What is an MBA in Finance?

An MBA in Finance prepares students for careers in accounting, financial planning, banking, corporate finance and other institutions in the financial sector.

What You Need to Study an MBA in Finance

Most MBA specializations will require a strong background in mathematics on top of the usual communication and managerial skills demanded by business schools.

Finance is an ever-popular discipline, so getting into a top school will also require a competitive GMAT score. Average scores for top business schools can exceed 700 (in North America in particular). Since finance programs are looking for the math-savvy, most schools are looking for quantitative section numbers in the 40-60 range.

MBA in Finance – Course Content

While courses vary from school to school, finance MBA courses typically include:

• Corporate investment management
• Portfolio management
• Hedge fund management
• Small business and corporate finance
• Investments
• Securities analysis
• Borrowing
• Fundraising
• Collections
• Disbursements
• International finance
• Coverage of global financial institutions, valuation, volatility, fixed income securities, international markets and macroeconomics

Typical coursework and projects include financial modeling, global macro and micro-economics, private equity projects, stock market pitch projects, entrepreneurship projects based in mergers and acquisitions, real estate investment, development and design, and investment strategies.

International economics programs will, obviously, require a bit of international travel. The Wharton School, for example, has campuses and programs in conjunction with other business schools around the world, which makes it very accessible to those hoping to take their MBA in finance onto a more global setting in their future endeavors.

Many MBA finance degrees also combine learning with internships or paid positions in major financial corporations.

While an MBA in finance typically prepares graduates for a broad range of careers, some business schools offer a deeper specialization for those with a particular field of interest in mind:

• A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) specialization allows holders to practice accountancy as an individual, or as part of a corporation. Many independent CPAs deal with tax services, personal wealth, personal investments and smaller amounts of money on the private side. When working for a larger firm, the CPA specialization means that certificate holders will operate in the financial arm of the company, particularly with taxes, corporate money, wealth management and other investment and monetary based roles.
• The Certified Financial Adviser (CFA) works both publicly and privately with either individuals or companies to help them make wise investments and purchases, build investment portfolios, and generally manage their money.
• A Certified Management Accountant (CMA) handles almost all of the financial aspects of a company, from forecasting the profit margins of specific projects to advising directors on the best means of achieving financial growth and protecting their company from potential risk.  
• International finance is not only a huge sector, but a growing one as well. Specializing in this field opens up opportunities in international investment, banking and taxation, as well as allowing international financiers insights into developing markets.
• Financial economics focuses more on microeconomics in terms of optimization, equilibrium and comparative statics. This specialization is more observational, looking at the models of how producers and consumers function in a given economy.
• Corporate finance is where most finance MBAs will be looking to end up, as a fund manager for instance, or financial personnel manager. Topics within corporate finance are typically focused on how to grow the corporation’s capital by means of mergers & acquisitions, financial forecasting, managing investments and managing investment strategies.