A continental education is second to none
All are top class universities offering masters courses in financial services subjects; all are in continental Europe and all are highly regarded by investment banks looking for staff, in London or anywhere else.
Taking a postgraduate course outside the UK offers one clear advantage to English speakers: the opportunity to perfect a foreign language. Studying abroad can bring financial benefits too. Living and studying on the continent can cost much less than opting for a course in the UK.
Bocconi, a Milan-based economics and business-oriented university, runs two one-year postgraduate courses for financial services professionals: the Master in Quantitative Finance and Insurance; and the Master in Corporate Finance.
Students should have a first degree and two to three years of work experience. Students are also required to be fluent in English.
Studying at Bocconi is not cheap. Fees for the Masters in Corporate Finance are €20,000. However the cost of living is relatively low. Milan scored 69.1 on human resource consultancy William Mercer's 2002 cost of living index. This compared to 91 for London and 100 for New York.
Students at Essec, a privately run business school outside Paris, pay less. The school runs a masters course in Financial Techniques. Fees are €11, 000. Michel Baroni said that of a class of 35, between 8 and 10 students every year come from outside France. All have a first degree and are fluent in French.
The Master en Finanzas course at Icade, part of the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, is priced comparably with the course at Essec. Fees are currently €10 000, although this may be subject to revision. The course is open to first-degree holders. Teaching is in Spanish, making prior understanding of the language mandatory.
The Université Paris Dauphine boasts the lowest course fees. The school offers a one-year DESS diploma in financial markets, primary product markets and risk management. Fees are a miniscule €270 for non-French EU nationals.
Students at Université Paris Dauphine must have spent four years at university, a potential problem for many UK students who have studied a three-year course. They must also speak fluent French.
It may well be worth it. Alexis Calla, an alumnus and head of regional wealth management at Citibank, said graduates from the course were are able to add value immediately. Most graduates start on the trading floor, invariably on derivatives desks, he said.
Greg Patel, at recruiter Norman Broadbent, said the Paris Dauphine course is considered one step above an MSc. 'Banks typically say they want a Phd candidate for a quantitative position but they will often accept someone with a DESS.
'Most Masters level students in the UK would not be considered for front office roles in the major banks. Anyone who has been through the DESS system in France would academically meet the benchmark', Patel said.
Banks in London are increasingly interested in students from institutions outside the UK. At JP Morgan, 60% of internship positions in 2002 went to continental candidates.
Baroni at Essec said a quarter of his students find work in London at the end of the MS in Financial Techniques Programme.
