is it worthwhile to do both, cfa and msc in finance?
MSc i have in mind from European b school, like City, IE, IESE ?

or should i pursue mba as it has broader scope?
and is it worthwhile to pursue mba in the current environment?

i have dropped the idea of MFE.

education : Bachelors in Engineering, 2003 in computer science, india
percentage : 68% aggregate
exp:4.5 yrs, in information technology, with top IT firms in india, but not exactly into finance
CFA level 2 candidate
GMAT : 690 , verbal:37 , quant:47 , awa : 5

thanks in advance.

I think a lot of MSc programs (or MSF in the states) overlap so I would recommend doing both. See, IMO, the MSF and CFA are not competitors, but overlapping complimentary programs. The CFA is wonderful, but arduous and lengthy. Masters level finance degrees are done within a year (typically) and give you access to on campus recruiting and that schools network. I know many people who do both and have both.

As for the schools you listed, IE and City are both members of the CFA partner program. Basically, in order to be in the program, the school has to use 70% or more of the CFA's body of knowledge. I personally think it is a gold standard for an MSF program.

http://msfhq.com/?p=225

There is a link to some CFA programs.


Anthony

I agree with msinfinance.

Hi there, you may also find a list of interesting Masters in Finance in the Financial Times Masters in Finance Rankings 2010. They distinguish between pre-experience (no work experience required) and post-experience programs (work experience required).

Top-10 Pre-Experience Schools are:
HEC Paris
IE Business School
Essec Business School
University of Oxford: Saïd
Warwick Business School
Grenoble Graduate School of Business
ESCP Europe
Imperial College Business School
Skema
EM Lyon Business School

Top-3 Post-Experience Schools are:
London Business School
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Melbourne

Best wishes
P

Hi Everyone,

I think you got a pretty good idea about the CFA, MSC and MBA, indeed the MBA is much broader but won't give you much opportunities if you are looking for a job on the Quant side.

Here is an article that compare MBA and CFA:
http://www.financeinsiderasia.com/2012/06/job-opportunities-after-get-cfa.html

Hope it will help you in your choice.

Cheers
Jonathan

Hi Everyone,

Direct comparison between MBA, CFA and MS Finance would also require the kind of background/ work experience a candidate has. I have come across several individuals who have graduated without having an exposure to financial industry (typically been working in the IT domain) and are  looking forward to switch to equity research/ analyst roles with financial services industries. Here CFA gives an adequate platform to learn about diverse fields of finance and improves credentials of a candidate.

In a scenario when doing a full-time MBA is not possible, CFA would provide an apt opportunity to enter the financial services industries. However its true that for quant roles, master in finance is the required degree. Still CFA can always serve as an added advantage for making a candidature.

Here is an article that summarizes briefly the advantages of getting a CFA charter:
http://blog.simplilearn.com/financial-management/cfa-program-a-growing-awareness-for-excellence-in-finance