Forum: School selection (2 Comments)

HKUST MSc.Investment Management or LBS Masters in Management ?

  • Posted by - brkyrdl - on 8 April 2014 - 1:48pm

    Hey guys! I hope you are all okay. I need your opinions on which school and program to choose!
    Thank you all 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 ?
    Also, recently I have heard that local language is strongly preferable in HK for investment banking jobs. Is this true?

    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.

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 8 April 2014 - 2:29pm

      Hi there,

      I think you have done a great job in reflecting your own profile and preferences so far; and you raised the key questions. Now it is key to get them answered. How can yo do this?

      I have outlined many tips on this in my ebook (particularly in the advanced chapters) already and you may want to look into it.

      But the most important answer is: Become more specific.

      • If you say, for instance, "because they have a higher reputation than HKUST", translate this into "reputation in the yes of whom?".
      • if you say "stand compared to a Management degree from LBS in an employer's perspective" translate this into "which employers' perspective".

      This specification is necessary since it may differ depending on which employer you speak about (or you want to work later on).

      The other important point that I outline in my ebook in more detail is: Where do you get this information from such that it is reliable. And the answer is: Triangulation. Particularly, you need to speak to employers, business schools, and alumni.

      I hope it helps for the moment and - again - please have a look into the second half of my ebook.

      best wishes
      Thomas

      By Thomas Graf