MBA with Finance Concentration & CFA I was a finance major in college. I plan on finishing LIII in June. I’m applying for an MBA now. Here’s my question: Is it redundant to have a Finance BA, a CFA and an MBA with a finance concentration? Should I think about getting a different concentration? I’m only interested in pursuing straight finance fields, though. My long term goal is portfolio management. Should I consider risk management or business strategy as a concentration?
I’d suggest with all that financial knowledge you balance it out with other concentrations that will support finance, not something entirely different. Think strategy and communication (i’m not joking, communicating effectively becomes increasingly more important as your career will progress) courses. Take a few finance courses while in your MBA to stay sharp but i would avoid focusing entirely on finance.
Risk Management has more to do with mathematics from my understanding. I doubt an MBA program can equip you with the necessary knowledge for RM. Ask JDV though.
Stay with finance…hopefully you have some experience to go along with all ur papers
I agree with strkershank, I would suggest focusing on Strategy or Communication… Something that fits with your goals or intended specialization (as a port manager could focus on Equity or Fixed Income or Alt Invest…ex cetera) I would say that CFA program is much more technical than an MBA (not that I have an MBA but I have completed all three levels of the CFA program, but this is from discussions with pp who have both) “MBA is more for soft skills” is what I am told…
skiloa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Stay with finance…hopefully you have some > experience to go along with all ur papers Nahhh, I don’t have s**t. I’m getting a graduate degree to break in.
If you can’t get into a top 10 or top 10-20 school…don’t bother with an MBA! Some of the 2nd tier (10-20) might not be a good bet to get into an Inv Bank. Make sure you talk to a lot of alums etc. Even with a top 10 school, you must do summer internship at a BB Inv Bank or similar if you want to work on the sell-side. Concentration doesn’t really mean a lot at most top b-schools…
I started the CFA program after my MBA. Your MBA program could offer you finance courses not covered under CFA program. You could look into them. Business strategy and may be courses on Mergers and Acquisition may be good complements provided you are interested in those areas.
not that I have any basis of comparison but as someone mentioned it above: If you don’t get into a top tier program it does not seem worth it. I will probably be in the same position (provided that I pass level 2 next year) but if I don’t get into a good MBA program I’ll just do financial statistics or something along those lines.
If you want to specialize in finance, a MSc in Finance is probably better than an MBA. Technically, MBAs are supposed to train managers, who need to know about accounting, finance, marketing, strategy… but not necessarily to be experts in all these topics. If you want to be an expert in one area, then only study this area. A survey done a few years ago showed that in finance, it is more valuable (i.e., you get paid more) to be a CFA charterholder than hold an MBA. Now, what the MBA gets you is the network. So, unless you can get into one of the top-10 programs in the world, I am not sure it is the best strategy.
I’m also applying for MSF’s. I’ve actually posted on AF about choosing between MBA & MSF. I currently favor an MSF over a MBA programs not in the top 15. If I get into an elite program, I will take it for connections and name brand. I’m telling the program reps in interviews and essays that I plan to specialize in finance. I’m beginning to wonder if my resume might look just a bit better with a non-finance specialization to go along with my CFA (when I get it).