About This Course
Corporate Finance is a key management activity with a broad range of activities to address. The understanding of the financial managers' key decisions forms the heart of this module, with emphasis on the selection of profitable investments, utilising financial instruments, choosing the best mix of funds, risk and dividend policy. The importance of cash flow and the theories underpinning dividend decisions is also emphasised. Students will gain an understanding of the different types of investment and the return expected by investors. The module also examines the concept of risk, moving to a review of the nature of capital markets and the nature of the instruments issued and traded within them.
Aims & Objectives
On completing this module, students will be able to:
- Understand the theories underpinning capital budgeting and be able to apply and discuss these
- Understand the concepts of the costs of capital and funds and be able to apply these to real world scenarios
- Understand the theories and concepts underpinning dividend decisions; analyse and apply these in the real world
- Understand the concepts of discount rates and how these relate to financial instruments and risk
- Understand the issues relating to long-term finance; critically evaluating the relevant models and applying the most relevant when reviewing financial decisions
- Have a thorough understanding of the role of the financial manager and the role played by corporate finance in the banking and financial industries
Learning Methods
Single Modules are delivered through means of distance learning and on a part time basis, where you can study at your own pace, no matter where you are in the world. A combination of interactive classes and recorded lectures are provided throughout the 6 months semester, providing participants with a good work-life balance.
Blackboard is the virtual learning environment (VLE) used by 91¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ³Ô¹Ï where each module benefits from a bespoke area within the platform where all study resources are held. Resources include study guides, e-textbooks and access to the online library.
Further Information
Key Text:
Corporate Finance (4th Edition) Berk, J and DeMarzo, P - Pearson
Means of Assessment:
This module is assessed by means of an individual assignment (40%) and examination (60%)
Course Content
What will you study on this course?
The course is divided into three Units which broadly break down as follows:
Unit 1
Unit 1 deals with underlying technical aspects of valuation time value of money, discounting, etc. and gives us the necessary technical underpinning to move on to making decisions in Unit 2.
Unit 2
The second unit, Unit 2, takes theses technical aspects and starts to apply them to the valuation of projects. It starts with simple problems and moves on to more complicated investment decisions in relation to investment in plant and equipment. The key idea is whether a particular investment promises greater cash flows than the cost of the investment. This, of course, applies to many investment decisions whether to invest in a machine or to buy a company or to launch an advertising campaign or to initiate a research and development programme. All these opportunities seem very different, but they all have the same goal of generating more cash than the cost of getting the cash!
Unit 3
The third unit, Unit 3, deals with the financing side of the company. Unit 1 and Unit 2 help us to decide whether it makes sense to acquire a particular asset. Unit 3 looks at the financing of that decision in terms of the capital markets, sources of finance and the issues of capital structure (how much you should borrow) and dividend policy.
Each unit of these units is further broken down into individual topics, ten in total.
One point that might strike you as you work your way through the module is that is that some of the material appears a little removed from the financial services industry, because, for instance, there is little investment in plant and equipment in this industry (except for IT equipment, of course). However, do bear in mind that those of you who are lenders will have customers who are (or should be applying these techniques) while others who work in investment banks in the mergers area will have grappled with the problem of valuing possible acquisitions.
Course Cost
The cost of this course is £1,700
Entry Requirements
Aimed at mid-career professionals working in the financial industry or regulation. Entry consideration will be given to individuals with minimal experience or qualifications.
English Language Requirements
Applicants must have a high level of fluency in the English language. The English language tests we normally refer to are as follows;
- IELTS: 6.0 (with no element below 5.5)
- Pearson PTE: a score of 56 (with no element lower than 51)
- Cambridge English Test – Advanced: 169 (with no element lower than 162)
Application
How to Apply
Please make sure you read and follow the step-by-step application guide as this will specify which sections of the application form are compulsory for the type of course you want to apply for and save you time.
Please prepare the following information (in a Word document):
- Current employment details;
- Years of experience, and employment history (where relevant)
- Name of staff member and organisation that have approved your funding for this module.
This will speed up the process of completing the application form.
To apply for this course, you need to create an account in our
You will need access to the email address you specify while creating your account to confirm it.
After creating an account, you will see a homepage with several tabs:
- Personal
- Programme
- Info
- Contact
- Education
- Employment
- Language
- Finance
You need to complete all sections before submitting your application.
When a section is complete, a ‘tick’ symbol will appear below it.
- Click on ‘Non-graduating applications / Stand alone Modules’, then select ‘Non-graduating Undergraduate’.
- In the next section, select Non-Graduating Taught Modules, Click Save and Continue.
- On the next page, the default for the first question is Full Time. You need to change this to ‘Part time’:
- You now need to input the module code. Corporate Finance : the code is ASB-9032. This section must be completed for your application to be processed.
- You also need to state the start date. Please make your selection, then click ‘Save and Continue’.
- IMPORTANT: You do not need to write a personal statement to apply for this course. Instead, please upload the document including employment, experience and education information that you have created prior to starting the application that contains the name of your current employer, the number of years of experience you have, and your highest qualification to date. Click Save and continue.
You only need to enter the details of your highest qualification to date, e.g. if you have a postgraduate qualification, please only only include this.
You will be asked for evidence of the qualification. Please either upload a copy of your qualification if it's easily accessible, or upload the Word document again (that you prepared earlier).
(details not required as you've already prepared this)
Please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘I have no employment history’ (as you have already provided this in your Word document).
please answer the questions as follows:
- How will you finance your studies?:
- Exact name of funding authority:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Give details of the amount of the award?
- Sponsorship will cover: Tuition Fees
- Have you been awarded this funding? Please select ‘yes’ * Note that you will be required to upload evidence of the funding. If you wish to confirm ‘yes’ to this question, but do not have any written confirmation to upload, you can upload your Word document here again.
If you are self-funding, please provide all details as appropriate.