MSc in Management?

Hi, I would really appreciate some opinions. My son has recently graduated in Accounting &Finance and is thinking of applying for an MSc in Management UCL MSc Management It’s a very expensive course!

I’m not convinced it’s a good choice - in my mind “management” is something you grow into when you have lived experience of a particular sector, not something you study at uni. But happy to be proven wrong!

For context, he got a 2:1 in his degree and he’s very young, only 21, with no work experience. He’s not sure what he’d like to do exactly but is interested in wealth management and derivatives.

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by honeybea

Hi, I would really appreciate some opinions. My son has recently graduated in Accounting &Finance and is thinking of applying for an MSc in Management UCL MSc Management It’s a very expensive course!
I’m not convinced it’s a good choice - in my mind “management” is something you grow into when you have lived experience of a particular sector, not something you study at uni. But happy to be proven wrong!
For context, he got a 2:1 in his degree and he’s very young, only 21, with no work experience. He’s not sure what he’d like to do exactly but is interested in wealth management and derivatives.

“management” is something you grow into when you have lived experience of a particular sector, not something you study at uni.
As someone who did a degree in management (not a master's) and have worked a bit, I concur with your opinion.
Unless your son intends on doing academic research in management, the degree won't be of much use.
Unless he only intends to network with people at UCL, doing the degree wouldn't be the best use of time or money in my opinion (even then doing the degree is an expensive way to network with people at UCL).

he’s very young, only 21
Well, I wouldn't call 21 "young".

He’s not sure what he’d like to do exactly but is interested in wealth management and derivatives.
If he's interested in going into the finance sector, he should be focused on getting the appropriate professional financial qualification for the specific role that he wants to go for. Doing an MSc in management (a different subject by the way) is not exactly the best use of his time.

I recommend him to look at the following for wealth management:
https://www.cisi.org/cisiweb2/cisi-website/study-with-us/wealth-retail

For derivatives, he can look into stockbrokering:
https://www.cisi.org/cisiweb2/cisi-website/study-with-us/wealth-retail/investment-advice-diploma (for stockbrokering)

He can also look into trading derivatives, which doesn't require any qualifications. Alternatively, he can look into work for hedge funds specialising in derivatives; in which case I would recommend the CFA after he has obtained solid experience in derivative trading: https://www.cfauk.org/learn/qualifications/cfa-program.

However, if he is interested in wealth management, I would recommend specialising in the wealth management qualifications. If he is open to brokering derivatives, he can do the investment advice diploma before transitioning into wealth management.

Reply 2

Rincewind_Bored

Original post by honeybea

Hi, I would really appreciate some opinions. My son has recently graduated in Accounting &Finance and is thinking of applying for an MSc in Management UCL MSc Management It’s a very expensive course!
I’m not convinced it’s a good choice - in my mind “management” is something you grow into when you have lived experience of a particular sector, not something you study at uni. But happy to be proven wrong!
For context, he got a 2:1 in his degree and he’s very young, only 21, with no work experience. He’s not sure what he’d like to do exactly but is interested in wealth management and derivatives.

An Masters of Business Administration (MBA) tends to be more recognised in industry and corporate environments than an MSc in Management. I would suggest looking at that course instead. Bluechip corporations tend to look very favourably on MBA graduates. The big management consultancies such as KPMG, McKinsey, Deloitte, and PwC all classically hire MBA graduates. But also Multinational corporations like Microsoft, Amazon, etc. Finance sector companies also tend to look very favourably on MBAs, JP Morgan, Barclays, RBS, HSBC all look very favourably on MBA grads.

Yes, it is expensive relative to other Masters, but it's just one year, and it could provide a massive springboard into a fantastic starting position in a truly first-class company, which could set him up for onward professional growth. Also, depending on the school he goes to, the networking potential within his cohort could prove invaluable too.

An MBA teaches more than management, it teaches economics, operations, marketing, strategy, the ability to understand business at an organisation level, etc. So this might be more suitable for them.

The MBA at Warwick university comes highly recommended.