Hi Guys, Could anyone advise good Master in Finance programs in Europe? My background: 25 years old, Bch in Economics and BA from rather good business school (among top 15 in EU), also passed 3 CFA levels and CAIA L1. Also 4 years of exp working in IT company offering hedge fund & FO solutions, currently based in my home country in the Baltics. As few people here quite fed up with my job and want to move to investment analysis. Thus looking for a program that would add value to my current background. LBS is currently the first option, but may be smth else (ie Oxbridge in UK, etc)? Or may be outside UK, could anyone comment on the schools below? - University of Lausanne (their program in Financial Engineering and Risk is both CFA and CAIA academic partner) - EDHEC business school (positions itself as number one financial education in France) - Duisenberg school in Finance PS not considering proper MBA at the mo because of its cost I would really appreciate any advice from you. Cheers
The FT rankings are probably your best starting point. If you are doing a plain vanilla masters in finance, then I think pretty much every top university in Europe offers one at this stage. If you want to get more specialised, then you might want to look at Cass.
Which baltic country? I need some tips!
Thanks Carson. Actually I’m a bit concerned if FT European business school raiting are always good proxy for choosing Master in Finance program because - few famous schools like Oxford Said and Cambridge Judge have quite low ranikings (19th and 39th respectively) - some schools not widely popular (IMO - please correct if I’m wrong) in financial education are ranked very high (ie Rotterdam the 7th or Vlerick the 10th) Another concern is that not any Master in Finance would add considerable weight to me considering CFA & CAIA involvement. Another preference is the program with focus on Asset Management, desireably in Alternative Investments.
transferpricingCFA, it doesn’t really amtter which! 
Suffice it to say it is hardly hit by the crisis and I will definitely need to move to UK or perhaps Switzerland for future employment.
The best piece of advice one could give you is to actually study in the country where you’re planning on working. If Switzerland, HEC Lausanne is great, as is Sankt Gallen. Also, Edhec is especially good in Risk Management, not so much finance in general. Keep also in mind that reputation is supremely important in France. Edhec is the 5th best business school, so I would advise going to HEC, Essec, or ESCP instead. ESCP has a one-year Master Finance between London and Paris if my memory serves me well. Obviously, the main pb you’ll have with French schools is whether the programmes are taught in English. Italy : SDA Bocconi is your best bet. Impressive reputation in Italy, very good in Europe. But the programme is not necessarily great. Netherlands : RSM has a decent financial engineering programme, I think. Other than that, London is your best bet. Plenty of choice there. Cass BS, Tanaka BS for instance.
LIV Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks Carson. Actually I’m a bit concerned if FT > European business school raiting are always good > proxy for choosing Master in Finance program > because > > - few famous schools like Oxford Said and > Cambridge Judge have quite low ranikings (19th and > 39th respectively) > - some schools not widely popular (IMO - please > correct if I’m wrong) in financial education are > ranked very high (ie Rotterdam the 7th or Vlerick > the 10th) > > Another concern is that not any Master in Finance > would add considerable weight to me considering > CFA & CAIA involvement. Another preference is the > program with focus on Asset Management, desireably > in Alternative Investments. I personally think those FT rankings are rubbish. But that’s just me.
Are you really convinced that adding a master in Finance will really help you? In fact you already have all CFA levels, starting the CAIA…such a profile might already been quite interesting. I think that what you have which will have more added value will be to apply to many junior position in the field you want to go - there will be a better reward than spending some more study time. You will add an education line to your cv but with no additional experience. E.g. the program at Vlerick won’t help you - it will be a waste of time for you! Maybe something provided at HEC-Lausanne is a master clearly oriented in commodities (for ex.) but something general won’t help. Just my 2ct. Paul
Pauluss, thanks for your comment. Indeed, I am not 100% convinced that Master will help me a lot. The problem is that as of now I find it almost impossible to get a job in the area of interest even with 3 CFA levels and 1 of CAIA. Sometimes I have a feeling that the resumes are just sent to the black hole… but may be it is because I am based in the Baltics and not in UK.
