What is the best Finance Master's programme to get placement in London IB?
Hello everyone,
I have seen this similar question posed on WSO, but I am looking for some very recent insights. I am currently preparing for my Masters, with the aim of getting into IB in London. Based on insights from others and info on WSO, my top four picks are as follows:
- LBS Financial Analysis
- LSE Finance
- Oxford Financial Economics
- HEC Paris International Finance
Before going into the process, I would like to set an order of preference for myself, but I am struggling as I feel like each one of these programmes have their own strenghts and weaknesses. Which one do you think could best serve my medium term goal of getting an IB job, preferably at a BB or an EB bank in London? Any current insights and information are welcome.
Little bit about myself: currently finishing my BA in Finance and Accounting at a Hungarian target school, just started a 3-month internship at an MBB (consulting role, not support analyst), before that I was doing valuation at a Big 4. I'm expected to graduate with a GPA of 4.98 on a scale of 1 to 5, summa cum laude.
Looking forward to your suggestions!
Oxford > LSE/LBS > HEC if you want to split hairs, but they are all tremendous programs
LBS/LSE placement is way better than Ox. Oxford MFE isn't nearly as career focused and is not looked on as favorably as the undergrad in recruiting.
This is pretty inaccurate. The program is more selective by a decent margin than the others (GMAT/GPA/UG Institution), and don't think it is discounted because it is a PG program, or more discounted than LSE/LBS for the same reasons. Placement seems just fine, not sure why you claim LSE/LBS are way better. The ranking above used to be the consensus on this forum before LBS brigading, and want to repeat again this is splitting hair at this point
Yes, Oxford is more selective academically, but beyond a certain point, academics add very little value for landing a job. The academic criteria for LSE/LBS are beyond that point. From there on, what should matter most is what resources each programme provides for job placement. (i.e career support center, job fairs, on campus recruiting, etc). I wouldn't say that Oxford placement is worse than LSE, but it is definitely behind LBS.
I agree. If you are good enough to get all these offers, then the IB roles are well within your reach. For Uk schools, it’s about living in London vs studying at a mythical institution. If London is your choice, simply decide if you like red or blue more
If you want to work after masters, anyone but prob LBS would be more helpful. If you want the option to pursue academia, LSE/Oxford. If you want to get into a more quant role, Oxford
LBS would be the best option imo. It's a one year programme but they have an optional additional term. This allows students to pass as penultimate year students, and hence have more chances to land a SA (as some banks shun from final year students) which is the safest option to break into IB. Also heard that its academic workload is very light.
LSE would be my second choice, great brand and name. However, as some banks have quotas for each university, the MSc students would have it harder as they would be competing against the BSc students. This is not the case for Lbs, as it does not have undergrauate programmes (tho the MFA class is bigger than LSE MFin)
How does Bocconi stack up against this list?
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