Finance with Actuarial Science BSc (Hons)

at City University of London

Who is it for?
 

You are fascinated by the financial world and that complements your love and talent for mathematics, especially modelling and probability. You love solving problems and setting up, then challenging, hypotheses.

The Finance with Actuarial Science undergraduate course will equip you with financial risk management and analysis skills that will boost your career prospects in investment management, risk management or actuarial science. Financial engineering or financial analysis careers will also be open to you.
 

Objectives
 

Discover the different aspects of the financial world and in particular how assessing and managing risk is vital for success. To develop the skills you need to understand these ideas, you’ll take a mixture of financial, mathematical, statistical and actuarial modules. You will apply your new technical and analytical skills to solve a wide range of business problems.

In the first year your focus is on building a firm foundation in mathematics, statistics and economics as you begin to develop your understanding of financial risk.

In the second and third years you will broaden your understanding of the financial markets. This will include analysing the various types of financial instruments that are available, how they are valued and how they can be used to provide suitable solutions to financial problems involving risk and return.
 

Structure
 

What will I learn?

• Develop a good knowledge and understanding of finance, statistics, mathematics, actuarial science and related disciplines.

• Develop the ability to communicate your knowledge and understanding accurately and effectively.

• Develop your understanding of the respective roles of mathematical and statistical calculation, analysis and judgement in actuarial science and finance.

• Develop your ability to make reasoned judgements, frame appropriate questions and draw independent conclusions.

• Equip you with the skills required to work as a finance professional or an actuary or in alternative fields related to statistics and in business more generally.

• Prepare you to enter postgraduate study in finance, actuarial science or related disciplines.

• Develop you as a responsible and socially aware professional, who knows that many of the decisions that you make in your career will affect numerous stakeholders, all of whose views and situations must be taken into account
   

Year 1
 

In year 1 Students are required to take a total of 7 core modules.

Core modules:

• Introduction to Actuarial Methods and Career Planning

  This module raises awareness of your career options within and outside of the actuarial profession. To achieve this aim, the module examines the use of actuarial methods to solve financial problems and provides an introduction to the industries that actuaries work in.

• Mathematics for Actuarial Science

  This module will initially consolidate your mathematical knowledge to ensure all students have the same basic understanding no matter what their educational background. In the second term we will cover more advanced mathematical topics. The mathematics course is designed to give you the tools needed to solve the problems in the other modules.

• Probability and Statistics 1

  The probability and statistics module will assume that students will arrive with no knowledge of probability or statistics. The module will start with basic concepts such as summary statistics and basic probability and will develop these concepts to more advanced topics such as confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression and probability distributions. This module forms part of the CS1 course of the IFoA.

• Finance and Investment Mathematics

  This module will focus on the concept of valuing future monetary payments in terms of present values to allow a comparison of different income streams which is critical in any financial decision making. In this module we will consider all payments to be guaranteed. We will also look at linking amounts to various inflation indices. This module covers part of the CM1 course of the IFoA.

• Introduction to Economics

  To be able to understand the possible changes in the financial world, students need to study economics. This module assumes no prior knowledge and will cover both micro and macro economics over the year. This module covers the CB2 course of the IFoA.

• Introduction to Excel and Statistical Packages

  This module introduces you to the statistical package Minitab and Excel workbooks, There will also be additional information on the statistical package R but this will not be examined. The lectures and practical sessions are scheduled in such a way that you are able to use the IT tools presented in this module to solve problems generated by concepts introduced in other modules on the programme.

• Introduction to VBA for Excel

  This module aims to Provide you with an introduction to programming in VBA for Excel, to the level where you can write macros and user-defined functions to assist in carrying out analytical tasks. It will also explain the reasons for technical standards of documentation and give instruction in how to apply them in practice.
   

Year 2
 

In year 2 Students are required to take 5 core modules and choose 3 elective modules.

