relations activities that Talent & Careers brings to students (Job Postings, Talent Forums, Events, and Networking opportunities, among others). We know that to succeed professionally, an early start can make of a big difference. Thus, this pre-program aims to support students setting up the bases for their career development and providing them with a head start of their Career Success.

This program teaches participants the main accounting concepts over the course of three sessions. Through a practical approach, you will understand the fundamentals of the financial accounting process as well as how to interpret financial information. This pre-program will dive into the main accounting issues companies deal with, including financial statement analysis and the relationship between accounting and markets.

Spread across three modules, the Introduction to Valuation program introduces participants to the analytical tools and methods used to value companies in real-life situations. The first module is dedicated to intrinsic valuation modeling techniques, the second explores comparable companies’ methodologies, and the third focuses on valuation in the context of M&A. The program uses a strong practical approach and will be based in Excel.

This program gives you the foundational skills and knowledge necessary to create and manage a portfolio. Providing you with an analytical background and practical experience, you will learn about investment policy statements, asset returns/risks, and approaches to managing and analyzing equity portfolios.

Throughout the program, you will be coached by experts from the IE Talent & Careers department on a variety of topics. These will be highly technical sessions related to finance, in topics ranging from how to prepare an effective CV, writing a cover letter, networking effectively and how to prepare for the Assessment Center simulation. You will also be advised on the resources available for students through the IE Talent & Careers department, as well as liaise with external industry professionals to understand how different sub-sectors of the finance industry work.

Understanding the interaction between macro and markets is a surefire way to boost your employability. Topics covered in this course will prepare you for complex questions that come up in interviews and for the world of work. You will learn to form, present and defend your viewpoint on the future of macro and finance, to identify and analyze both data and current global market shifts and their implications, and about how macro and markets interact.

The IE Trading Room pre-program provides students with the analytical software and research used by professional money managers. This course will explore Bloomberg, FactSet, and MATLAB—tools that provide access to financial, market, business, economic and security pricing information. You will learn to use the various analytical features to analyze portfolio risk, performance and securities including stocks, bonds, commodities, options and futures, currencies and more.

The objective of this workshop is to provide students with an introduction to the Case Method of learning that includes the three learning stages: Individual preparation, small group discussion and large group discussion.

The objective of this course is to give an introduction to the fundamental principles of asset valuation on the basis of Time Value of Money and Net Present Value, as this forms the foundation of the investment appraisal framework used by most companies. Thanks to this course, students will become more comfortable with NPV calculations as well as shortcuts, and this knowledge will prove useful for the core courses within the program.

In this period, students will dive into the fundamentals of finance. Exploring today’s financial market, courses will cover quantitative methods, economics, accounting and the soft skills necessary to succeed in the industry. Once students have built their basic knowledge through the Fundamentals module, they will get a start in the Corporate and Global Markets modules. This will allow them to develop skills in subjects such as Corporate Finance, Fixed Income, Derivatives and Portfolio Management.

Every financial decision requires not only that professionals maximize investment and shareholder value, but also that they act in accordance with their code of conduct. Professional success, in the long term, will be measured on the capacity to stick to basic principles, which is easier said than done, especially when doing so is not profitable in the short term. This course allows participants to take the time to share their experiences and to go through real case examples and solutions.

Focused on teambuilding, this course places students in a real-life project that gives back to the community, allowing them to leave a lasting legacy. Activities consist of using tools, wood and other materials to handbuild new and usable spaces that will benefit and improve people´s lives.

Well-being in practice is designed to introduce the concept of well-being and its impact on our ability to thrive, be healthy, connect and contribute to our learning and community. Through a scientifically grounded and holistic approach, this workshop focuses on developing skills that enhance performance and happiness. These include being present, cultivating curiosity, engaging in reflection and increasing self-awareness.

The Career Accelerator allows students to dive into the current happenings in the finance world and understand its trends. Through hands-on activities and real-world cases, students will get a firsthand look at the labor market.

The monthly sessions with IE Talent & Careers give students the opportunity to follow up with the head of the Master in Finance of the IE Talent & Careers team. These sessions will highlight key terms and trends for students to use during their application process.

The second core period expands upon the knowledge gained in the first, deepening students’ expertise in Corporate Finance and Global Markets. Courses will cover financial modeling and valuation from the Corporate Finance perspective, asset allocation from a Global Markets viewpoint, and technology courses focused on finance. Additionally, with visits to New York, London and Ghana, students will get a firsthand look at key financial players in dynamic global environments.

This course builds on previously acquired financial accounting and financial modelling concepts. It covers main valuation techniques, Valuation by discount cash flows: DCF, discounted free cash flow to equity (FCFE), dividend discount model (DDM); Adjusted Present Value (APV) Economic Value Added (EVA); Leverage Buy Out Models (LBO); and Relative valuation by comparable trading companies and precedent transactions.

