Better business writing
I try to write clearly and have always encouraged my students, and my former analyst colleagues, to do the same. This is because: i) it’s polite to make things easy for your reader (whom you should think of as a … Continued
More summer reading, and finance
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been re-reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender is the Night. It’s good to read something that is unconnected with work but it’s pretty hard to do that when your subject is … Continued
The true importance of finance
I’ve been reading a fascinating, if rather grim, book called The Secret State, by the distinguished British historian, Peter Hennessy. Based on interviews and a range of declassified official files, it’s a detailed picture of the secret arrangements made in … Continued
Regrets, we had a few, but then again too few to mention…
Somewhere about the middle of the Easter term, the students start to realise that there are only a few weeks left, their course is nearly over and the world of work beckons. This leads to an upsurge of socialising, including … Continued
Serial masters degrees
One reason we reject some candidates before interview is because they recently did another masters degree, including an MBA. On occasions the applicants are doing one masters while applying for another. This might seem as if we’re rejecting people with … Continued
A week in the life
I often get asked about whether being the MFin director is a full time job. Well, sometimes it feels like it, but it’s supposed to be only a small part of my overall responsibilities. As the last week has been … Continued
Some changes to the degree content
We are making some small changes to the curriculum and structure of the Master of Finance degree. It’s still quite early days for the course so we continue to watch and learn how it’s going. The content is to remain … Continued
Speculation versus gambling
I once came across a definitional difference between financial speculation and gambling. This might seem rather trivial, or only of interest to some moral philosophers. But it was of great significance when the Chicago Board of Trade was trying to … Continued
The revival of the IMF
A few years ago a course on financial institutions would mention the IMF as a matter almost of politeness. An organisation that was created in 1944 for a role which ceased to make sense after 1971 seemed to be surviving, … Continued
Greece, the Eurozone and the EU
There is plenty of excellent commentary on the rapidly unfolding Greek financial crisis so I want to stand back slightly and muse on the bigger picture. This is an economic problem that arose from a political goal. There is a … Continued
Hedge funds as employers
MFin and MBA students often ask about working for hedge funds. I’ve never worked for a hedge fund but used to have several as clients and have done some consulting for a couple, which gave me some inside perspectives. Most … Continued
What you know or who you know…?
A student told me the other day that getting a job depended more on who you know than what you know. While I would agree that it helps to have contacts or friends in the business, I don’t agree with … Continued
The quant spectrum
Is the Cambridge Master of Finance a course for quants? In short, no, but it’s worth commenting a bit more on this. Finance has become a lot more quantitative over the years so that the entry level requirements for some … Continued
Financial analysts versus consultants
The approach of the annual group consulting project (GCP) on the MFin prompts me to think what the differences are between financial analysts who work in investment banks and those who work in consulting firms. There are many shared skills … Continued
What sort of people work in finance?
Cambridge University’s Judge Business School has a strong collaborative ethos. So for example students are not “incentivised” by being told their grades relative to each other. We tell them the actual mark, the class mean and standard deviation but no … Continued