Core modules:

• Calculus and Linear Algebra (Mathematics 2)

  This module will cover more advanced techniques in calculus and linear algebra that will be used in your other modules on the degree.

• Fundamentals of Finance

  This module will introduce you to the various financial instruments and markets that exist allowing you to be able to develop solutions to financial risk questions. This module covers the first part of the CB1 course of the IFoA (the second part is covered in financial reporting).

• Stochastic Modelling

  This module will allow you to study the modelling of uncertainty of certain probabilistic events. The techniques you learn here can be applied to a number of different situations and will be developed further in more advanced modules. This module covers part of the CS2 course of the IFoA.

• Derivatives, Trading and Hedging

  Your foundation module in the study of options, futures and other derivative securities. Learn how to select the appropriate derivative security for different risk management applications, and determine the payoffs to risk management strategies and arbitrage mispricings.

• Financial Markets

  This module applies mathematics to the pricing of assets in the financial markets. Its aim is to examine what we know about the determination of the prices of bonds and equities.
   

Elective Modules

• Contingencies

• Alternative Investment Management

• Corporate Risk Management

• Decision Analysis

• Financial Economics

• Risk Analysis and Modelling

• Financial Reporting

• Financial Econometrics

• Asset Management

• Corporate Finance & Valuation

• Probability & Statistics 2

• Financial Econometrics
   

Year 3
 

In year 3 Students are required to take 3 core modules, in addition to which they may choose to take the Final Year Project along with three elective modules or alternatively choose five elective modules.

Core modules:

• Fixed Income Portfolio Management

  Develop your understanding of fixed income securities and their use in portfolio management. Build the conceptual foundations, so that as an asset manager, treasurer, investment banker, financial analyst or trader, you can make intelligent assessments of the application of fixed income instruments.

• Financial Engineering

  This module provides the key tools and techniques for creating synthetic assets as well as methods for identifying fair market value. You will also analyse in-depth fixed income structuring, equity options and structured volatility dependent products.

• Asset-Liability Management

  module is designed to expand on the prior knowledge of risk, investment and financial management and enable you to grasp the dynamic environment where banks and other institutions operate.  The course brings the management of both sides of the balance sheet of financial institutions together in a unified framework.
   

Elective Modules

• Final Year Finance Project

• International Finance

• Operational Research

• General Insurance

• Asset-Liability Management

• Technical Analysis

• Statistical Reasoning, Communication & Ethics

• Advanced Econometrics & Forecasting

• Emerging Markets

• Financial Services Regulation

• International Financial Management

• Statistical Modelling

• Game Theory

United Kingdom
 

A Level: A (Maths) AA

If you are studying General Studies or Critical Thinking these subjects will not be included in any offer condition.

For A-Level applicants we also require a minimum of grade 5 (C) in GCSE English Language.
 

BTEC/OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Extended Diploma: DDD plus A-Level Maths A*

For BTEC/OCR Cambridge Technical applicants we also require a minimum of grade 5 (C) in GCSE English Language.

For candidates taking a combination of A Level/BTEC/OCR Cambridge Technical qualifications we accept the following:

BTEC/OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 National Diploma (grades DD) with A-Level Maths A*
BTEC/OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (grade D) with two A-levels (including A-Level Maths A* and a second A-Level grade A)

For combination BTEC/OCR/A-Level applicants we also require a minimum of grade 5 (C) in GCSE English Language.
 

IB: 35 points overall with at least 18 points across three Higher Level subjects. Please note that we are happy to accept both Maths Analysis & Approaches and Maths Applications & Interpretations.
 

Access to Higher Education: Pass the course with 45 level 3 credits including minimum 30 distinction credits and the remaining 15 credits at merit or above, plus A-Level Maths A*.

For Access applicants we also require a minimum of grade 5 (C) in GCSE English Language.
 

Foundation course for UK/EU students
 

If you do not meet the qualification criteria for this course, you may still meet the criteria for our Actuarial Science Foundation course. The Foundation course is a one-year full-time programme that provides an entry route to the BSc Actuarial Science course.
 

