Dear All,I am an IIT-Bombay, IIM-Calcutta graduate. I've got about 3 years of work-ex till now and am currently working with a big 4 consulting firm. I am keen to make a career shift in finance .. not too much of quant, but probably something like I-Banking, Trading, Buy Side and the likes. I am contemplating a MS level course in finance to effect this change. LBS's Mfin looks like a good program to me as it is 1) A short duration program (only 8 months) 2) Its based out of London.Now, I'd greatly appreciate if any of you could please tell me:1) If this is a good idea. Will a MFin from LBS (more-or-less) assure a decent career in finance for me?2) Will my non-finance work experience be a disadvantage? 3) In terms of placement, LBS claims that most of its graduate get placed. However, someone I know has told me that while passing out, only about 60% of students had jobs in hand this year. Does that mean that there is a significant risk of not landing up with a job after spending some 30K GBP? Or is it ususal for MFin participants to look for a job after finishing the course?4) Would it be better to go to a US school (UCB).. only that I'm not too keen on a totally quant role..Thanks in advance

Rochester - Simon Business School has a Masters in Finance....They give funding also for this program for this program...so maybe u wanna try there.

Your best bet if you want to get into I-banking or trading is to get into a top US or European B-school. Concentrate on the 1 year programs and/or the programs where you can get loans.LBS MiF is also a good bet for maybe buy-side.

my suggestion will be to get some experience in the domain before you go apply to even LBS or any good university. Lot of quant jobs are moving to Asia and that may be a reason why there isn't 100% placement. Look at latest article on GARP site.My suggestion will be to work for an I bank in India for couple of years. There are many quant jobs available in India currently that would like to hire profile such as yours. I myself recruit people from IIT and IIM. In fact recently one of my team members have moved to us at Georgia Tech to do his MS in Comp Finance. He got 100% funding due to his work experience in risk management.Hope this helps

I banking (i.e. M&A/corporate finance) is very different to trading/capital markets when it comes to skills requirements. So you cannot just assume you can enter a programme (and select a few courses) and expect employers to view your applications favourably from these 2 areas.In general corporate finance is not very quantitative (compare to what you see in this site). The skills they most value are knwoledge of accounting (hence lots of accountants get hired), some skills in excel, ability to work long hours, basic knowledge in law, and perhaps if you wish to enter a sector team, knowledge of that particular sector. So what I'm saying is learning B/S, exotics pricing, multifactor model will not get you very far.You should make up your mind as to which area you want to get into first.

Hi DevilisI graduated from IITM last year and working in a quanti role for a consulting firm.. Want to know what r the other options available for a guy of my profile interested in quant...i've been hearing for quite some time that i-banks r moving quant work to india but nothing very concrete....could you throw some light on it....what r the skill sets employers r looking at....as far as quant fin goes...i've made my way through most of Hull

Particular area of Interest is Fixed Income Risk Modelling. I know for a fact Morgan Stanley (AGS, Mumbai) is recruiting. Skill sets - Understanding of Hull should help. Also understanding of Time Series Modelling, Credit Derivatives, CDS, CDOs should help.

Thanks Devilish You have me salivating at the prospect..I would be hugely interested in such a profile...i didnt even know that such work was going on in India.Do u have any tips about getting a shot at the interview at least. how can i get in touch with them??.Atleast i want to get a chance to meet people who r in this line of work..

QuoteOriginally posted by: devilishParticular area of Interest is Fixed Income Risk Modelling. I know for a fact Morgan Stanley (AGS, Mumbai) is recruiting. Skill sets - Understanding of Hull should help. Also understanding of Time Series Modelling, Credit Derivatives, CDS, CDOs should help.Who else (apart from MS)?Listings from MS (i.e. AGS) are increasingly getting more IT-heavy than Quant-fin heavy. Is it just my perception or are they moving the focus of their India operations? Could anyone working with AGS, please pm me.

there is a consulting firm called www.reizhr.com recruiting for AGS. Get in touch with them.Apart from MS, you have Lehman looking to hire peoplein Market risk. Again these jobs are available through head hunters. Are not advertised.

devilishthanks for the leadwould they take a b.tech with some decent finance and risk management exposure...sorry for all this pesky questions...but want to know if i am atleast in the ball game...

They should.