Curious as to people’s opinions as to whether or not there would be any value in obtaining a Master’s in Finance from an elite institution considering I already have an MBA from a top 25 and am a Level 3 Candidate. My rationale is as follows: I work on the buyside, but am fairly certian a layoff is coming. Although my MBA is from a strong institution, it’s not Wharton or Harvard. I’m thinking it might be a way to productively use 10 months of my time while riding out the job market downturn. Opinions are welcome, but please hold back the sarcasm.
Are you going to be able to get into a program at an “elite institution” for this fall at this late date? Seems doubtful to me. I’d look for another job and would think your chances of finding one would be decent. If you have no luck after a while you could consider other options. A master’s in finance wouldn’t seem to necessarily add much to what you’ve already got unless it were a heavily quantitative one (e.g. Berkley’s or Chicago’s) however.
MS in finance will just overlap what you did for the CFA.
It would be for next fall (2010) and it’s a 10 month program. The program I’m targeting is on the level of the programs you mentioned. It just seems as though the environment is getting more and more competitive, and every differentiator helps. I’m at a typical post MBA level, but have found it very difficult to advance in this environment.
mpnoonan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > MS in finance will just overlap what you did for > the CFA. Not really. I did both. Yeah, some stuff will overlap. But the MSF will go light years beyond the CFA in some areas.
budfox428, do you have some money saved? Consider entrepreneurial endeavors with your buy side experience?
That’s what I was thinking/hoping. The CFA is obviously a great program, but I did find areas I wish I could delve deeper into. That’s what I would be hoping to get out of MS, plus a strong buyside network at the institution I’m targeting. MBA is great too, but doesn’t dig deep enough into practical areas of the capital markets.
By Top 25 u mean u got an MBA from Top 20-25
Yes sir. My school was as high as, I think16 in BW, probably around 20 now.
It’s a solid school just not the likes of a top 10.
Collecting degrees is easy. You have an MBA and hold the CFA charter already so no one will question your academic ability. They might question your decision making ability if you decide to go for the MS (especially after the MBA). I think at this point in the game you need to differentiate yourself through your accomplishments in the professional realm, not the academic arena you have already conquered. I don’t think you will get that much marginal benefit from adding another diploma on the wall. If I were you I’d be networking like crazy and try to achieve some significant professional accomplishment in the near future. Just my two cents…
appreciate it. that’s what I’m weighing.
How soon is your potential layoff likely to happen? If it’s in the summer of 2010 that may be fine (assuming the degree is otherwise worth doing, which it may not be, as discussed above) but surely you can’t count on that. What are you going to do in the meantime if it happens sooner? Also, hopefully the 2010-2011 school year won’t still be a time for riding out the downturn, but rather participating in at least a recovery. I don’t think you should think about another degree as a response to a potential layoff, but rather decide whether it’s worth doing or not and go from there, including deciding when to do it.
I would go to HK to study Chinese for a year, besides there should be jobs there
buyicide Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > mpnoonan Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > MS in finance will just overlap what you did > for > > the CFA. > > > Not really. I did both. Yeah, some stuff will > overlap. But the MSF will go light years beyond > the CFA in some areas. buyicide, could you highlight some parts of MSF that isn’t overlapping with CBOK? I’m weighing my options between MBA and MSF/MS in Finance here.
Derivatives (CFA derivatives is a joke) Applied Investment Management Risk Management Valuation & Financial Statement Analysis (CFA teaches some picayune accounting concepts but just touches on actually valuing securities and studying financial statements) Let’s face it – the CFA is a pencil and calculator test. It’s inherently very limited. You touch on most financial concepts but go into detail on little except asset allocation and ethics. In an MS, you can pick the courses that interest you and go into great detail. BudFox: Although I’m happy with my decision to pursue the degree, I would strongly advise someone at the post-MBA level not to do an MSF. The program is meant to place people at junior levels. When you spend a large amount of money on tuition, you have to get a ROI from a career/salary prospect. It won’t happen for someone at the post-MBA level unless you go to Princeton or a great MFE. A great deal of your time will be devoted to a job search anyway. I would advise you focus on the job search. If you truly want to learn during your downtime, I would advise buying books on amazon.
budfox428 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Curious as to people’s opinions as to whether or > not there would be any value in obtaining a > Master’s in Finance from an elite institution > considering I already have an MBA from a top 25 > and am a Level 3 Candidate. My rationale is as > follows: I work on the buyside, but am fairly > certian a layoff is coming. Although my MBA is > from a strong institution, it’s not Wharton or > Harvard. I’m thinking it might be a way to > productively use 10 months of my time while riding > out the job market downturn. Opinions are > welcome, but please hold back the sarcasm. I’m not sure this is a good idea. Its just too much time away from work. I would think that CFA+MBA or CFA+MSF is sufficient. You should focus on job search. If you want to do something of some equivalence, try the CQF.
budfox428 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Curious as to people’s opinions as to whether or > not there would be any value in obtaining a > Master’s in Finance from an elite institution > considering I already have an MBA from a top 25 > and am a Level 3 Candidate. My rationale is as > follows: I work on the buyside, but am fairly > certian a layoff is coming. Although my MBA is > from a strong institution, it’s not Wharton or > Harvard. I’m thinking it might be a way to > productively use 10 months of my time while riding > out the job market downturn. Opinions are > welcome, but please hold back the sarcasm. I’m not sure this is a good idea. Its just too much time away from work. I would think that CFA+MBA or CFA+MSF is sufficient. You should focus on job search. If you want to do something of some equivalence, try the CQF.
Thanks for all the input. My main concern was how this would be viewed in employer’s eyes. The program I was thinking about pursuing was actually the MiF at London Business School. It is targeted at people with finance industry experience. Seems to be an extremely solid program. Starting salaries coming out are slightly higher than the avg. MBA salary coming out of the gates.
buyicide Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > mpnoonan Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > MS in finance will just overlap what you did > for > > the CFA. > > > Not really. I did both. Yeah, some stuff will > overlap. But the MSF will go light years beyond > the CFA in some areas. I did a MS in finance as well. It is overlap but more in depth.