International Finance

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 the specific knowledge and experience students have acquired before joining HEC Paris, with students beginning their academic journey during a 7-week sequence, tailored to each student’s academic background.  

• Business track students: take courses that build on the skills that they have learned through their previous studies. These students have taken coursework focused in financial accounting, corporate finance, financial markets, derivatives and statistics within an international business school or university. Students that select the Business Track often have internship experience in banking or consulting.
• Accelerated track students: begin by taking courses designed to make use of their strong quantitative skills while simultaneously building a strong foundation in finance. These students have an educational background more focused in a highly quantitative field (maths, physics, engineering, econometrics...) and wish to switch their field to finance. They may or may not have taken courses in finance, and they may or may not have internship experience in banking or consulting.

In addition, we also see profiles from students with a humanities background (neither business nor quantitative academic background) who have studied subjects that differ from those listed above. These students may or may not have internship experience in banking or consulting and wish to switch their field to finance. Students with this academic and professional background should also choose the Accelerated Track for their initial Track choice.

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).

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this program you will: 

• have an in-depth knowledge of asset management profession, the myriad of financial contracts that are created, structured, priced, and traded in various financial markets, the state-of-the-art portfolio management methods used by various types of asset managers including hedge funds;
• have an in-depth knowledge of the investment banking professions from sales to structuring, from IPOs to M&As, also in detail functioning of PE to VC funds;
• not only understand the drivers of the asymmetric-information and incentives-driven problems encountered in the financial services industry but also how they interact with the financial regulation that is imposed to mitigate them; 
• learn the actual tools used to evaluate the financial performance of corporations, assess the risk-return trade-off involved in financial investment decisions, calculate value-added by corporate financial transactions and learn how investment bankers come up with their recommendations for them;
• learned the latest developments at the cross-roads of information technologies (AI, Big Data, Blockchains) and their applications in the finance such as cryptocurrencies

ASSESSMENT METHODS

• Quizzes, exercices
• Case studies
• Business games and role-playing games
• Action projects
• Professional immersions
• A master's thesis (research paper)

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.

Students are required to choose one of the following specializations as part of their application to the Master in International Finance:

• 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.

Seats are limited within each specialization. Therefore, students may not be able to change their selection once admitted. 

Students are strongly advised to select the specialization that best aligns with their future goals and career path the moment they begin their application to the program.