Master In International Finance

PROGRAM STRUCTURE
 

INTRODUCTION

Our program aims to fulfill two objectives within a short period of time: lay the necessary foundations for any career in finance and provide in-depth knowledge in each student’s field of specialization.

We achieve this goal by leveraging on the specific knowledge and experience students have acquired before joining HEC Paris:
 

• Business track students: have already taken at least introductory level courses in financial accounting, corporate finance, financial markets, derivatives and statistics in a Tier-1 international business school or university. They frequently have had first internships in banking or consulting and are looking for an advanced set of tools to jump-start their career.
• Accelerated track students: have received first class education in a highly quantitative field (maths, physics, engineering, econometrics...) and wish to switch their field to finance. They may or may not have taken some courses in finance and they may or may not have had a first internship in banking or consulting.

 

Business and accelerated tracks mainly differ in courses taught during the Fall term.

 

Business track students follow the same courses as the “Majeure Finance” students of the HEC Master in Management program, starting all courses at an advanced level and getting a first opportunity to specialize through “block electives”.

 

Accelerated track students start all finance courses at an introductory level. However, they go through an intensive Fall term where courses are taught making full use of their strong quantitative skills.

Business track and accelerated track students have access to the same pool of electives in the Spring term and have the same career opportunities at the end of the program. In particular, they both have access to either a specialization in Corporate Finance or a specialization in Capital Markets (Fall term).

COURSE PORTFOLIO
 

While the first semester is dedicated to Core and Advanced Core Courses, the second semester allows students to choose from more than 40 electives: concentration electives related to their chosen specialization, as well as free electives.

Indeed, students are invited to select one specialization as soon as they apply for the MSc International Finance program. Their choice is not binding as they will have the opportunity to confirm or change their specialization in the first semester of the program. 

Two specializations are available:
 

• Corporate Finance specialization: designed for students interested in careers in M&A, private equity, consulting, large multinational companies, etc.;
• Capital Markets specialization: ideal for students interested in careers in trading, structuring, market analysis, but also wealth and asset management.

 

CORE COURSES
 

• Behavioral and Sustainable Finance
• Corporate Valuation
• Securities Market
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Introduction to Finance
• Corporate Finance
• Financial Accounting and Reporting
• International Macroeconomic
• Asset Management
• Economics of Financial Regulation
• Soft skills seminar
• Ethics seminar
• Probability and Statistics Refresher
• Empirical Methods in Finance

 

ADVANCED CORE COURSES

 

• Securities Markets 
• International Finance
• Capital Markets Specialization Courses
  • Financial engineering
  • Quantitative asset management
• Corporate Finance Specialization Courses
  • Corporate restructuring
  • Derivatives

CONCENTRATION ELECTIVES

Corporate investment & financing policy:

 

• Advanced financial accounting
• Financing decisions of firms
• Financial solutions for corporates
• Equity capital markets
• Entrepreneurial finance

 

Corporate restructuring:
 

• Mergers & acquisitions
• LBO structuring and modeling in practice
• Real options
• Private equity
• Value / distressed investing

 

Corporate strategy:

 

• Corporate Strategy & Financial institutions
• Topics in Valuation
• Behavioral strategy
• Financial dimensions of strategic decisions
• Strategy for International Expansion

 

Financial Engineering:
 

• Exotic Products and Structuring
• Stochastic processes
• Modeling techniques for financial engineering
• FX derivatives trading
• Origination of structured products

Data and Science:

• Introduction to Applications of Data Science to Management
• Data Analysis in Finance
• Technology Regulation in the Financial Sector
• Economic Value of Data
• Blockchain

FREE ELECTIVES
 

• Credit risk & turnaround of distressed companies
• Energy and finance
• Financial modeling
• Infrastructure and real assets
• Corporate Finance Live
• Real estate foundations
• Numerical analysis
• Quantitative asset management
• Financial dimension of strategic decisions
• Financing decisions of the firms
• Post-Merger Integration
• Startup Valuation and financing
• Microeconomics of crisis Economies
• Energy Markets
• Bond portfolio management
• Sustainable & responsible investment
• Alternative investments

ADMISSIONS

Master in International Finance

Our MIF program welcomes high potential students and recent graduates from around the world.  The initial selection is based on the evaluation of all the application elements. Pre-selected students are then invited to a challenging interview (on Skype or on campus).
 

THE PROFILE WE VALUE
 

HEC welcomes applications from candidates of all nationalities, who are fluent in English and who have a strong quantitative background.

For the Business track, they must also:

 

• hold a Bachelor or Master's degree from an international institution - 2:1 honors or above (or equivalent: Dean’s list...)
• have prior training (at least introductory level) in financial accounting, corporate finance, investments, derivatives, business statistics and calculus.

 

For the Accelerated track, they must also: hold a Bachelor or Master's degree from an international institution, or a master degree from a French university or engineering school (“Grande Ecole”) - 2:1 honors or above (or equivalent: Dean’s list...).
 

APPLICATION PROCESS

THE TWO-PHASE SELECTION PROCESS

 

The selection is a 2 phase process:
 

• A first selection is made based on the evaluation of your application and supporting documents.
• The pre-selected candidates will then be invited for a face-to-face or Zoom interview. 

 

Supporting documents to be up-loaded before the application deadline:

 

• Degree certificate(s) or current enrollment certificate
• All official academic transcripts obtained in a higher education institution (exchange programs included) with official GPA
• Résumé (CV)
• GMAT or GRE or TAGE MAGE official test score report
• English language proficiency test score report: TOEFL or TOEIC (Bridge or Listening and Reading or Speaking and Writing) or IELTS or Cambridge
• 2 completed online reference forms (at least one should be filled out by a professor)
• Passport-style photo
• Non-refundable application fee of €110.

HOW TO SELECT YOUR MIF PROGRAM TRACK
 

 

• Candidates are only allowed to apply to one track within a parent program. This means that a first choice MIF application cannot have a MIF track as a second choice.
• Each applicant must choose either Accelerated Track or Business Track, keeping in mind that the ideal candidate profile for each track is different. Please see “THE PROFILE WE VALUE” if you are unsure which track to choose.
• Each applicant must then choose either Capital Markets or Corporate Finance as a specialization. If you are unsure which specialization to choose, please see our “COURSE PORTFOLIO” section.

FEES AND LIVING COSTS

Admitted students will be asked to confirm their seats within 3 weeks after final results are announced with a non-refundable deposit of €5,000, deducted from their total tuition fees.

Remaining costs (approximately €1,000 per month) include housing and food, compulsory insurance (health and civil liability), sports and leisure, phone and IT access…

CAREERS

Master in International Finance

Benefit from the wealth of networking opportunities we provide. Make the most of the guidance from our Career advisors specialized in Investment Banking, Capital Markets and Private Equity. Enjoy the London study trip and the major Finance Career Fair held every year in the Fall. Fast-track your career in Finance. 

TOP RECRUITING COMPANIES
 

• Arthur D. Little
• Bain & Company
• Bank of America Merril Lynch
• Barclays Capital
• BlackRock
• BNP Paribas
• Boston Consulting Group
• Credit Suisse
• Deutsche Bank
• Goldman Sachs
• HSBC
• J.P. Morgan
• McKinsey & Company
• Morgan Stanley
• PwC
• Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
• Rothschild
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Société Générale
• UBS