Financial Economics (Graduate Diploma)

• The Department of Economics at Royal Holloway is unique in being a young department, created in 1995, in an established and prestigious college of the University of London.
• In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise we were ranked among the top 10 Economics Departments in the UK
• Our courses are small and select, with each limited to about 20 students, thus ensuring that you will receive individual attention from the academic staff.
• The Department has expertise in a wide set of areas, including Labour Economics, Experimental Economics, and Public Economics, and the topics taught on our Masters courses reflect these areas of excellence.
• We are one of the few Departments in the UK to have an in-house economics experiments laboratory, used by staff and research students

• Economics is among the top departments in the UK for Research Excellence. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), 80% of the Department's research submitted was ranked as world-leading or internationally excellent (rated 3* and 4*). 
• A recent analysis of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) shows that the Economics Department at Royal Holloway is the third best department in the UK for publications.  The study by Jim Taylor and Ian Walker provides further insight into the research standing of UK economics departments. Previous rankings from the data already showed the Department in the top 10 in the UK.
• The Department displays strength across the core fields of the discipline - microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics – and in particular labour economics, development economics, experimental economics and economics history. Our Research webpage gives more information about who does what, the most recent publications and gives details about our seminar series.
• We run a weekly Internal Seminar which provides a lively forum for work at an early stage of development. Our External Seminar Series runs weekly during term and welcomed over 20 external speakers from prominent places during last academic year. Invitees are the usual mixture of established names and newer entrants to the profession thought to be doing exciting work. Our Discussion Paper series provides a forum for journal-ready work.

You will take the following core course units and undertake examinations in May and June. 

Core course units:

Microeconomics
This unit addresses the behaviour of individuals and firms in the economy, examining issues such as individual optimisation, the behaviour of the firm in different market environments, exchange and general equilibrium. Applications to various markets such as the labour market will also be discussed as will be market failures in the presence of asymmetric information, externalities, and public goods.

Macroeconomics
This unit aims to provide you with an understanding of macroeconomics at the intermediate level and to provide you with an integrated framework for thinking about the determinants of aggregate variables like unemployment, investment, consumption, interest rates, inflation, exchange rates and the balance of trade (netexports).

Quantitative Methods
You will be introduced to the mathematical theory of optimisation. Understanding optimisation theory will also require the study of linear algebra and calculus. In the second term, you will develop your econometric and statistical skills, and you will use those skills to analyse data sets.

Financial Economics
You will be provided with and insight into the nature of financial markets and their use by investors and corporations. The first part of the course deals with optimal asset allocation. Topics include mean-variance analysis, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), as well as factor portfolios and Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT). This is followed by an overview of the microstructure of financial markets. In this topic, we analyze the price formation process, including the effect of asymmetric information.

On completion of the course graduates will have:

• the training in the principles of economics and their applications comparable to that in the single honours economics BSc.
• been stimulated intellectually through the study of economics and to lead them to appreciate its application to a range of problems and its relevance in a variety of contexts.
• developed the ability to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to the solution of theoretical and/or applied problems in economic policy.
• been equipped with appropriate tools of analysis to tackle issues and problems of economic policy.
• developed, through the study of economics, a range of transferable skills that will be of value in employment and self-employment.
• been provided with analytical skills and an ability to develop simplifying frameworks for studying the real world and to be able to appreciate what would be an appropriate level of abstraction for a range of economic issues.
• been provided with the knowledge and skill base from which they can proceed to further studies in Economics and related areas.

View the full course specification for Financial Economics (Graduate Diploma) in the Programme Specification Repository|.

Assessment is carried out by a variety of methods including coursework, examinations and a dissertation.

This course fully prepares students to go on to complete the MSc Economics course. Our graduates from the MSc are highly employable and, in recent years, have entered many different Economic-related areas, including careers as Economists, Journalists and Business Analysts. Our graduates are currently working for firms such as Accenture, TNS and Baker and Mackenzie. This course also equips you with the subject knowledge and a solid foundation for continued PhD studies.