MBA?
Moving won’t certainly hurt. Once done you will be able to 1) say that you are already in the country where you are looking (might be easier) 2) network and therefore go through (or even avoid) the harsh HR selection… Personally I am not sure that the MBA will help, except for the network part - cost is really high and helpful to switch career - Edit: if you are in a market where there is few opportunities and you do not have experience (and apparently in a shaky economy for the moment) I’ll select other people more experienced (because no time to train and highly risky because you have to do more with less resources leading to increasing risk)
LIV Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks Carson. Actually I’m a bit concerned if FT > European business school raiting are always good > proxy for choosing Master in Finance program > because > > - few famous schools like Oxford Said and > Cambridge Judge have quite low ranikings (19th and > 39th respectively) > - some schools not widely popular (IMO - please > correct if I’m wrong) in financial education are > ranked very high (ie Rotterdam the 7th or Vlerick > the 10th) > > Another concern is that not any Master in Finance > would add considerable weight to me considering > CFA & CAIA involvement. Another preference is the > program with focus on Asset Management, desireably > in Alternative Investments. I don’t know how the FT ratings are compiled and don’t really have an opinion on whether they are any good, but don’t assume that Oxbridge are going to be good schools for Finance. Ten years ago they had minimal postgrad finance options. Maths and Economics are long established disciplines at the traditional universities but Finance is not. Lancaster, Warwick, Cranfield, Cass and other colleges may be better options for you if you are looking at colleges in England.
Carson, and what about LBS? Or is considered too hard to get in; or perhaps too expensive (value for money)?
LBS has got a great reputation but is serious $$. Although so are a lot of the other colleges mentioned. Someone else here might have a better idea as to how competitive the admissions process is. Probably a good starting point is to pick your country as some have suggested and then take a look at the courses on offer in the major colleges there. Do you do much programming in your job? Maybe a masters in financial maths/engineering would be a good fit for you. You can combine your economics/finance education background with your IT work experience. Will a straight up masters in Finance cover anything you have already learned in a undergrad economics degree and CFA 1-3?
That’s the point, I doubt any Master in Finance would cover much more than my Bc in Economics, CFA and CAIA. The purpose of doing it is to break into asset management as it is not a secret that for junior positions companies prefer hiring from top schools. Not sure if I want to get smth very technical like financial maths, as I see myself more like a portfolio manager one day; rather than algo quant.
Btw, anyone has opinion on Stockholm School of Economics with their Master in Finance + CEMS program? Is it recognized in financial industry, or perhaps more in management consulting?
Pauluss Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are you really convinced that adding a master in > Finance will really help you? > > In fact you already have all CFA levels, starting > the CAIA…such a profile might already been quite > interesting. > > I think that what you have which will have more > added value will be to apply to many junior > position in the field you want to go - there will > be a better reward than spending some more study > time. > I totally agree with this. The clock is always running against you. The older you get, the harder and harder it gets to break into the industry. Even with a MS in finance, you’ll come out, and get slaughtered by the top MBA school grads, AND people with a MS finance with relevant experience. Your real shot at a 2nd chance is to take the leap and get into a top MBA school in the country you want to build a career in. Yes there are jobs that want a higher level education like quants (phd), but visit the quant forums, and those opportunities are disappearing. You only need a couple of those guys at each firm, and everyone’s trying to squeeze the last dollar using ultra fast computers, the trade is done.
LIV Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Btw, anyone has opinion on Stockholm School of > Economics with their Master in Finance + CEMS > program? Is it recognized in financial industry, > or perhaps more in management consulting? Yes, I think you should check it out.
What do you guys think about the MSF’s in Spain? Mainly IE Business School and ESADE. I have them as my alternatives to Tier 2 US MSF’s.
luisg99, IMO a bit expensive… also are you sure you want to stay at Spain afterwards? I heard job market there is quite sh*ty