Specializations
MSc in Finance
This specialization is designed for people who wish to pursue PhD studies or research-oriented careers with financial institutions, consulting firms, or regulatory agencies. Students will develop a deeper grounding in financial theory and empiricism, and then delve into advanced derivatives valuation, corporate finance, empirical topics and research methods.
Is this Specialization for you?
Discover how this program aligns with your academic or research oriented career goals. Request a virtual one-on-one meeting with a member of our program team.
Recommended Undergraduate Degrees
- Business or Commerce (with a finance concentration)
- Accounting
- Economics
Program Structure and Content
This is a 12-month program beginning in September. Each student is required to complete the following courses and a research project of publishable quality.
Course offerings change from year to year. This sample stream is not reflective of a guaranteed curriculum but is instead an example of what a curriculum could look like in a given year.
With supervisor approval, students can select MGMT specialization courses from other area groups. Electives can be any other MGMT course or a course from another department at the supervisor’s discretion.
Course descriptions are available on the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs website. Any non-MGMT courses are linked below.
Sample Finance MSc Curriculum
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| MGMT 801 Research Foundations | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 898 Major Research Project | Pass/Fail |
| Specialization – MGMT | |
| MGMT 821 Capital Markets, Theory and Empirics | 3 |
| MGMT 923 Financial Economics | 3 |
| Electives – Supervisor Approved MGMT or Other Department | |
| ECON 810/811 Microeconomic Theory / Advanced Microeconomic Theory I (or other elective) | 3 |
| ECON 815/816 Macroeconomic Theory / Advanced Macroeconomic Theory I (or other elective) | 3 |
| Methods/Related Field | |
| ECON 852 Quantitative Methods / MGMT 988: Applied Statistics and Econometrics | 3 |
| MGMT 890 Econometrics Methods | 3 |
| Total Credits | 18 |
Sample Year 2 PhD Curriculum
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| MGMT 993 Teaching and Learning in Management and Business | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 994 Upper Year Research Presentation | Pass/Fail |
| Specialization – MGMT | |
| MGMT 922 Corporate Finance, Theory and Empirics | 3 |
| MGMT 927 Directed Readings and Workshop | 3 |
| Methods/Related Field | |
| ECON 850 Econometrics I / ECON 851: Econometrics II | 3 |
| Total Credits | 9 |
Examples of possible electives from other departments for the Finance specialization include:
“I entered the MSc program with my sights set on a PhD and a career in academia. I took a year off after completing my MSc and took a few courses in organizational behaviour and developed a passion for the subject area. I decided to get a second MSc in OB at Penn State University and went on to get my PhD at Boston College. I spent seven years as faculty at Montpellier Business School in France before moving back to Canada. I’m now loving my time researching, teaching, and supervising graduate students in my role at the University of Toronto.”
Assistant Professor of Management, Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ont.