Universities pt 2
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None of these are great choices for your goals. ESG asset management will likely require a more specific MSc (see climate finance at Imperial or MSEE at Oxford) given the lack of environmental stuff in your UG courses (or hard STEM/econ), and getting UN jobs is basically impossible (save for ridiculous networking efforts) without two to three years work experience. UCL has the best general reputation (equal with Warwick in finance, but much more represented in the IGO space) but those courses aren't great. If you're happy to give up on asset management entirely, you could pick the humanitarian course at UCL, go work for a think tank/NGO for a few years, and then try to recruit for the UN/IGO - potentially after doing a master's at somewhere like the Graduate Institute in Geneva, College of Europe, Georgetown SFS, Yale Jackson, Columbia SIPA, Harvard Kennedy, etc. and to a lesser extent SOAS/LSE/Oxford Blavatnik (UK schools aren't great for IGO recruiting due to the distance from major IGO offices in Geneva/DC/NYC/Brussels). Beware, however, that being a junior in the UN is not a fun and frankly disillusioning job.
For private sector, Warwick Management probably keeps the most options open and if you do a much more targeted MSc afterwards you'll have a chance at ESG finance. However, you'll likely be up against it compared to people who had relevant UGs (especially those with STEM backgrounds who've then transitioned into ESG). I would really broaden your options too as these are very specific goals that are going to be an uphill struggle unless you're a top (both academically and ECs) student at a G5 university in a STEM/econ subject.
Thanks for the insight.
Same person as above - just updated my title. Yes, have done a lot of work with/around the UN and spent some time in sustainable private equity/debt in the growth capital space. Am going into an ESG/climate asset advisory role at MBB upon graduation from my MSc.
Your idea of going into the ESG asset space is achievable, but you really need a passion for it and a solid scientific understanding (one of the biggest problems in the space is investors and policymakers having no understanding of basic science, risk, and uncertainty...) if you're going for climate/health stuff rather than social stuff. I would heavily advise against pursuing the UN route as a fresh graduate unless you already have international development networks, or are very adept at networking and are fully committed to countless hours of UN-related unpaid volunteering in university. Saying this as someone who has had the joy of receiving multiple unpaid UN internship offers, has dedicated 2-3,000 hours of time over my UG + MSc to voluntary UN-related stuff, and know a lot of junior professionals there. You're much better coming in at a senior (10+ years) level, with the exception of possibly doing a young professional programme at an IGO following two to three years in the private sector before jumping to business school.
Once again, thank you so much for the reply. I think it's best if I go for Warwick and Durham.
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