Accounting and Finance

Alternative Investment Funds

Module code: N1596
Level 6
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Workshop
Assessment modes: Coursework

On this module, you’ll gain a broad overview of investment funds and the investment management industry, with a focus on the structuring process for creating and investing in funds—especially alternative investment funds like hedge funds and private equity.

You’ll learn about:

• the key parties involved in fund creation and investment
• the essential processes and steps required to set up a fund
• the main documentation used in fund creation and typical investments.

This module provides insight into how different parts of a financial institution, such as banks and asset/fund managers, work together. You’ll explore the roles of various departments and functions throughout the lifecycle of an investment.

Module learning outcomes

• Identify and critically evaluate the different stages of a typical investment fund transaction and understand the relevant processes involved.
• Discern and describe the role that different departments and professionals within asset managers, banks and other financial organisations perform during the investment fund structuring process.
• Explain the strategy and outcomes desired by various parties involved in the investment fund process, and the mechanisms utilised to achieve them.
• Critically understand, interpret and apply the key transactional documentation for a typical fund investment, and be cognisant of the key negotiations that making an investment entail.