This course will deal with the effective construction of financial models as the key basic tool for financial analysis, data modeling, valuation of companies and debt, and corporate finance exercises. The course will equip participants with a solid understanding of the modeling process, not only focused on building models, but also on understanding complex modeling exercises.

The main objective of this course is to equip students with the analytical skill set to use quantitative models with a special focus on finance. The course will go over topics covered in Quantitative Methods I more in-depth. Main contents to cover are i) Decision theory (application to option valuation); ii) Introduction statistics: indexes, histograms, correlations; iii) Time series and Forecasting (regression) – continued in Quant II; iv) Lineal optimization models: Modeling complex decisions - continued in Quant II; and Risk Analysis.

The course introduces computer programming and its use in Finance. At the end of this course, students will be proficient in Financial Excel, and Python software. Specific areas like Hedge Funds, Efficient portfolio theory or Derivatives pricing will be covered.

This course takes a look at the real challenges faced by chief investment officers when allocating funds in global portfolios. The course will not deal with the art of specific stock or bond selection, but will examine the key drivers of major capital flows between asset classes, which are crucial to any top-down investment process. In this context, participants will look closely at the relationship between data publication, monetary policy and market performance, and will develop an integral framework with which to characterize the fundamental backdrop at any given time.

These monthly sessions will allow students to understand the recent macro and microeconomic events which are impacting financial markets and their foreseeable evolution. Issues such as inflation, economic growth, bank solvency, M&A trends and commodities evolution will be discussed in a dynamic way so that students stay ahead of trends in the industry.

This course aims to increase the students' negotiating efficiency and their ability to manage power and influence others.

Throughout the course, students will internalize the key points of the negotiation process, paying special attention to both the verbal and non-verbal elements of communication and persuasion, and learn to manage power and build alliances within any organization that aspires to continuous improvement and adaptation to change.

This course aims to help students become more familiar with ESG criteria—a set of standards that are becoming increasingly important for the financial industry. The course is divided into six study sessions in which students will develop their understanding of current market dynamics related to ESG criteria and impact investing.

The alumni panel brings Master in Finance graduates to the stage to give their top tips on landing a role in the finance market.

The Career Accelerator allows students to dive into the current happenings in the finance world and understand its trends. Through hands-on activities and real-world cases, students will get a firsthand look at the labor market.

The rapid expansion of Big Data is revolutionizing the way businesses operate and process information across industries and regions. This course provides a practical perspective, focusing on managing diverse data sources and machine learning models to address critical questions related to finance, economics and geopolitics. We will delve into applied finance, assess media perceptions of sustainability and climate change, measure the economy in real-time and much more.

The course will teach how to apply both structured and unstructured data as an input to Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning algorithms, covering Unsupervised Learning, Supervised Learning, Deep Learning and Natural Language Processing techniques. The primary purpose of the course is to gain knowledge on how the algorithms work, facilitating their economic and financial interpretation.

Modules are linked to careers and provide students with some guidance about which electives to choose, depending on their job preferences. Electives contained in each module are not compulsory, so students may choose electives from different modules if they wish.

*Providing an enriching learning environment is one of our priorities. With this in mind, if only a small number of students enroll in a specific track, that track will not run that academic year.

To complete the minimum compulsory credits of the elective period, students will have the opportunity to choose—given that 15 students select the same elective—between the following modules:

This elective provides an in-depth exploration of crucial finance areas essential for corporate growth and investment decisions. It is designed to equip students for high-impact roles.

This module belongs to the Corporate Finance field, and offers you the possibility to learn how to create value through acquisitions. You will need to learn how the private equity industry works and its strategies.

If you want to become a specialist in financial markets working as a trader or a portfolio manager, this module will fulfill your knowledge needs, covering topics such as the asset management industry, analysis and selection of funds, foreign exchange and advanced financial tools like alpha generation, factor investing and other intelligence tools for the financial professional. On top of that, you will have the opportunity to go deeper into behavioural finance and macro matters—which are fundamental for the understanding of financial markets.

The derivatives market will offer you appealing career opportunities in a very specialised field of finance. By learning fixed income and advanced derivatives, or strategic equity solutions, you will get the advantage as a financial professional.

If you decide to invest in hedge funds you will need further knowledge about how they operate and their arbitrage strategies. You will need to acquire advanced knowledge about quantitative finance.

This module will give you the tools to understand how financial markets can support environmental and social goals. You will learn how to drive value creation while promoting long-term sustainability, enabling you to align financial performance with societal progress.

This module explores how technology is transforming the financial industry, from digital banking to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. This course will provide you with the knowledge to thrive in a rapidly evolving field, positioning yourself at the forefront of financial innovation.