MSc in Finance
MSc in Finance
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Programme Director: José Carlos Dias
The International Master of Science in Finance is a full-time, one-year programme that provides a highly advanced qualification in the finance field plus one-year for research and writing a dissertation. It is designed for students who intend to pursue a career in the financial services industry or in the field of corporate finance.
The Master's in Finance gives you a strong background in the theoretical underpinnings of finance, while offering intensive applied training aimed at developing skills for active interaction in the finance world.
The Master's in Finance at IBS will enhance your career prospects, give you exposure to a faculty with a worldwide reputation, and provide you with a cutting - edge knowledge of finance in classes that teach you how to apply what you have learned.
The emphasis of the programme is specialization and flexibility. Half of the courses are electives, which allows students to better tailor the programme to their own career objectives.
Why choose the MSc in Finance?
The International Master's Degree in Finance is a full-time, one-year programme that provides a highly advanced qualification in the finance field. It is designed for students who intend to pursue a career in the financial services industry or in the field of corporate finance. The Master's in Finance gives you a strong background in the theoretical underpinnings of finance, while offering intensive applied training aimed at developing skills for active interaction in the finance world. Our graduates have earned an excellent reputation in the corporate sector for their outstanding quantitative and technical skills.
Studying for a MSc in Finance at IBS offers you:
- Enhanced career prospects: Graduates successfully leverage the skills and knowledge gained from their degree to embark on careers in their sector of choice. The Master in Finance has been accepted into the CFA Institute University Recognition Program. This status is granted to institutions whose degree programs incorporate at least 70% of the CFA candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK), which provide students with a solid grounding in the CBOK and positions them well to sit for the CFA exams.
- Specialization and flexibility: Half of the courses are electives, which allows students to customize the programme so that it focuses on areas of particular relevance to their chosen careers.
- First-hand financial experience: During the programme there will be a finance agenda that will offer regular presentations made by companies, workshops on financial information systems such as Bloomberg and Reuters, and case analyses.
- International experience. A mid-week residential stay in Madrid will give students direct contact with companies and institutions in the local financial industry and provide them with additional international exposure.
- Contact with a world-class faculty: The finance faculty is made up of leaders in the field of financial research who have published in some of the world's most distinguished journals. They will provide students with a cutting-edge education in finance in classes that put a premium on how to apply their knowledge to real settings.
- Preparation for the business arena: During the programme, students will be able to attend a personal soft skill development programme and career management training designed to upgrade their global skills, improving their prospects for a successful future career.
- Financial data lab: Among European schools, IBS has one of the most comprehensive financial databases - a resource that includes free access to Wharton Research Data Services, Compustat, Worldscope, CRSP and more complete information systems such as Bloomberg and Reuters. Through its financial database, students will have a chance to do data simulating and modelling, apply theory to the real financial world and develop applied projects using unique data sets.
An Approach Geared toward the Real World of Finance
A key feature of our Master's in Finance is the opportunity it gives you to have real contact with the finance industry:
Lecturing style
Each course contains several illustrative examples from the real business world presented as cases, research findings, and small projects to undertake. This approach allows students to apply the concepts, instruments and analytical skills they have learned in a relevant, hands-on way.
Finance Manager Agenda
Throughout the programme, you will have the chance to interact regularly with reputed practitioners who will offer their vision and experience of the field in a series of workshops aimed at discussing and analyzing the different areas of the financial industry such as investment banking, trading, financial innovation, the role of being a CFO of an international listed company, risk management and real state.
Visiting the Real World of Finance
To prepare participants for the global business arena, there is a scheduled trip to Madrid in the second semester to visit companies and institutions in the local financial industry.
The Microstructure and Trading Program at University of Delaware includes a visit to firms in the New York financial district.
The Final Project
The compulsory final project is the ultimate challenge of the IBS Master's in Finance. It gives you the opportunity to apply your recently-acquired knowledge to a real financial issue, situation or innovation. The project may be driven by a request made by a corporation, centred on an issue chosen by the student him or herself, or be based on the consulting or research activities of the faculty.
Testimonials
Pedro Quinaz
MSc in Finance

“The International MSc in Finance at IBS is an unparalleled academic experience, developed upon a strong focus on building both the theoretical foundations and the practical skills of the student. I have no doubts that this program is the right step for any person committed to pursuing a rewarding career in the finance world.”
Ricardo Correia
MSc in Finance
“The opportunity to earn an MSc in Finance at IBS is definitely a landmark in any student’s life.
This university strives for excellence and imbues in its students a demanding sense of corporate culture. The school has a harmonious, friendly, multicultural environment that is the ideal setting for acquiring state-of-the-art knowledge that allows you to develop your hard and soft skills and turns you into a top-flight candidate for any enterprise or PhD programme.
In addition, IBS has excellent network connections to topranked firms. Lastly, I would like to emphasize the outstanding quality of the faculty and thecloseness of student-professor relationships, which are both major factors in a student’s success.”
José Salgado
MSc in Finance

"The MSc in Finance at ISCTE Business School prioritises excellence, with multicultural, innovative, demanding and ambitious faculty and students.
The inter-student and studentprofessor relationships are actively encouraged, creating a critical mass and dynamic environment that challenges and excites us.
The exchange of knowledge in an open environment combined with the academic rigor of ISCTE Business School
make this programme a remarkable experience, one critical to professional success.
This Masters allows us to surpass the expectations of the financial world in terms of our technical and personal skills."
