Does an MBA in Finance excite your synapses?


According to Albert Einstein, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it… he who doesn’t… pays it.” If things like compound interest and accelerator theory excite your synapses, then you might be a good candidate for an MBA in Finance.

The degree is becoming increasingly popular—with hundreds of thousands of MBA students graduating at thousands of institutions worldwide each year—and with good reason. An MBA degree in Finance can expand your career options by preparing you with the techniques and frameworks you’ll need to assess projects, companies and securities, and make effective investment and risk-management decisions. As an MBA Finance graduate, you will have insight into how global market dynamics impact financial decision-making for businesses, and explore the underlying financial decision-making process of individual consumers.

If your synapses haven’t yet lit up like a New Year fireworks display, here are the benefits you’re likely to enjoy after achieving an MBA in Finance.



Increased earning capacity

The reason this benefit is at the top of the MBA benefits list, is because it’s possibly the strongest argument for investing in an MBA Finance education. The Forte Foundation estimates that MBA graduates can expect pay increases between 35 and 40% of their pre-MBA salary after graduation, 55 to 65% pay gains within five years of graduation, and lifetime earnings of over $3 million.

A great starting point for a career in finance

Still undecided about whether to undertake a degree in business, accounting or management? One very good reason to major in finance is that you’ll be able to narrow your focus while still exploring a sector that offers a plethora of opportunities—an MBA in finance equips you for a career in financial services across a variety of businesses, as well as in the banking and consultancy sectors.

US salary data collected by PayScale indicates that finance careers tend to be slightly more lucrative than most accountancy roles. The focus of finance careers could be the reason—the management of current and future figures of a business or organization, while accounting records past and present income and expenditure. It is typically the responsibility of the finance manager to predict and analyze projected profit and growth, oversee monetary resources, possibly source external funding and finesse accounting statistics and reports.

Career prospects

The MBA Finance degree enjoys a bright reputation due to the trifecta of intellectual application, and the considerable time and financial commitments demanded of successful graduates. The message this sends to prospective employers is that those who travel the MBA route are willing to invest considerable resources in their personal and professional growth.

The first year foundational education of an MBA covers a broad spectrum of business-related topics like statistics, leadership, economics, communication, strategy and entrepreneurship. The second year generally focuses on a specialization, which means that graduates are ready to be employed by financial institutions, in management positions in other fields, or as founders of startups.

The MBA’s reputation as a badge of excellence is thanks in part to the program’s melding of hard and soft skills that add right-brain creativity to left-brain logic. This comes in handy as finance professionals are expected to drive tangible business outcomes above and beyond the conventional paradigm of operational excellence, and control and compliance. This demands an understanding and appreciation of today’s business reality of cross-functional interdependencies, collaboration across time zones, and dynamic resource allocation in complex economic and financial environments.

Study flexibility

Candidates can earn their MBA, part-time or full-time. The full-time MBA in Finance is popular with professionals who have worked for a few years and see a strong need to take time off to equip themselves with the managerial knowledge and skills needed to take their career to the next level.

Part-time MBA programs come in two forms. Firstly, as an executive MBA (EMBA) designed for those with experience in executive or leadership roles, who are typically 32 to 42 years of age or, secondly, as a part-time MBA for employees who work full-time and are not yet in leadership positions, and are better suited to attending lectures after work, in the evenings or on weekends. These candidates are usually 24 to 35 years old.

Enhanced employee reputation

It’s a fact that MBAs from certain schools are more valuable in the eyes of recruiters than MBAs from others.

Employee reputation is based on how well a university prepares its students for the employment market. The QS Employer Survey (the biggest in the world) measures employee reputation using more than 30,000 responses from employers who are asked where they source the most competent, innovative and effective graduates. The Global MBA offered by ESSEC Business School in France, for example, is ranked seventh in Europe for employability.

So, before setting out on your MBA journey, make sure that the school you choose gives you the full benefit not only of a top notch education, but a solid post-MBA employee reputation.

Professional network

If the thought of achieving an MBA in Finance ignites your imagination, then the benefits to your post-MBA career of building a professional network while studying will be nothing short of electrifying.

Using ESSEC Business School as our example, its current network of more than 50,000 alumni, earns it the reputation of being one of the most influential business institutions in France—many of its former students have reached top positions in the business world, including within Fortune 500 companies.

ESSEC also offers a campus in Singapore for students with a special interest in Asia’s economy (home to 60% of the world’s population). Its campus, located in one-north, is a strategic grouping of universities (such as the National University of Singapore), incubators (such as Block 71) and high-tech companies. This gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in real-world projects and business situations through field trips and company visits, which provide you with the chance to connect with industry leaders and those of like mind.

As Einstein said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” This sums up the essence and excitement of earning an MBA degree in finance that will take you as far as your imagination lets you.

If the thought of the benefits of an MBA in Finance inspires you, download our brochure to learn more about making your MBA Finance dreams a reality.

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