MBA vs MFE/Mfin (1.5+ years of quant hedge fund work experience)
Hi everyone,
need suggestion - MFE vs MBA.
I am from India, I did my BTech from a top Engineering school in India (top 5 IIT ) ,and got a good opportunity to work as quantitative researcher in quant hedge fund ~ 2B AUM based out Stamford ,Connecticut to work for their newly started office in India. Its been 1.5 years .
While I like my work and everything and pay is good ,reasons I am looking for studying again is
1) I would like to go work in the US
2) Reduce my risk of exit opportunities, like lets say if i get fired or i want a change ,there are not many similar options here, so I would like to reduce this risk and gain access to more opportunities
Which might be better degree to do for long run? In short run I want to continue to work in buy side ,but not sure about long run. I am not sure MFE/MFin would be helpful if I want to change field later but on the another hand it looks like Many Buy side firms at least hedge funds don't seem to hire MBAs.
Some pros/cons of each according to me:
MFE:
Pros:
1) I think I will have good chance of admit to top school because of my work ex.
2)Also think can convert job interviews
3)only 1 year ,less cost + less opportunity cost
4)I get to learn finance topics properly
Con:
1)The whole degree as such wont help me because based on my experience finding new alphas(ideas) for trading are extremely hard and cannot be taught and comes overtime through experience.
MBA:
Pro:
1)will open opportunities in other fields or if i plan to return back will be helpful
2)Will be learning a lot of new things(at least I hope)
Cons:
1)3 years exp(but good exp) might be less for MBA ,also a no name hedge fund so no brand
2)Not much buy side hire(can anyone comment on this?)
3)Huge cost
I am really confused
Should I apply for MFin/MFE vs MBA ,potentially would like to start in 2022.
Thanks for reading!
It is important to note the degree you have is only good for a short time (your first job) and after that it is really based on your work experience on what you want to do.
Now if you know for sure that you want to pursue finance in a particular field - MFE is a better choice. But I do not know the suitability to your profile. At 3 years of exp during matriculation - most of the degrees in the US are pre-experience and you will be starting as an Analyst on your job. I know that LBS has a post-exp MFIN degree which can enable a lot of finance jobs in London (if you ever consider aside from USA).
MBA is a different ball game - and as you stated you are bit on the lower side for work experience. A lot of people that do MBA also end-up switching their goals as they network with the peers and travel, etc... If you attend a top B-school, no doubt you will be able to get the same job you want as you would get MFE - but as an associate role.
I have met a couple of people as well that eventually end up doing MBA after MFE/MFIN and some job exp - because they don't like what they do and want more exit ops. MBA gives them an opportunity to switch careers/location. It is definitely an expensive route.
If I was you - I recommend looking at what your long-term goals are. Which specific location you want to target. If Finance is something you want forever. Also your stats (MBA outside of T20-T25 is mehhh).
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