The top 50 MBAs for a career in finance

If you want to use an MBA to either improve or launch a career in financial services, you have to be prepared to work harder. Networking, internships and off-the-cuff work experience on special projects are all now necessary to achieve a full-time role upon graduation.

In theory, MBAs are looking at other options – particularly consulting – rather than pursuing a career in the financial sector. However, a new report by QS on the top MBAs globally suggests that the financial sector still provides the largest proportion of candidates undertaking the qualification to “further their place in the industry”.

It’s worth knowing which schools have the deep relationships with financial sector firms, and have adapted their curriculum to include subjects and expertise that banks want to see beyond the general management skills taught through an MBA.

Wharton and London Business School, which top the QS rankings, still have the top investment banks courting their students, while NYU Stern “regularly attracts” Wall Street firms to campus says the report.

The rankings throw up few surprises at the top – Wharton stays top, as it has since 2010, while LBS, Chicago Both, Harvard, NYU Stern and Columbia comprise the top five again. You may instead wish to keep an eye on the schools creeping up the league table for financial sector employment – Thunderbird School of Global Management, Warwick Business School and Nanyang Business School in Singapore.

Here’s the list in its entirety: