Throughout my teaching career spanning around four decades as a professor of Finance, I have the pleasure of interacting with young talent who enter the corporate industry from universities. While communicating with these individuals, I come across three major yet common hesitations including:
- Fear that their respective coursework does not build a strong foundation of finance practice, resulting in low confidence in job interviews.
- Even the confident students feel melancholy assuming the failure to shine apart in the cutting-edge competition.
- The pesky dilemma of considering an MBA now
In response to the last question, aspirants should prudently consider the recent amendments in this dynamically evolving market. The MBA degree is on the urge of declination today as many programs are crashing, tuitions are up, a massive drop in applications, and the most significant point is that the value of a generalist business degree is being questioned and demands more focused curricula.
A Dean from a leading business school stated,”10 years beck, MBA was recognized as the most rewarding and relevant option to pursue, however, by the time, the market has drastically changed and like any business, business schools too, need to align their offerings to fulfill the demands of their students.” I would like to share an experience from my journey at the Isenberg School of Management, where I teach. The school is shortly going to launch the first-ever Master’s Degree in Alternative Investments. Now, before the question of considering this course tickle your mind, my sincere advice would be to enroll for any top 25 global MBA program but consider other options as well rather than just landing in the elite ones.
As the university degree programs ecosystem has shifted its focus, aspirants have fortunately new and advanced choice of courses in finance to enhance their human capital. Academic courses these days are exclusively designed to meet millennials expectations – short duration, relevant information, interactive study material, inexpensive fees and most importantly to add values to their resume.
Professional designations are usually formalized in a long-distance education layout strategically classified into learning objectives and modules. Since learning is aligned to the contemporary context in the selected domain; apprentices successfully hone their theoretical and practical knowledge to give a spectacular performance at the job. The program generally demands the proof of your knowledge through a series of exams. Individuals with a degree in finance usually find that the knowledge attained through the course induces dynamics to the learning experience and offer acumens to follow progressive career paths.
What would be the best designations to pursue? Know about it, Google search ‘Best professional finance designations’ and find the results. According to the Corporate Finance Institute below mentioned names are the top designations:
- CFA: The Chartered Financial Analyst designation offers the CFA Charter to applicants who clear three levels of exams and hone the requisite professional skills. The curriculum is framed on the CFA Institute Body of Knowledge including traditional finance domains like equity and fixed income security analysis, portfolio theory, financial analysis, and professional standards and ethics. It takes as less as 18 months to complete the examination with the typical contender taking four years at an average total cost of about $3,000. This designation has earned stellar eminence in India with a record of having 22,000 candidates who registered for exams in June 2018.
- ICAI: The Chartered Accountant of India designation is a degree presented to eligible accountants in India. The ICAI curriculum comprises of subjects including law, qualitative aptitude, all fields of accounting, and economics. It has three levels of examination (entrance, intermediate and final) that can be completed in a minimum time frame of four years. However, several applicants spend more time with an estimated cost of about $600. The ICAI is the topmost designations in India having 250,000 memberships which are even categories into practicing and non-practicing CAs.
- CFP: The Certified Financial Planning designation is awarded to candidates who hold a bachelor’s degree in financial planning from an accredited university. It witnesses wide curriculum coverage like an investment, estate, insurance, retirement planning, and tax. This designation needs all applicants to pass one exam costing about $1,000 as well as requires three-year work experience in India. The CFP has less than 100,000 global memberships.
- FRM: The Financial Risk Management designation is awarded to the aspirants by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). These aspirants must have successfully passed a two-level exam and work experience in risk management. The designation follows prime tactical disciplines of risk management consisting models, risk management and quantitative analysis in domains of credit, measurement risk, market, and operations. There are around 30,000 certified FRMs across the globe at a cost of about $1,500.
- FMVA: The Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst designation program proffers provides solicitations of financial management, modeling skills, accounting, and valuation. Successful completion of the course and valid proficiency of the subjects through course material, assessments and quizzes is a mandate. It costs nominal charges of about $750.
- CAIA: The CAIA Association is internationally acknowledged as the credential for globally recognized as the credential for experts managing, distributing, analyzing and regulating alternative investments, demarcated through various asset classes delivered by private equity investments opportunities and hedge fund trading strategies. Such opportunities include real assets like infrastructure, possessions spanning the full range of derivative products, venture capital, and distress debt. These asset classes primarily inhabit the north-east belt of the risk premium curve, attracting great net worth investors out-looking both return enhancement and diversification as well. Clearing two levels of exams, costing about $2,500 is mandatory for CAIA charter holders. Also, candidates require a bachelor’s degree and must have one-year relevant work experience. Incepted in 2003, this new designation has gained significant memberships of over 10,000 Charterholders globally in a short time. The relevance of the CAIA designation in India is evolving at an accelerated pace due to the consistent growth in the Indian Capital market while introducing alternative investment products in the investment landscape of India.
