Is there any point in doing a Russian MBA if you want to get ahead in Russian financial services?

If you want to make it big in financial services in Moscow, do you need an MBA? Not necessarily, but it will help - particularly if you go overseas to do it.

Gregory Camou, head of the Moscow office of international search firm Pedersen & Partners, says a top global or Western MBA is worthwhile if you are deemed, "high potential," but have spent most of your career working in Russia alone.

Globally, the top MBA schools for financial services careers are located in the US. Harvard, Columbia and Wharton have an excellent reputation among financial services employers. In Western Europe, investment banks recruit predominantly from the London Business School and INSEAD (outside Paris).

What about Russia's MBA schools? Camou says the, "various MBA programmes in Russia are clearly not regarded as top international programmes." Skolkovo, or the Moscow School of Management, founded in 2006 by Russian and international business leaders, "should be an exception but it is too early to say. It takes time to establish an MBA brand," he adds.

In total, there are some 150 business schools in Russia offering an MBA, but only a handful of Russian candidates would consider studying in their home country, say experts. Russians will have even more choice as more programmes are launched - the Global Emerging Markets MBA by ESEUNE, the European business school has six locations in BRIC countries, including Moscow.

But Igor Klimov, director of recruitment firm Acuris, says: "As a recruiter I don't see growing demand for MBA graduates from employers. It is equivalent to working experience. The growing popularity of MBA programmes in Russia, especially executive MBAs, is because graduates then have a chance to change- but not necessarily grow - their career path."

Meanwhile, INSEAD and the London Business School have found their route into the market by delivering executive education directly to one of Russia's biggest financial institutions - Sberbank.

An annual survey of international MBA candidates by TopMBA in 2010 showed that the US was no longer the preferred study destination, and had been replaced by Western Europe. In 2010 63% of Russians surveyed said they would consider studying in the UK, compared to 58% putting down the US as an option.