Guys, I'm about to finish up my CFA and I am starting to think about next steps. I want to work in financial services - should I go for an MBA or a master in finance?

What is your work experience? What sort of work in financial services would you like to do?

[Edited by Duncan on Nov 23, 2015]

Thank you for the response. I am a financial analyst for a fortune 500 company. In all I have two years of full time work experience plus two years of part time experience.

In the financial services industry I would like to do more analytical work and maybe manage a team. I would like to work for a bank, investment bank, or hedge fund.

In that case take a MiF or a masters in financial analysis.

Actually for your goals either an MF or an MBA can work. Probably equally well if you are going to similarly ranked schools. Your MBA class will of course be more diverse than your MF class, and the learning will be broader, but in terms of career ops, you should be good either way.

Best,
Yaron

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Premier Admissions Consulting

[Edited by Admissionado on Nov 26, 2015]

Given your limited work experience, you can't get into an excellent MBA, but you can get into an excellent MiF -- and save a year -- so the MiF or MFA would allow you to go somewhere awesome, like LBS, rather than a good but not wonderful MBA.

Thanks, the MiF @ LBS seems like a great option.

You might be on the low end of work experience for the MiF, but generally I do think a MiF is great. Also someone (it's either Warwick or Lancaster) runs an advanced MiF in London for people with at least the level one CFA.

Maybe Duncan's thinking of the Lancaster MSc in Advanced Financial Analysis:

http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/study/masters/programmes/advanced-financial-analysis/

Yes, I am. Admittedly, it may seem off for someone with the charter to consider a programme aimed at people looking for CFA II, but that will have a higher level than most MiF degrees. LBS, Cambridge, ESSEC and EDHEC are the more advanced options that come to mind in Europe.