My MBA at Bradford University was general, however I tried to specialize in finance as much as possible. The financial content modules were ¨Corporate Finance¨, ¨Business Accounting¨, ¨Business Economics, ¨Merges and Acquisitions¨, ¨International Financial Management¨ and the final master’s work ¨VIX as Predictor Variable of Stock Market Returns¨ of which I am especially proud.
My motivation to specialize in finance is due to my interest in investment in the stock market. It is something that I have been doing for a few years and I want to expand in the personal and professional field. However, the knowledge acquired during my MBA is not enough to fully develop a career in financial advice, complementary to my professional development as a director and engineer.
In my opinion, specific training in financial market investment is a necessary step to progress in financial advice for myself and others. And that is the reason that motivated me to carry out an extensive study in masters in finance and finally opt for one of them.
I evaluated dozens of masters and financial courses. The search was synthesized in a parametric evaluation of 37 programs, including information such as university and business school, ranking of the university and business school, ranking in the Financial Times, various accreditations such as Association of MBAs (AMBA), Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), Chartered Financial Analysis Institute (CFA), European Financial Advisor (EFA), National Stock Market Commission (CNMV) and Online Higher Education Ranking (FSO), type of degree provided, program content, duration, teaching method, amount of credits, language of instruction and finally the cost of the program.
The selection process was an interesting procedure that helped me understand my training needs and expectations. Without a doubt, the programs that caught my attention were those provided by renowned institutions or business schools such as Columbia Business School, IE Business School, London Business School or Imperial College Business School. But as it happened to me when I selected my MBA, the cost of the programs offered by the previous business schools starts at 40,000 euros, a figure I was not willing to consider.
Once the extremely expensive programs were excluded, my selection criteria were based on a training program suited to my expectations and a ranking and accreditation of the institution as a reflection of the training quality.
The four finalists in my comparison were:
- Master in Financial Advice and Asset Management. Double degree from OBS Business School and Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
- Official Master in Financial Management and Management. International University of La Rioja
- Master’s degree in Financial Management. Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
- MSc in Finance. The Open University
I opted for the Master in Financial Advice and Property Management of OBS Business School and University of Barcelona. A program that perfectly suits my training ambitions and one of the most recognized Spanish universities worldwide. The other three options were also appropriate, per programs or were very generic or financial management oriented.
OBS Business School was a business school unknown to me. The school was born in 2006 as the first 100% online and Spanish business school. It belongs to Planet Foundation and Universities such as EAE Business School, another honorable Spanish business school. Before making my decision I contacted several OBS students through LinkedIn, all responses were satisfactory.
The master consists of the following modules:
- The Financial Advice
- Economic environment
- Finance system
- Valuation Methodologies
- Financial products
- Collective Investment Institutions
- Real Estate Planning
- Portfolio management
- Private banking
- Financial Ethics
- Workshop: Taxation of investment products
- Workshop: Insurance and pension plans
- Workshop: Regulation and regulatory framework
- Workshop: Investment Simulator
- Master’s Final Project
Additionally, the program helps to obtain the European Financial Advisor (EFA) accreditation, granted by EFPA.
OBS uses the Blackboard distance education platform, which I also used when I completed my MBA at Bradford University. I’m not excited, but he’s an old acquaintance.
My experience for now is satisfactory, the application process was fast and consistent, admission personalized with two flames of the program director and the appropriate payment method. The master lasts only 1 year, next month classes start …
