It was great to be back on the University of Manchester campus for semester 1 this year. As part of my course BSc (Hons) International Business, Finance and Economics (IBFE), I studied Financial Statement Analysis, Foundations of Finance, Managerial Economics and Financial Markets & Institutions this semester. As I am very interested in finance and IBFE gives students the opportunity to choose their modules, most of my modules this year are finance based.
These second-year modules furthered the knowledge I developed in my first year. For example, in my first year I learnt about how to analyse financial statements and this year we put that into practice in Financial Statement Analysis. Throughout the semester, we reviewed Shell’s annual reports in-depth and we also completed a group project where we analysed six companies potential for investment. This was a great experience working as a team and learning from each other’s approach to analysing companies’ reports. Financial Statement Analysis has been a really practical course with our lecturers encouraging us to put our skills into practice and have a go investing ourselves!
Financial Markets & Institutions has built my knowledge on the different financial markets and securities including equities, bonds and derivatives. Whilst we learnt more about the role of banks within the financial system, for example, their crucial role in redistributing funds from those in surplus (savers) to those in deficit (borrowers).
Foundations of Finance builds on the first-year module Financial Decision Making. This module teaches core finance concepts such as various models on how to value shares and bonds. I have particularly enjoyed learning about how to evaluate the risks of shares by using various tools such as beta and volatility.
Managerial Economics has taught us how to take historical data and use this to forecast the future. Whilst we have learnt about how the level of competition in a market affects a firm’s profits and what strategies firms’ can use to differentiate themselves from other firms.
Next semester, I am studying the modules: Mergers & Acquisitions, Investment Analysis, Business Strategy, International Business and Business Law 1. I had the opportunity to choose all these modules, therefore tailoring the course to my interests. By the end of this year, I will have furthered my knowledge on a wide range of topics!
I hope you enjoyed this insight into my studies as an Alliance Manchester Business School student!
