Now in its fourth year, the master of science in global finance (MSGF), jointly offered by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and New York University's Stern School of Business (NYU Stern) in New York City, has seen its class size grow by 50 per cent.
'Applications have skyrocketed and selectivity has increased,' says Mark Seasholes, associate professor of finance, and HKUST academic director of the HKUST/NYU Stern MSGF programme.
A one-year programme, the MSGF is studied part-time. Seven modules are taught at HKUST, two at New York University and one at Tsinghua University in Beijing, with the latest insights from Wall Street to Asia put into a global context. Senior academics from HKUST and NYU teach through interactive lectures, real-life case studies and best practices.
As a result, students will have a greater understanding of finance, from applied corporate finance and valuation, to asset markets, banking reform and corporate risk management in China, corporate finance, derivatives markets, foreign exchange markets and risk management in financial institutions, and topics in financial markets and innovation. Participants work on integrative group projects throughout the programme.
'We find that students are looking to sharpen their skills in the broad areas of finance,' Seasholes says. 'Rather than focus solely on sales and trading, professionals today need to understand the global financial system. Global portfolio management, banking reform and risk management are areas with particular interest.'
The purpose of the programme is to cultivate high-performance finance professionals in such fields as corporate finance, sales and trading, project finance, loan syndications, asset management, risk management and private banking.