MSc in Finance and Economics

M2: Sustainable Finance track 

Curriculum

Sustainable Finance is a track (or specialisation) within the MSc. in Finance and Economics at the University of Luxembourg. This track has been developed by academics and professionals with hands-on experience in sustainable finance and impact investing. The skills of instructors range from managing and modelling sustainability risks to performing ESG due-diligence of investments, through developing ambitious sustainability strategies for leading financial institutions and public administrations worldwide. It covers several diverse aspects of risk and opportunity related to sustainability in the economy of tomorrow, offering a theoretically grounded and applied toolkit for an effective and successful start in sustainable finance.

The Sustainable Finance track consists of five core courses (see below), electives and either an Internship and Applied Master Thesis or an Academic Master Thesis.

Sustainable Finance Track Module:

THE FUNDAMENTALS

From Sustainability to Sustainable Finance

FRAMEWORKS AND TOOLS

Sustainability Frameworks and “tools” — part 1: practitioners and voluntary approaches

Sustainability Frameworks and “tools” — part 2: regulatory and governmental approaches

FINANCIAL STRATEGY, IMPLEMENTATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Instruments for Sustainable Finance

Risk Management

SUSTAINABLE CORPORATE STRATEGY,  CREATING OUT-PERFORMANCE

Sustainable Corporate Strategy and Leadership

Sustainability Accounting and Reporting

ECONOMICS OF NATURAL HAZARD

The Economics of Natural Hazards and Disasters

All courses are supported by real case studies developed by banking and investment practitioners. This strategy ensures that students gain practical knowledge that can later be applied to the financial industry.

Finally, students are given the option to complete either an internship with an Applied Master Thesis, or an Academic Master Thesis.

• Internship and Applied Master Thesis: Students do an internship within the public or private sector for a minimum duration of 12 weeks (with the option to negotiate a longer placement depending on the availability of the student and hosting company/institution). Each student has to submit an Applied Master Thesis. The topic of this thesis is coordinated between the student, an academic supervisor and the company supervisor. The Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance provides some support to students in obtaining a placement as well as drawing up internship contracts between the hosting institution and the student.
• Academic Master Thesis: Topics for the academic master thesis are coordinated together with the programme director and thesis supervisor. The Master thesis is an independent piece of research that should showcase a thorough understanding of the chosen topic as well as the appropriate research methodology. 

Learning outcomes 

Upon successful completion of this track, students will be able to:

• Appraise and challenge key approaches to sustainable finance;
• Examine the robustness of emerging practices and tools, from the perspective of multiple stakeholders;
• Assess the adequacy of investments, from project-level to an overall strategy level, in terms of risks and opportunities that investment and financing approaches entail;
• Develop effective sustainable strategies for both private and public financial institutions;
• Understand current rules, and foster new ambitious rules and standards for the industry;
• Evaluate and develop sound arguments on the looming controversies;
• Identify leaders and laggards in the industry;
• Be part of the next stream of innovation.

Prequisites

Successful completion of the first year (M1) of the MSc in Finance and Economics or any other MSc related programme. 

• Equity & Fixed Income Analysis
• Corporate Finance
• Derivatives

Notice that the target audience of this track are students with a strong interest in acquiring advanced-level skills in the pioneering approaches to sustainability for the practice of business and finance.

Employability

We are training highly skilled and employable graduates: more than 80% of past year cohort is currently employed! Discover the career paths of our former students with our employability survey.