These pages provide you with a brief introduction to your course, and some suggested pre-reading. This pre-reading is recommended to ensure you are comfortable with topics which make up the foundation of your course. You will receive your induction timetable in July/August.

Your induction is a two-week compulsory period where you will get acquainted with your fellow students, the careers team and course faculty, through various in-person sessions. It also involves completion of the final stages of the student registration process.

Throughout your induction you will receive several classes related to your course as well as a range of careers events. These events will be included in your induction timetable as well as in the careers event timetable.

We look forward to welcoming you all in September.

Questions

If you have any questions about the student experience on one of our MSc degrees, who better to ask than one of our current MSc students? Our helpful Online Student Ambassadors will be happy to answer your queries.

Timetables

You should use the MyTimetable system to view your timetables. You can access the MyTimetable system here. Important: To help you generate an accurate timetable please read this quick guide on how to use the system first.

You can view a pdf copy of your induction timetable here

Induction course content

The induction programme for the MSc in Quantitative Finance will include refresher sessions covering mathematics, statistics and Excel. Notes in preparation for some of these classes are available to download in advance here.

Advanced Mathematics

Notes for Advanced Mathematics [pdf] induction session

Notes for Advanced Mathematics [pdf] induction session

Advanced Statistics

Pre-reading for the Advanced Statistics induction session is as follows:

  1. Linton, O. (2017), PROBABILITY, STATISTICS AND ECONOMETRICS, Academic Press
  2. Rowntree, D. (2018), STATISTICS WITHOUT TEARS. AN INTRODUCTION FOR NON-MATHEMATICIANS, Penguin Books.

Additional pre-course reading

Course Preparation

It is important that your mathematics and statistics are well understood before you arrive on the course. During Induction Week we will assume you can undertake the following topics with ease.

Basic Mathematics

  • Basic Algebra: Logarithms and exponentials, exponents, functions/graphs, quadratic equations and their solutions.
  • Basic Matrix Algebra: Vector and matrix addition/multiplication, inverse of a matrix and solution of set of linear equations.
  • Basic Calculus: Derivative of functions and ‘rules’ of differentiation, unconstrained maximisation/minimisation, Taylor series expansion, partial derivatives, maximisation subject to constraints (eg using the method of Lagrange), elementary integration, solution of 1st order differential equation.

For further reading, you can refer to the following:

  • Stewart, Clegg and Watson, Calculus: early transcendentals, 2020, Brook/Cole.
  • Sydsaeter, K., Hammond, P., Strom, A., Carvajal, A., Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis. Pearson Education Limited, 2016.
  • Lipschutz,  and Lipson,  Linear algebra. Schaum's outlines, 2018.

Basic Statistics

  • Descriptive Statistics: Moments (such as mean, variance), covariance and correlation, skewness and excess kurtosis.
  • Probability Distributions: random numbers, probabilities and different probability distributions (such as normal, binomial and Poisson distributions), independence, conditional probabilities and conditional distributions, expectations and conditional expectations, moment generating function and cumulants.
  • Statistical Inference: confidence intervals, central limit theorem, hypothesis testing, chi squared distribution, t-tests and F-tests.
  • Basic Regression Analysis: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), R^2, two-variable and multivariate models.

For further reading, you can refer to the following:

  • Brooks, C. Introductory Econometrics for Finance, 4th Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2019
  • Wooldridge, J. M. Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, 7th Edition. Cengage, 2020.

Online pre-study modules on Maths and Stats are available to incoming MSc students to revise basic concepts. These modules are hosted on the platform Brightspace. Students will receive an email from the School to complete the registration process for this platform by early August.

Finance

A gentle and general introduction to finance for those new to the subject can be found in:

  • Valdez, S. (2003) An Introduction to Global Financial Markets, Macmillan Business, 2013

For those who have not done any finance courses, we strongly recommend you read this. It is very useful material for job interviews, some of which begin as early as November.

For a more ‘textbook’ approach to some of the finance material you will be covering in the 1st term, you can refer to:

  • Cuthbertson, K. and Nitzsche, D. Investments, Wiley, 2nd Edition, 2008.

Other interesting and relevant reading
(In alphabetical order)

  • Grimmett and Stirzaker, Probability and Random Processes, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2020.
  • Hull, J., Options, Futures and Other Derivatives, Prentice Hall, 11th Edition, 2022.
  • Reitano, R. R., Introduction to Quantitative Finance – A Math Tool Kit, MIT Press, 2010.

Textbooks may be purchased from any good academic book shop.