Best MA+PhD choices for an asset manager with 10+years of experience?

[ataq]

So, as the title says, I've worked 10+ in investment management (both asset and private wealth management), first at a bulge bracket then went to a middle size HF. Some background information: Econ major at top 3 brazilian uni, current living at USA (east cost) and, also, I still have some solid math skills, worked with Time Series and Derivatives at the bank for a while.. I've always been passionate about economics and, as a senior, I was seriously thinking on going to the PhD route, but life happens. Now, after many years, it's time to enlarge my knowledge and am willing to quit my job to pursue a graduate education. What would be a wise choice for me? Aim for

 

Mod edit

 

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.5

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE:

Math Courses: Time Series Econometrics, Calculus, Differential Equations, Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Regression Analysis

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro/Macro, Industrial Organization, Public Sector Economics, Money and Banking, Options and Futures Markets, Agricultural Economics and Advanced Macro (master's degree level)

Other Courses: A bunch of accounting and finance courses.

Letters of Recommendation:

Research Experience:

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests:

SOP:

Other: Have some experience with coding in R and STATA.

Edited May 20, 2015 by tm_member

[Zubrus]

Start with filling this out so we have a better idea.

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad:

Undergrad GPA:

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE:

Math Courses:

Econ Courses:

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation:

Research Experience:

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests:

SOP:

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances:

Waitlists:

Rejections:

Pending:

Attending:

Comments:

[ataq]

Our grading system is a little bit different, but converting it we might have:

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.5

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE:

Math Courses: Time Series Econometrics, Calculus, Differential Equations, Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Regression Analysis

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro/Macro, Industrial Organization, Public Sector Economics, Money and Banking, Options and Futures Markets, Agricultural Economics and Advanced Macro (master's degree level)

Other Courses: A bunch of accounting and finance courses.

Letters of Recommendation:

Research Experience:

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests:

SOP:

Other: Have some experience with coding in R and STATA.

[Catrina]

What are your research interests? Have you considered getting a PhD in finance?

[tm_member]

Seems an obvious candidate for MBA+DBA or PhD Finance route. Not econ.

[ataq]

What are your research interests? Have you considered getting a PhD in finance?

 

Seems an obvious candidate for MBA+DBA or PhD Finance route. Not econ.

 

I see.. I forgot to mention that I'm also a CFA charterholder. My main reason to consider a PhD in economics is work as an economist in banks, so I'm not sure how much a PhD in finance could help with that.

[tm_member]

I see.. I forgot to mention that I'm also a CFA charterholder. My main reason to consider a PhD in economics is work as an economist in banks, so I'm not sure how much a PhD in finance could help with that.

 

Work in a bank = PhD Finance.

Work in a central bank doing monetary policy = PhD Econ.

 

Bottom line... PhD Economics suitable for people who want to do academic work in social science or high-level policy work. If you want to work in the banking industry, an MBA might be all you need.

[chateauheart]

PhD Finance (a business school degree, usually part of a DBA degree) is also a mainly academic degree, at most institutions. However, business school admissions value people with real world experience a lot more than PhD economics programs, so if you are considering an academic career, the former is an easier route.

 

If you are only considering working in the industry, then in most cases it seems that a master-level degree is all you need. There are exceptions, but this is the general advice. Even if you want to do quant work, a PhD in statistics or computer science is oftentimes more appropriate. If you check quant-research type listings from hedge funds, they explicitly want math, physics, stats and comp-sci degree-holders, not economics. Economics is also, contrary to popular opinion, harder to get into than the other fields, so it's not worth the investment and competition if you just want to be a quant.

 

Non-academic networking does not help. Having academic relationships with faculty helps, but it's difficult to obtain that unless you are already a student.

[ataq]

PhD Finance (a business school degree, usually part of a DBA degree) is also a mainly academic degree, at most institutions. However, business school admissions value people with real world experience a lot more than PhD economics programs, so if you are considering an academic career, the former is an easier route.

 

If you are only considering working in the industry, then in most cases it seems that a master-level degree is all you need. There are exceptions, but this is the general advice. Even if you want to do quant work, a PhD in statistics or computer science is oftentimes more appropriate. If you check quant-research type listings from hedge funds, they explicitly want math, physics, stats and comp-sci degree-holders, not economics. Economics is also, contrary to popular opinion, harder to get into than the other fields, so it's not worth the investment and competition if you just want to be a quant.

 

Non-academic networking does not help. Having academic relationships with faculty helps, but it's difficult to obtain that unless you are already a student.

 

Interesting points, thanks! I've worked with a lot of quants in my career, not exactly the work I want to develop. The reasons I thought about an economics graduate program are (1) its intelectual fulfillment, the knowledge of enough tools to solve puzzles (2) a wide range of work options pos-phd (central bank, research, teaching, banking) and (3) the exit opportunity to work in Brazil again as an economist/professor at high ranked universities. Although I'm familiar some economic growth researches I'm not sure what my primarly interests would be, until now Macroeconomics is the most appealing area.

 

PhD Finance does not seem a bad choice either, would a Msc Fin be necessary? Is the NYU finance phd good to go?

[YaSvoboden]

I am in an accounting PhD, so I know the finance students pretty well. You can come to the business phd section of this site if you want more detail, but I can help a little.

 

Business PhDs place almost entirely into academia. Finance does place a little bit into banks/etc. The finance students here take the entire first year econ sequence (as accountants we skip macro). They also take additional courses from the finance department, stats department, and some from the accounting department. So you should get intellectual fulfillment and tools in either phd. I think the work options are almost as wide coming out of finance, but people generally choose academic placements, and academic placements are expected from advisors. However, we did place a finance grad into the fed last year. We actually have a Brazilian finance student that is my year here. I imagine that placing into a Brazilian b-school would be totally possible with a PhD from the US.

 

One of the major branches of finance is asset pricing, which uses a lot of stuff from macro. I don't really know a ton about it. I don't think a MFIN would be necessary, but it could have some advantages. Most MFIN type degrees focus on practitioner work, I think there goal is to place people into the types of jobs that you have had. But it would give you a good opportunity to get to know professors and earn a fresher letter of recommendation. A pure masters in economics is also a good degree to go into the PhD with. There are also various masters in financial econ type degrees that can serve well. NYU is a great school for finance. You would want to find at least 10 schools to apply to before you make the decision though.