Rate these business schools for Master's in Finance.
I am applying to the following schools...
Stockholm School of Economics
London School of Economics
Boston University Master's in Investment Management
Boston College
NYU - global Master's in Finance with HKUST
University of Edinburgh
Oxford
London Business School
International University of Monaco - Master's in Hedge Funds
I want to go into a hedge fund so I am looking for finance programs that are geared towards investment management but I couldn't find many.... the only specialized programs I found were BU and Monaco University (Master's in Hedge Funds).
Is an economics degree worth more than a finance degree?






Also, based on my experience
Also, based on my experience even though American universities are well known, it seems like European universities are much more challenging.... would it be more advantageous to be an American that attends a European university? How do American employers view this? It seems that not many Americans attend European universities and helps differentiate the candidate by broadening their world views? Any general thoughts on this matter?
From a European perspective
From a European perspective start by getting rid of Edinburgh and Monaco from that list. They are non-targets.
Also, doing a "Master in Hedge Funds" is rather absurd. Do a proper master in finance and you can always gear it to the hedge fund industry requirements through the programme electives.
What program in LBS? if MBA,
What program in LBS? if MBA, id go with that one.
Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards. - Tacitus
Dr. Nick Riviera: Hey, don't worry. You don't have to make up stories here. Save that for court!
Zero chance getting into a HF
Zero chance getting into a HF without experience.
MSF Website
MACC Website
MSF Twitter
ANT wrote: Zero chance
Zero chance getting into a HF without experience.
Largely agree, but some of the really big funds will hire a handful of MFEs straight out of school to work in analytics/TA roles. IE: Citadel's FTAP program.
In terms of US name recognition, I'd put the London Schools, Oxford, and Cambridge at the top of the list followed by NYU, then maybe Stockholm. After that, the options start to drop off. BC is a decent undergrad school, but it's not that strong in finance for grad students, IMHO.
If you're studying Financial Mathematics, specifically, NYU is considered very strong and probably deserves to be ranked #1. Otherwise, for a traditional finance degree, I am under the impression that the four UK schools are stronger, but will defer to ANT. (He is the expert on MSFs).
Work hard, play hard.
MFE will place into HF, MSF
MFE will place into HF, MSF will not unless you have experience or redic connections.
MSF Website
MACC Website
MSF Twitter
For Hedge Funds (Especially
For Hedge Funds (Especially UK) top choice goes to Cass Business School: MSc Investment Management.
They also offer MSc Finance, and MSc Quantitative Finance and Trading...
Beats LSE, Oxford, Warwick, Stockholm etc...
Perhaps in the UK. I work in
Perhaps in the UK. I work in a quantitative field in New York and recognize LSE, Oxford, and Cambridge- Cass rightly or wrongly does not have the same name recognition across the pond.
In any case, a CFA would serve OP well, too. Just recommend getting some experience working in sales, research, trading, risk management, or maybe PWM at a BB first. If you have something like that on your resume, you'll do a lot better getting recruited by hedge funds.
Work hard, play hard.
From a european perspective I
From a european perspective I would say go with one of the London/Oxbridge schools or SSE. Getting into SSE is quiet competitive but it would save you a lot of money and offers you the same chances for interviewing in London than the other schools do.
bocconi
bocconi
i have no direct knowledge of
i have no direct knowledge of the program you want to apply for. anyway my advice is not to apply at IUM monaco.
we (students) have been forwarded fraudulent job vacancies, for instance. I expected a better control about such a serious issue
concerning the academic environment I didn't know that making playlists on youtube was part of a postgraduate education....
youtube. com/playlist?list=PL2596C47DB9EA3B08
(there's a space after youtube)
I'm an alumni of the Masters
I'm an alumni of the Masters in Finance (International Wealth Management pathway) program in the International University of Monaco, class of 2011. I now work in PE (real estate) in NYC and I got the job through the college.
Some quick thoughts:
-It depends on what your target is. If you are looking to work for a hedge fund in Switzerland, Monaco or London, then Monaco is worth considering as you should get some access to these HF professionals, through the college or through your own networking in Monaco, which is a very small place.
-if you are only looking at the US, makes sense to do a course in NYU or equivalent
Pros:
-small class size (26 or so for my year)
-very diverse student base (which I loved and was definitely one of the highlights)
-fun part of the world to be in
-not too expensive (especially compared to US prices)
-Monaco is small and full of very wealthy people, so networking opportunities are there
Cons:
-some of the profs were more theory based, which irritated some people who wanted more profs with practical industry experience from a major financial center. I'm not up to date on the current Mfin profs but I believe there were changes since I left.
-I prefer to live in larger cities so Monaco seemed very small some of the time
-As far as I can see, the finance masters is not ranked internationally, yet the MBA is ranked. But the Mfin was clearly more rigorous than the MBA.
Pro/Con:
-The workload was overall very intense, especially in the first semester. Long nights were the norm. This was very challenging but also fun.
Overall:
It goes back to "it depends". Other posts in this forum will give better advice than me about how to get into hedge funds generally.
The program worked for me because my goals were accomplished through the college ( Masters and job in finance in NYC) and because it was a great experience. Will it work for you? Research more. Hopefully this post will help you with the decision.