International students

We accept a wide range of international and other UK qualifications at Bayes.

Information for international and EU applicants

For international applicants requiring a Student Route visa we accept any of the below English language proficiency qualifications at the grades listed:

• Language Cert International ESOL: Language Cert B2 Communicator High Pass

• IELTS (Academic, UKVI or IELTS Indicator): 6.5 overall with no less than 6.0 in any sub test.

• TOEFL (Test centre or iBT Special Home Edition): 92 overall (24 Writing, 23 Reading, 22 Speaking, 21 Listening)

• Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic: 59 overall with minimum of 59 in each sub test

• Pearson Academic Online: 62 overall with minimum of 59 in each sub test

• IGCSE: English as a First Language (Syllabus 0500 & 0522) or English as Second Language (Syllabus 0510 & 0511) at Grade B or above

• International Baccalaureate: Grade 5 at Standard level or Grade 4 at Higher level

• Trinity College (Integrated Skills): ISE III – pass in each area

• INTO City Pre-sessional English: 6.5 overall with no less than 6.0 in any sub test (NB. Must be the 6 or 8 week Bayes-specific course)

• Cambridge English Advanced (also known as Certificate in Advanced English): Grade C (180-192) at CEFR Level C1

• Cambridge English Proficiency (also known as Certificate of Proficiency in English): Grade C (200-212) at CEFR Level C2

• Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE): English Language Examination grade 4 or above

• Bellerbys Foundation Course 69% overall and 59% minimum in each sub test

• Oxford Test of English 130 overall with minimum 120 in each sub test

• GCSE English Language Grade C/5 or above but 1) Qualifications must be issued by Ofqual, SQA, Qualifications Wales or CCEA regulated body in the UK; 2) Education must be undertaken in a UK school.

• A Level English Language Grade C or above but 1) Qualifications must be issued by Ofqual, SQA, Qualifications Wales or CCEA regulated body in the UK; 2) Education must be undertaken in a UK school.

• Vitnemal: English grade 5

• French Baccalaureat: 14/20 in English

• Malaysian GCE O Level (SPM-1119 syllabus only): grade A
   

An exception to the above criteria applies to Student Route visa applicants from the below majority English-speaking countries for whom we can accept a wider range of English qualifications:

• Antigua and Barbuda

• Australia

• The Bahamas

• Barbados

• Belize

• Canada

• Dominica

• Grenada

• Guyana

• Ireland

• Jamaica

• Malta

• New Zealand

• St Kitts and Nevis

• St Lucia

• St Vincent and the Grenadines

• Trinidad and Tobago

• United Kingdom

• United States of America
   

Information for home and EU applicants
 

In addition to the above English language proficiency qualifications accepted for International applicants, as a Home or EU applicant we can also accept any of the below English qualifications:

• GCSE: Grade C or 5

• O-Level: Grade C

• A-Level: Grade C

• Cambridge English First (also known as Certificate of First in English): Grade A (180-190) at CEFR Level C1

UK£9,250 *Tuition fees are subject to annual change

International£20,500 **Tuition fees are subject to annual change
 

UK students

* The fee for this course in 2021/22 was £9,250 for each year of study. Fees for students commencing study in 2022/23 are £9,250.

EU and international students
 

** In 2021/22 the fee was £19,500 for the first year of study.

Fees for students commencing study in 2022/23 are £20,500.

The institution reserves the right to increase your tuition fees annually to take account of the institution's increased costs of delivering educational services. The increase will normally be 2% but this is kept under review with reference to the RPI. If the institution intends to increase your tuition fees you will be advised of this alongside the published entry fee.

On completing this degree, you will be well suited for a wide variety of careers in the financial services sector, including in investment management, insurance or risk management.
 

Your skills will be welcomed in investment banking, accountancy, commercial banking, financial engineering or financial analysis. You will also be well prepared for a career in management consultancy