Postgraduate (MSc, MA, MBA, and PhD) Programs in Finance

The world of modern finance is quite unlike what came before it. Developments in financial theory – embodied in the capital asset-pricing model, for instance – have changed how assets are valued, firms are structured, and many other elements. Firms in what used to be seen as disparate industries – commercial banking, investment banking, insurance, real estate/property, and so on – have ripped pages from one another’s books, only to end up competing with one another. Venerable financial institutions have been bought, merged, sold and bankrupted.

And yet, for all of this change, much remains the same. There are periodic meltdowns, whether from a housing-driven credit crisis or an investment firm of Nobel Prize winners being over-confident in their ability to escape the effects of a downturn. People shout about the immense salaries and bonuses paid to the high-flyers in the industry.

But what remains critically important is that these developments, whether new or repetitious, take place against the remarkable growth of the sector. Finance continues to grow in importance. More and more people are employed to help firms and individuals (and governments and non-profits/not-for-profits) meet their various financial needs and goals, whether to raise capital for a new venture, reduce the riskiness of their personal investments, or speculate on what might prove to be the next big thing in the markets.

Financial trends

Numerous substantial trends continue to drive this field, including:

• Increases in computing power
• Shift to electronic stock exchanges
• Consolidation of stock exchanges
• New techniques for distributing risk
• Increasing globalisation
• Deregulation (and re-regulation) of various markets
• Efforts to limit systemic risk
• Development of new financial products
• Shift in wealth to developing countries
• Demand for capital from new participants in the global marketplace

Find postgraduate programs in FINANCE

Choosing a masters degree in finance

Subject guide to Finance courses Most masters programs in finance are one year long. Many, such as that at London Business School, offer part-time options, while The Open University Business School offers excellent distance-learning opportunities.

Unsurprisingly, given the concentration of modern financial activities in London and New York, many of the leading programs are in the UK and US. Even those courses elsewhere in the world that were once taught largely or partially in languages other than English are switching their courses to English because the international language of finance is definitively English.

There are several fundamental divides in finance programs. Some are meant as conversion courses for those without substantial prior preparation for the field. These tend not to be found at the world’s leading universities, so the combination of a lack of sophisticated subject matter and less-than-highly-prestigious universities means that their graduates are unable to get jobs in the fanciest parts of the finance world.

Some programs, usually with titles such as ‘financial engineering’, are extremely mathematical in nature and geared to producing ‘quants’ – the financial engineers meant to design new derivatives and other immensely complicated products for Wall Street and the City (of London) to sell. These programs are generally found at highly prestigious universities (including Cambridge, Princeton, Stanford, etc). Competition to get into them is fierce. Predictably, their graduates command high salaries from the leading finance firms in the world.

Other programs continue to focus on turning out traditional financial analysts, corporate finance specialists, and the like. These courses can be found at a full range of universities (except in the United States, where elite universities offer few masters degrees in finance except of the financial engineering variety). Some of these are geared to a specific industry, such as insurance, healthcare, and the like. Therefore, the first step in choosing a postgraduate finance program is deciding the career path you intend to pursue.

Many finance programs require prior coursework in calculus, statistics, economics (especially microeconomics), financial accounting, and perhaps managerial finance. Highly quantitative programs, such as those at the University of Cambridge (UK), UCLA (US), and HEC (France), accept few students who have done their undergraduate studies in a field outside of mathematics, physics, or engineering – ie highly quantitative first degrees. Their formal prerequisites include coursework in probability and calculus-based statistics, microeconomics, and calculus (through multivariable calculus, at a minimum). Although not required, these programs encourage students to take courses in linear algebra and differential equations, and computer programming, plus acquire a working knowledge of a statistical/econometric software package such as SAS or Stata.

Many programs also look for:

• Modelling experience
• Computer-programming ability (perhaps including a working knowledge of a statistical/econometric software package such as SAS or Stat)
• General quantitative and analytical skills.

Masters programs in FinTech (Financial Technology) are also ncreasingly popular – read our article on this field of study.

Subject guide to Finance courses

MBA in finance

An MBA in Finance will usually be offered as a one-year full-time program – the structure of which will be based on a selection of compulsory modules – with an additional selection of optional finance-based modules to choose from.

The core subjects of the MBA program will include:

The finance-based electives are likely to include evergreen focuses on things like:

Corporate governance
Derivatives
Financial risk management
Mergers and acquisitions
Quantitative methods.

Coventry University offers an MBA in Finance that can be studied full time on campus. Meanwhile, Bangor University offers a great MBA program specialising in Finance. The Western State University in California offers an MBA program which covers finance as one of its key study areas – this is a great option for those who want to study in the United States.

PhD in finance

Studying a PhD in Finance will give students the chance to undertake original research into this fascinating area of study.

The University of Manchester offers a PhD in Accounting and Finance – on this PhD program students will learn these core themes:

Asset pricing
Auditing and accountability
Corporate finance and corporate governance
Corporate disclosure and capital markets accounting
Management accounting and information systems

London School of Economics and Political Science’s PhD in Finance, is one of the largest finance departments in the world and has many different areas of focus for students. Students can also choose to study it as an MRes.

Career opportunities in finance

The world of finance is infinitely varied. Jobs are to be found not just at financial services firms, such as commercial or investment banks, but also at operating companies. One way to look at finance careers is in terms of their subject focus rather than employer type:

• Corporate finance emphasis: typical jobs would involve managing a firm’s investments, determining the optimal allocation of a firm’s assets, evaluating how best the firm can finance its growth, and analysing potential mergers and acquisitions.
• Investment and portfolio management emphasis: typical jobs would involve choosing debt or equities in which to invest, for private investors, firms, and financial institutions.
• Risk management emphasis: typical jobs would involve using highly quantitative techniques to model potential business and investment risks in order to limit such risks – or make the best of them.

(And, of course, this list could be multiplied to include numerous additional emphases.)

Typical job titles in finance

• Asset management: buy-side research analyst, sell-side research analyst, portfolio manager, private banker, economist.
• Commercial banking: loan officer, trust officer, private banker, economist.
• Corporate finance: assistant treasurer, foreign exchange analyst, business development associate, internal auditor, financial analyst, capital budgeting specialist.
• Investment banking: stockbroker, trader, equity analyst, fixed income analyst, merger and acquisition associate, corporate finance (leveraged finance) associate, economist.
• Insurance: risk manager, underwriter, broker, actuary, economist.
• Real estate/property: broker, analyst, economist.
• Venture capital: analyst.