Skip to main content

New FinTech programme from September 2019!

The ICMA Centre at the Henley Business School is launching an exciting new MSc in Finance and Financial Technology (FinTech). The first student intake will be in September 2019! FinTech products and services have transformed large sections of the finance industry, leading to new payment systems, financial planning tools, saving and investment platforms (for instance peer-to-peer lending solutions, crowdfunding, robo-advisory services and price-comparison web sites), algorithmic trading strategies and AI-based risk management tools (see EY Survey, 2017 and World Fintech Report 2018).

City website 3 2 1 e1542019029914

The ICMA Centre at the Henley Business School is launching an exciting new MSc in Finance and Financial Technology (FinTech). The first student intake will be in September 2019! FinTech products and services have transformed large sections of the finance industry, leading to new payment systems, financial planning tools, saving and investment platforms (for instance peer-to-peer lending solutions, crowdfunding, robo-advisory services and price-comparison web sites), algorithmic trading strategies and AI-based risk management tools (see EY Survey, 2017 and World Fintech Report 2018).

FinTech is used by both startups and large financial institutions. The sector is branching out into more specialised sub-sectors, such as, PropTech where technology is used to make real estate transactions more efficient; RegTech, which addresses regulatory and compliance challenges within the financial services sector (2018 is the year of GDPR, PSD2 and MiFIDII); InsurTech, that leads to ultra-customized insurance policies, social insurance, and uses new streams of data from internet-enabled devices to dynamically price premiums according to observed customers’ behaviour.

The aim of our new programme is to prepare graduates for a career in the rapidly expanding FinTech sector. Through our course, students will gain a deep understanding of digital banking and payment systems, Python programming and finance applications of machine learning solutions. Business opportunities generated by “big data” in finance and insurance, along with emerging technologies including blockchain, and the popular cryptocurrencies, will be explored in detail. Through trading simulations, students will learn about securities, futures and options and algorithmic trading. The curriculum also covers FinTech regulation and the challenges posed by data protection and cyber security.

The UK is well-positioned to lead global FinTech innovations and the UK Government is fully committed to supporting this ambition. Key ingredients for the development of the FinTech industry are: talent, capital, a welcoming regulatory environment and demand for FinTech services. We are particularly interested in the first ingredient, talent or human capital. FinTech firms need not only technical expertise (engineers, software developers and coders) but also experts in finance and financial services as well as entrepreneurs. We believe this new programme will address the need for professionals who understand the finance industry as well as the underpinnings of its recent and profound technological transformation.

Read more about the MSc in Finance and Financial Technology programme here. Find out more about Dr Alfonso Dufour's research.

View Profile Find out more about Dr Simone Varotto's research.

View Profile

Professor Simone Varotto

 Professor of Finance
Professor Simone Varotto

Dr Alfonso Dufour

 Associate Professor of Finance
Dr Alfonso Dufour
Published 12 November 2018

You might also like

Congratulations to all our December 2014 graduates!

18 December 2014
Congratulations to all our students who graduated last week and in particular to our distance learning students and MSc Investment Banking and Islamic Finance. The graduation ceremony took place in the Great Hall at the University of Reading's historic London Road campus.

The financial crisis - why students should still choose finance

12 February 2009
For those people considering going to university this year at MSc level, this financial crisis will be the first they have experienced. Yet financial crises happen every ten or twenty years. What is different this time is the severity of the crisis ? the likes of which no trader in the City has ever seen before. This article first outlines the causes of the crisis and then asks whether students should steer clear of finance, accounting and economics as subject disciplines and potential careers, until the crisis has receded? I argue that the clear answer is ?no".

ICMA Centre Staff awarded Grant for Major New Research Project

17 September 2007
The Economic and Social Research Council(ESRC) have awarded Professor Chris Brooks and Dr Adrian Bell a major research grant worth just over £350,000 to investigate the early and innovative use of credit finance by a succession of English medieval monarchs.