HKUST MSc. Investment Management or LBS Masters in Management
Hey guys! I hope you are all okay. I need your guys opinion on which school and program to choose!
Thank you guys in advance.
Now I am a senior student in BSc. Industrial Engineering program at the best university in Turkey and I expect to graduate in June, 2014. Also, I am a part-time analyst at a global Private Equity firm. I have a summer internship experiences at an M&A house and at one of Big Four's audit department. I discovered that fund management (venture capital, hedge fund, private equity) is a topic of deep interest for me. And in future I want to be a thoroughly competent professional in fund management.
I believe living in one of Financial centers of the world (Specifically: London, New York or Hong Kong) will help me reach my full potential. This is my main reason for applying for an MSc. degree now rather than an MBA later in my career. I want to increase my chances to find a job abroad in financial markets at this point of my career by studying at a top university abroad.
Thus, considering these two factors, I have applied for Master's degree programs at top schools and I am having a difficult time choosing one among them. My shortlist among the other offers I have received is,
- London Business School - Masters in Management
- Warwick Business School - MSc. Business (Finance&Accounting)
- Hong Kong UST Business School - MSc. Investment Management
Although Warwick has a high reputation, the program is not pure Finance and it is not located in a financial center. Hence, currently I am in between London Business School and Hong Kong UST. To be honest, London Business School's reputation is more appealing to me rather than the program it offers. Although I can choose 2 finance electives, it is still a Management degree. And also, since the market is calm in Europe, my chances in staying in London seem low. On the other hand, with the increasing market size in Asia, Hong Kong may offer me a lot more than London and also the program HKUST offers is pure finance. Both programs last one year but HKUST provides an optional summer internship period which I believe is a really important factor. Thus, I am more inclined to accept HKUST's offer these days.
Am I thinking in a wrong way ? Should I just accept LBS' or Warwick's offer because they have a higher reputation than HKUST ? And also how would a person with a Investment Management degree from HKUST stand compared to a Management degree from LBS in an employer's perspective ? What are my chances in staying in Hong Kong or London after the completion of my degree? And also, lets say I chose HKUST, what are my chances in moving to London or New York just after the completion of my degree ?
It turned out to be a long post, which I tried to avoid actually :) but I wanted to explain everything in my mind. I hope you would find time to read it and reply me back.
Do you speak any Asian languages?
No, I dont
Then I wouldn't see a lot of chances to find a permanent position in the APAC region even though Hongkong is of course an international city.
While the market in Europe is calm, the financial sector is still doing okay-ish and there are still many positions being filled. If you're okay with starting at a smaller fund, there should even be chances to start in PE straight out of uni due to your background but these won't be the known international players. If you want to work for a megafund it's almost inevitable to go through banking and both Warwick and LBS will give you a good chance. LBS has the better reputation but probably Warwick classes will be more useful to you since you don't have a business background except for internships. Taking all of this into account I'd actually recommend Warwick for your specific case (although I think LBS is a fantastic school).
It is very tough to get entry level jobs in HK without knowing any local languages. I would go with LBS even if you want to work in Asia. It has a great alumni network in Asia and should be pretty good brand name have especially that you don't have any now (no offence to your current college).
No offence taken, I am looking for a brand name to put on my CV of course :). The only thing that worries about LBS is that not getting a job in London after graduation and limiting myself in financial markets. for example, What do you see my chances landing a trading job right after LBS' management degree ?
Well you studied or studying engg so I guess there should be a few firms hiring traders and they might consider you. I am not very well verse in the UK market. Why didn't you apply to more quantitative degrees given that you want to be in S&T and have an engg undergrad?
Are you looking for S&T and then more into a quant role at a HF or a PE/VC career? Of course it's not always that clear cut and you can go theoretically from a management degree to S&T or from a more quantitative degree to an M&A role but I'm getting some mixed signals here...
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