At UC, the Carl H. Lindner College of Business Career Services office helps students capitalize on their unique strengths by providing opportunities for professional development. In partnership with the UC Career Development Center and Division of Professional Practice, we create opportunities within and beyond the classroom to support business students and employers who want to connect with them.

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Career Paths

Professionals with specialized training in finance are in demand across a wide variety of private and public organizations. The goal of the Lindner College of Business MS-Finance program is to provide you with intensive in-depth training that will allow you to be a valuable contributor to these organizations. The following are representative career paths that an MS-Finance degree holder might pursue.

CORPORATE FINANCE

Corporate finance includes two key functions: accounting and finance. Accounting concerns itself with day-to-day operations—bookkeeping. Accountants balance the books, track expenses and revenue, execute payroll, and pay the bills. They also compile all the financial data needed to issue a company's financial statements in accordance with government regulations. Finance professionals analyze revenue and expenses to ensure effective use of capital. They also advise businesses about project costs, make capital investments and structure deals to help companies grow. In spite of their different roles, finance and accounting are joined at the hip: The higher levels of accounting (budgeting and analysis) blend in with financial functions (analysis and projections). Thus, finance and accounting are often treated as one, with different divisions undertaking particular tasks such as cash management or taxes.

Divisional Financial Analysis—In this area, you work with each division to prepare financial plans, make forecasts and compare actual financial results to forecasts. You may also evaluate the financial consequences of alternative strategies. Responsibilities can range from analyzing new business opportunities to restructuring a business or developing a capital-spending program. The primary concern of financial analysts at this level is to find better ways of using company assets, to reduce costs and to research ways to develop better forecasts.

Treasury—The treasury department is responsible for all of a company's financing and investing activities. This department works with investment bankers who help the corporation raise capital through stock or bond issuances, or to expand through mergers and acquisitions. Treasury also manages the pension fund and the corporation's investments in other companies. The department also handles risk management, such as safeguarding corporate assets by using insurance policies or currency hedges.

Cash Management—The cash-management group ensures the company has enough cash on hand to meet its daily needs. The group invests excess cash in short-term investments. It also negotiates with local banks to help local divisions get banking services at the best price.

TRADING AND PRINCIPAL INVESTMENTS

Sales and trading is the investment bank's distribution arm. This group is responsible for selling the financial products (stocks, bonds and their derivatives) developed within the investment banking area. As such, they serve as the vital link between buyers (i.e., investors) and sellers (i.e., corporations, government entities). Although frequently lumped together, salespeople and traders perform different functions. Sales professionals have a list of institutional clients whom they serve by making them aware of new offerings, advising them on how to manage their portfolios and selling them financial products. The sales department can be divided by account size, security type (debt or equity), geography, or product line. Traders perform two roles.  First and mostly closely related to sales, they execute trades on behalf of clients.  Second, they trade for the investment bank’s own account (i.e, proprietary trading).

Areas within sales and trading include:

• Investment Research
• Proprietary Trading
• Private Equity/Merchant Banking

PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Private banking and wealth management is the provision of a wide array of financial services to high net worth individuals through a network of highly trained private bankers, investment managers and other specialists. The services include banking, fiduciary, asset management, insurance, and tax services to high net worth individuals. Private wealth managers interact with closely with investment firms to offer clients resources and services that sophisticated institutional investors have traditionally enjoyed. Offerings include investments in initial public offerings (IPOs), new issues, derivatives and proprietary products. Private wealth managers also deliver an institutional level of research, advisory services and execution to investors. Entry-level job titles in this area include Financial Analyst and require CFA designation for advancement.

RISK MANAGEMENT

Risk management is one of the fastest growing segments of the industry. Banks and trading companies all have senior-level risk managers. In addition, government regulatory policy emphasizes the management of financial risk in banking, insurance, pension fund management, etc. This has created demand for analysts with technical skills on both sides of the regulatory divide—compliance and supervision. Risk analysts weigh the probability of profits and losses and make recommendations to senior management on acceptable strategies. Duties include developing and managing risk management methodologies; providing financial reporting and risk analytics; and evaluating and testing pricing models.

Areas within risk management include:

• Enterprise Risk Management
• Derivatives Risk/Market Risk/Portfolio Risk Analysis
• Banking Supervision
• Regulatory Compliance

REAL ESTATE

Real estate professionals must be able to research, analyze, negotiate, plan and market. But, there can be very different emphasis on these traits in different segments of the real estate profession. For example, appraisers, mortgage lenders, corporate real estate managers and property managers must be strong on the analytical side, with strong writing skills. Brokers and leasing agents require strong interpersonal, negotiation and verbal skills. Developers, commercial mortgage brokers, and real estate consultants need a heavy dose of both.

Real estate professionals must constantly strive to stay abreast of business trends, and think about issues—tax laws, new highway routes, technology or existing and proposed zoning regulations—affecting their clients, business and investments. Above all, successful real estate professionals are entrepreneurial by nature and process-oriented. They generally look for opportunities and ways to improve business. Real estate entrepreneurs are successful in most business fields and often diversify into other (non-real estate) businesses.

Areas within real estate include:

• Appraisal and Consulting
• Brokerage and Leasing
• Corporate Real Estate
• Mortgage and Construction Lending
• Property Management
• Institutional Real Estate Investment
• Development
  

FINANCIAL ECONOMICS/FINANCE PHD PREPARATION

Some MS-Finance graduates pursue research careers in government and academia. They gain valuable training prior to applying to PhD programs. Students interested in this career path are advised to take highly technical electives to better prepare for the rigor of a PhD program. Doctoral programs value the additional maturity and financial, accounting and econometrics training provided by the MS-Finance program.