Top Business Schools for Finance or Financial Services 2024

The “Finance and Economics Division” is by far Columbia Business School's largest division, and offers almost half of all the courses at the school. Columbia's proximity to Wall Street means that students don't have to go far to network with financial executives. Of the school’s most recent MBA class, almost 36 percent of students went into roles in the financial services industry (including investment banking, hedge funds, private equity firms, and other parts of the industry).

In any particular year, up to 40 percent of MBA graduates go into the financial industry. Finance-minded students can choose to pursue Booth's long-standing Finance concentration, or drill deeper into the theories with a unique specialization in “Analytic Finance,” which is STEM-eligible. Booth’s Fama-Miller Center produces a range of research in financial topics and ensures that the school’s curriculum stays up-to-date. 

Where some MBA programs offer a single specialization in finance, NYU Stern offers five, including one in Quantitative Finance, and another in Financial Technology—“FinTech”—that was launched in 2016. Students regularly go on to land finance jobs with the Federal Reserve Bank and Nomura Securities, as well as into a wide range of corporate finance roles. Almost 30 percent of the most recent MBA class went into careers in financial services, in industries like investment banking and private equity.

Of Wharton's most graduating MBA class, over 36 percent of graduates went into financial services companies, including large firms like JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs. A growing percentage has also been going into firms specializing in financial technology—FinTech—as well. MBA students can choose to pursue the school's popular concentration in Finance and build a network through its Finance Club.

In any given year, up to 40 percent of the school’s MBAs go into the financial services sector, usually the highest rate of all the Canadian business schools surveyed by FIND MBA. Finance-minded students can pursue an MBA specialization in Finance or choose to pair their MBA program with a Master of Finance. In recent years, Queen’s MBAs have been snapped up by firms like Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Capital One, and Credit Suisse, among other firms.

A Tube ride away from the London Stock Exchange, London Business School is at the heart of one of the world's most active financial centers. The school offers a robust range of finance electives, including classes in derivatives and hedge funds. Over one-quarter of the most recent class of graduating LBS MBAs went into finance-related industries. Goldman Sachs and citi are among the school’s top recruiters.

The past couple decades have seen a gradual opening-up of the Chinese financial system, and this coupled with unbridled economic growth has encouraged the development of a strong financial industry. Guanghua, with its Beijing location and some specialized curriculum, is in a good position to land grads in this growing field. In recent years, over 35 percent of the Guanghua MBA cohort has gone into the finance sector

Almost 40 percent of the most recent HKUST MBA class went into the financial services industry, landing jobs in firms like JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Credit Suisse, and others. While the core MBA curriculum touches on corporate finance, students can delve further into the subject through electives like “Venture Capital and Private Equity,” “Investment Analysis,” and more. Hong Kong is a great place to be for those looking to network in Asia’s financial industry. 

Hong Kong—one of the world’s financial centers—is a great place to do an MBA in Finance. As part of the program, students can also study for four months in other financial centers like New York or London, with partner schools LBS and Columbia. In recent years, over 30 percent of graduating MBAs have gone into the financial services industry, many landing jobs in some of Hong Kong’s biggest financial firms.

Over the past few years, Frankfurt has become a destination for some banks and other financial services company fleeing London, amidst the uncertainty of Brexit and the Covid pandemic. This is good news for finance-minded MBAs graduating from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, who now may have more job possibilities as a result. In recent years, over one-quarter of the MBA cohort from the school has gone on to finance roles.