Best Masters for Equity Research?

A friend of mine has a Bachelor in Accounting and Economics from a non target in the UK and passed CFA Level 1 and CFA Level 2. His aim is to apply for a Masters at my University (LSE) to improve his chances of gaining a position in equity research (sell side or buy side) in London.

Which one of the following programs would you recommend? MSC Economic History (£12k) or MSC Accounting and Finance (£25K)?

MSC in Economic History because Equity Research involves a lot of writing and reading, he told me. The cost is also quite high for the latter.

He already has good quantitative and financial modelling skills. Furthermore, he already has an Accounting background, henceforth he feels that he wouldn't learn a lot of new things through the MSC Accounting program, however he is slightly concerned since the Accounting Masters is seen as more prestigious in the City.

What are your thoughts? What MSC would prepare him better for Equity Research? Does it matter what course he studies as long as he graduates from LSE or will employers prefer an individual who studied a more prestigious course?

Thanks for all the help.

21 Comments
 
TheFamousTrader

Of course, plenty of MSF people in ER. Actually, in Europe quite a substantial bulk of people go on to complete MSF programmes before they start as Associates.

Well I'm an American, going to an American school. A school with a 690 average GMAT, tho heavily intl, I'll be one of the domestics. How does that affect my prospects? How can I start networking now? My prior finance experience was at an arcade, tho I know a lot about financial markets and stocks, which is how I got into it in the first place.
 

Would a 20-30 ranked MBA with CFA be better? Or would a MSF and CFA work just as well. Probably will be cheaper...

Any input would be appreciated.

 

MSF will get you into ER, but you might want to couple it with the CFA also. I know 2 people from last years MSF class in ER (well 3-4 if you consider valuation). This is from Villanova.

 
Best Response

For research at a BB, I still believe an MBA will open more doors in the long run.

For your current situation, I would recommend applying to both MSF and MBA programs. There's a decent chance that someone in the top 10-15 of MBA or MSF programs will take you if you can get a 700 on the GMATs and produce reasonably strong (but unequivocal) references.

It will get much more difficult to get into a BB if you are not going to a top 10-15 school. Villanova is a verygood program but it's sort of on the border-line for recruiting at many banks; NYU would make things significantly easier if you can come up with the extra 20-30 points on the GRE.

 

I go to Villanova and if you want BB equity research I would focus on getting an MBA. People I know doing ER are in middle market shops.

 

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