Pursuing a career in finance has never made more sense than it does at this very moment in time. Not only will the training and experience that comes with the discipline put you in control of your own personal finances, it will also prepare you to navigate the harsh financial realities of today’s economic climate.
Whether your aim is to become a Chief Financial Officer, a Treasurer, a Director of Finance, a Corporate Controller, a Director of Finance or Accounting, or a tax director or manager, a Masters of Finance — also known as an MFIN — will be the first crucial step in your educational trajectory.
For most graduate students in finance, you won’t be diving in straight out of your bachelor studies; instead, you will likely already be working, and looking to upgrade your theoretical knowledge base by pursuing a part-time Masters in Finance. According to a study conducted by Futuretrack which monitored the progress of more than 50,000 students who entered higher education in 2006, advantages to part time study included improvements to personal development (reported by 81 per cent), self-confidence (reported by 70 per cent), and greater levels of happiness (reported by 55 per cent).
The study is based on interviews with 261 students in 2010-11, three years after they started their degrees, and it reports that half of the students said they were offered more prestige and responsibilities at their firms, while 29 per cent of students were given a pay increase, and 28 per cent a promotion. As part of the study, Jane Artess, director of research at HECSU, said the latest study confirmed the importance of part-time study, citing it as “a very efficient way of raising and updating the skills of the existing workforce.”
In order to make the most of out of your graduate degree in finance, you need to team up with the right university. The MFIN program at Wilfrid Laurier University is one of the most respected financial graduate programs in the country. Laurier’s Master of Finance has been accepted into the prestigious CFA Institute University Recognition Program — a status which in only granted to educational institutions whose degree programs meet and incorporate at least 70 percent of the CBOK — or CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge — which gives students a firm foundation in the CBOK and places them in a position to sit for the CFA examination.
Laurier’s graduates find executive positions at major pension funds, investment banks, insurance companies, and financial service consulting firms thanks in no small part to the core of the Laurier education platform — a foundational curriculum that focuses on advanced corporate finance, investment management, fixed income analysis, and econometrics for finance.
Of course, where you study has as much to do with what you study, and this is why Wilfrid Laurier University offers a part-time study option at their prestigious Toronto campus. This unique option allows students to focus on their degree, while also offering them the chance to work on Bay Street — Canada’s financial capital.
The Toronto Stock exchange — or TSX — has the largest number of security listings of any exchange in North America, and is the second biggest securities player world-wide. It is also the eighth largest exchange in the world, based on market capitalization metrics — so why wouldn’t you want to study steps away from the action?
Just take it from Hamir Patel, a Laurier alum who now works as a VP of Equity Research at RBC. He explains that he “was attracted to Laurier’s MFIN program due to its combination of rigorous PhD courses (often taught by professors who have published in top finance journals) and MBA finance courses tailored for future practitioners.”
This dual focus on the theoretical and the practical positions graduates to hit the ground running after graduation and land the perfect job. A focus on co-op placement during one’s studies further emphasizes the “sell-side” of the financial discipline and guarantees a well-balanced and fully integrated graduate education.
If you are considering attending graduate school in finance, remember that pursuing an MFIN part time in downtown Toronto uniquely places you at the heart of Canada’s financial sector. Bay Street is still regarded as the most prestigious address in Canada to put on your business card — the place where the big players in Canadian finance still make most of their money. If you’re thinking of acquiring an MFIN and upgrading your profile in finance, there truly is no better place to be.
