Masters in Finance Jobs
Masters in Finance Jobs
Because most Master in Finance degrees are in fact MBA degrees with a specialization in Finance, the career options are many and varied. Many of the MBA in Finance graduates from top tier schools gravitate to Wall Street and to investment banks in other locations because of the lucrative positions available at the entry level. There are also many graduates that land in consulting firms, where a Finance major is going to have valuable skills because of the education in finance technology that many veterans in the industry lack. There are multiple opportunities in consumer banking, in corporate management at the division level, and in investment counseling at many levels.
- Budget Analyst: A budget analyst in the public sector can wield great influence with elected officials who must make financial decisions of major proportions, and often have little or no financial education. Budget analysts that work for legislative bodies often are the professionals that actually assemble a state or county budget and take it through the approval process. And budget analysts in the corporate arena are often the staff members who make sure that there will be no issues for an auditor to challenge. In many businesses the principal budget analyst is in fact the director of accounting and finance.
- Insurance Underwriter: This is a risk analysis position that requires sophisticated analytical skills. Insurance underwriters that manage policies written for large firms are called upon to analyze millions of dollars of potential exposure for an insurance company asked to protect against loss or liability. The data an underwriter may be called upon to review might include actuarial studies, valuation reports, loss-control reports, company financial histories, acquisition models, and other data depending upon the type of policy being reviewed. An insurance risk analyst must have the ability to understand a wide variety of variables in order to come to a knowledgeable conclusion.
- Quantitative Analyst: In recent years the young Turks on Wall Street have been the quantitative analysts, or "quants," who conduct the computer analyses on projected investments in order to make a recommendation on a trade. Often these decisions must be made with great speed, so the quantitative analyst must first and foremost be an expert with the software programs and data being used for analytical purposes. Quants also are often the professionals that design derivative financial instruments, those bundles of mortgages or securities or bonds that are sold as single investment packages.
- Financial Manager: This is more of a career description than a job description; there are financial managers working as corporate department heads, as bank branch managers, and as contract managers in financial institutions that engage in market activity. A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) may in fact work as a financial manager; the CFA designation means a Master of Finance graduate has undergone additional training and rigorous testing. Employers who insist on a CFA designation for a new employee are likely looking for someone to take a management role.
- Risk Manager: A risk manager working in a corporate environment - as opposed to in an insurance company - is charged with analyzing such business activities as acquisitions, capital expenditures and business expansion. Increasingly a corporate risk manager is functioning in an international business environment. A professional in that position may be called upon to analyze acquisition of a foreign competitor, which would mean learning the tax exposure, valuation and economic condition of the property to be acquired. Risk management may also involve anticipating increased exposure on tax issues or possible exposure due to pending legislation. A financial risk manager provides a cost-benefit analysis that includes every potential loss or possible ill effect that a business decision may engender.
