Although investment banking is not as popular of a career choice for MBA students as it was a few decades ago, plenty still use the MBA degree to transition to finance careers including investment banking, corporate finance, and private equity/venture capital. Working as an associate in an investment bank provides a solid foundation in understanding capital markets and how companies can raise funds to grow their business.
If you are interested in an investment banking career, do your research and find business schools with a strong track record of preparing and placing their MBA students in coveted roles in this industry. Here are some MBA programs to consider if you are interested in making a career switch to investment banking, corporate finance, or private equity/venture capital:
Wharton
U.S. News & World Report ranked Wharton as the MBA program with the best finance department in the publication’s 2024 Best Business Schools list. Wharton students who want to major in Finance must take two courses: “Corporate Finance” and “Macroeconomics and the Global Economic Environment.” Students must complete six courses for the major, with electives including “Valuation,” “Capital Markets,” and “Behavioral Finance.” With finance thought leadership coming from the Rodney White Center for Financial Research and the Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research, Wharton students have access to some of the brightest financial minds in the world. Approximately 14% of the graduating Class of 2023 recruited into the investment banking function.
Chicago Booth
Chicago Booth was ranked number two for finance among MBA programs in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Business Schools list. With faculty including Nobel laureates Eugene F. Fama and Lars Peter Hansen and leading finance research centers such as the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics, the Center for Research in Security Prices, and the Fama-Miller Center for Research in Finance, Chicago Booth MBA students have access to legendary thought leadership in finance. Approximately 11% of the business school’s Class of 2023 recruited into the investment banking function. Chicago Booth offers a concentration in both Analytic Finance and Finance and lists a wide array of finance courses including “Financial Markets and Institutions,” “Advanced Financial Analysis & Valuation for Global Firms,” and “Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity.”
NYU Stern
U.S. News & World Report ranked Stern as the third-best MBA program for finance in 2024. Stern’s location truly gives students exceptional access to investment banking opportunities. With about 23% of the Class of 2023 recruiting into the investment banking function, there are abundant resources at Stern to help people transition into the field. The Graduate Finance Association provides a playbook for students to successfully recruit to all the top banks. Centers including the Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions and the Altman-Paulson Initiative on Bankruptcy Restructuring and Financial Distress give students access to some of the best minds and resources to dive into investment banking topics. The Finance specialization offers a wide variety of courses including “Private Equity Finance” and “Corporate Finance.”
Columbia Business School (CBS)
Columbia’s location in New York City makes the school a perennial powerhouse for students interested in investment banking and finance. U.S. News & World Report named CBS the fourth-best MBA program for finance in the publication’s latest rankings. The school’s Investment Banking Club gives students opportunities to interact with all the top investment banks through its incredibly strong recruiting relationships and partnerships. Students also have the opportunity to learn from some of the titans in the industry. Luigi Rizzo, vice chair at Morgan Stanley, is an adjunct professor of business at CBS and teaches courses including “Advanced Corporate Finance” and “Mergers & Acquisitions.” With approximately 16% of the Class of 2023 recruiting into the investment banking function, you’ll have plenty of peers to assist in your career journey—not to mention the plethora of CBS alumni working in investment banking and private equity roles nearby.
In addition, about 35% of the 2023 MBA class at CBS recruited into the overall finance function comprising areas also including investment management, venture capital, and wealth management, and the school offers many other finance-related resources including the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing as well as a who’s who of Executives in Residence with pedigreed finance backgrounds.
MIT Sloan
MIT Sloan was ranked the sixth-best MBA program for finance by U.S. News & World Report for 2024. Sloan offers a Finance certificate, which requires students to take courses including “Introduction to the Practice of Finance,” Managerial Finance,” and “Corporate Finance” and provides action-based learning courses including “Proseminar in Corporate Finance/Investment Banking/Private Equity.” Approximately 20% of Sloan’s Class of 2023 recruited into a finance function, with about 6% of the class going specifically into investment banking.
UC Berkeley Haas
Named the eighth-best MBA program in finance by U.S. News & World Report in 2024, Haas provides fellowships for students seeking investment banking, VC, fintech, or entrepreneurial finance roles. Beyond a monetary award, Haas also offers its students mentorship and preferred access to finance electives. Haas has an active Finance Club that provides a playbook for students to follow to successfully recruit into investment banking. Students also have access to a wide variety of finance courses including “Financial Information Analysis,” “Mergers & Acquisitions,” and “Designing Financial Models that Work.”
UCLA Anderson
UCLA Anderson landed in the tenth spot for best finance programs in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 rankings. Among Anderson’s full-time Class of 2023, approximately 8% of students reported securing work in the investment banking function.
One of my former clients who successfully transitioned from an accounting role pre-MBA to an associate role at a leading investment bank shared how critical Anderson was in helping him recruit to investment banking (IB), noting the following Anderson resources as particularly helpful:
There are many fantastic people who work at the Parker Career Management Center. Being on the other side now, I can say that Anderson’s methodical approach to having a repeatable system for students to use each year to recruit successfully sets them apart from other schools. It starts in the summer with a financial immersion course ahead of the first year, then entails a disciplined structure over the fall quarter and facilitating several touch points with bankers throughout the fall.
Courses including “Corporate Finance,” which taught the nuts and bolts of corporate finance, “Corporate Financial Reporting,” which provided the opportunity to understand accounting and financial statements at a more advanced level and how to use them to think about a company’s status, “Corporate Valuation,” which goes deeper into corporate finance methodologies and how they’re used in real-world case studies, as well as “Venture Capital and Private Equity,” which helps students understand the evolution of a capital structure during a company’s growth, all were helpful to making a successful IB recruiting transition. The Investment Finance Association (IFA), a student-led club, partners with Parker to facilitate opportunities across investment banking, investment management and corporate finance. First-year students get the opportunity to be involved with the board and planning events during recruiting, which gives even more visibility to bankers and other alumni. The Fink Center For Finance serves as a hub for students, companies, and faculty to share best practices in finance and hosts several events including the Fink Investing Conference, Private Equity Roundtable, and Credit Pitch Competition. There are a lot of alumni in IB, and we take pride in helping the next wave of students. The “share success” mantra is definitely present in this way.
Other MBA programs included in the top ten for finance by U.S. News & World Report in 2024 were Stanford GSB (ranked fifth), Harvard Business School, (ranked seventh), and Michigan Ross (ranked ninth).
Many other MBA programs outside of U.S. News & World Report’s top-ten finance rankings also can help students launch their investment banking careers. For example, UNC Kenan-Flagler offers a robust concentration and gives career changers the opportunity to level-up their skills through the school’s Finance Development Program, which supplements the academic curriculum with courses in financial modeling, corporate valuation, and deal structures via Training the Street. In addition, students who attend Northwestern Kellogg and are interested in investment banking can pursue a Finance major. Kellogg has invested additional resources into finance over the past few years, including instituting a Finance Fellows Scholarship for students committed to a career in finance. The results of these efforts can be seen in Kellogg’s 2023 employment report, as 22% of the class recruited into the financial services industry—a 35% increase over the previous year. Investment banking firms recruiting Kellogg students included Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Guggenheim Partners.
For more guidance on planning your career journey in investment banking, whether via an MBA or a specialized master’s degree, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with a Stratus admissions expert today!