Master's Degree in Financial Management

Module I. Financial Management and Financial Markets (6 ECTS credits)

In the first term, you'll study the modules that will allow you to understand finance's role within the business environment and corporate strategy, as well as to debate and reflect on the importance of domestic and international regulatory systems, in particular the regulation of financial instruments (mifid II).

Macroeconomic environment and international finance.

International financial system: structure of financial markets, money and foreign exchange markets.

International regulation: application and implications in the financial sector.

European Union regulation: introduction to the regulation of markets in financial instruments (mifid II).

Markets in financial instruments: areas where mifid II regulation applies.

Financial products: complex and non-complex.

Module II. Financial Planning and Management Control Technologies (6 ECTS credits)

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the objectives of financial planning, and to adapt/apply technological tools for managerial control.

Strategic management and planning: nature and process of strategic management, main tools used in strategic planning.

Short-term financial planning: concept, objectives, approaches, elements, methods, processes and tools.

Strategic (long-term) financial planning: concept, objective, methods, processes and financial models.

Budgets: master, operational, investment, treasury.

Management control: concept, objectives, characteristics, principles, tools.

Management control: instruments for measuring company management

Performance for decision-making purposes.

Module III. Financial Management and Investment Assessment (6 ECTS credits)

Understand and analyse the macroeconomic situation, international and intervening financial markets, analysis of financial statements, investment analysis and valuation of financial assets in unpredictable global environments for decision-making purposes.

Analysis of a company's economic and financial structure: analysis and interpretation of the company's financial information to support decision-making.

Investment analysis: estimation of accounting and free cash flows, criteria (net present value/return), sensitivity analysis and scenarios.

Project assessment: real options.

Valuation of financial assets and companies.

Portfolio theory: risk and return, risk diversification, market risk measurement.

Portfolio theory: optimal portfolio model.

Module IV. Corporate Financial Taxation (6 ECTS credits)

Analyse tax planning, investment management and tax optimisation strategies in order to be able to make decisions that will improve company performance.

Tax environment: knowledge of tax provisions, the different tax systems.

Tax planning: concept, relevance, indicators and methodologies.

Strategic tax planning: maximising disposable income, minimising costs.

Investment management: tax incentives for investment, sensitivity analysis and tax rates.

Tax optimisation strategies: through financial options (deferral of capital gains, wash sale rule, combined strategies).

Legal tax planning: tax aspects and limitations.

Module V. Corporate Asset Management (6 ECTS credits)

Draft the necessary corporate asset management reports, using the existing technological tools in this field that facilitate decision-making with regard to the management of surpluses/deficits at the domestic and international levels.

Asset management: concept, cash flows, systems and technological management tools.

Treasury budget: control of receipts and payments and managing a company’s liquidity.

Cash flow statement: resources generated by the company, methods of preparation.

Management of cash surpluses and deficits, investment and financial instruments.

Asset management and corporate finance at international level.

Credit management and payment default management.

Module VI. Corporate Finance (6 ECTS credits)

In the second term, the aim is for students to be able to understand the forms of financing (internal and external) that exist at the domestic and international levels, analysing their impact on a company’s financial structure.

Financial asset valuation model: valuation models (CAPM, APT).

Cost of capital: weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

Application of the CAPM model: asset and debt betas (financial risk).

Financial leverage: tax savings and the value of a leveraged company.

Discriminant analysis: financial forecasting methods (Altman model, Ohlson model).

Dividend policy: dividend decisions, Gordon's model, PER, dividend payouts, the irrelevance and relevance of dividend policy.

Module VII. Risk Analysis and Control Tools (6 ECTS credits)

Understand inorganic growth/corporate restructuring strategies and whether these are in line with corporate strategy, as well as identify financial business risks and how to apply of hedging strategies to address them.

M&A processes: criteria, planning, valuation.

Private equity and venture capital: venture capital, shareholding.

Identification, analysis, control and management of the different types of business risk.

Financial market risk and var methodologies. 5. Credit risk, scoring and rating agencies.

Hedging strategies, financial products for risk hedging: futures, options, swaps, fras, foreign exchange insurance, etc.

Module VIII. Finance and Information Management (Big Data, Business Analytics, Fintech) (6 ECTS credits)

To become qualified in the use of technological and IT tools for extracting financial information from databases (Big Data), business analytics techniques in corporate positioning and the use of fintech financial tools for financial decision-making in unpredictable global environments.

Importance and contribution of Big Data: exploitation for commercial purposes, strategies and positioning.

Data Visualisation: visualisation tools (Cognos, Tableau).

Analytical techniques in business analytics: decision making in business analytics.

Business analytics in finance: how to apply a business analytics project to the financial field.

Fintech: introduction, regulation of financial technologies, functional fintech areas.

Basic fintech areas: payment methods (currencies), financing, financial infrastructure (mobile banking), cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding and crowdlending.

Module IX. Professional Internships (6 ECTS credits)

Additionally, during the second term students will begin their professional internship at a firm in the financial sector, where they will put the knowledge they have acquired into practice in a real business environment.

Practical application of the content and skills acquired. Students will undertake professional tasks with the guidance of a supervisor or business tutor and an academic tutor, who will oversee the process of introduction to the practical application of the skills and content taught in the programme.

Module X. Final Master’s Project (6 ECTS credits)

Module 10 is dedicated to the Final Master's Project.

It entails the individual preparation of an original project that the student will publicly present before a panel of judges in order to obtain their master's degree. The curriculum is designed taking into account (explain in a reasoned and coherent way the order of the subjects each term, especially the professional internships and the Final Master's Project).

Structure and preparation of the Final Master's Project.

Analysing data and of sources of information.

Identifying impact journals.

Reference management tools.

Written and oral communication skills.

Management and negotiation skills.