Master of Science in Finance

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Master of Science in Finance (MSF) is a Master's degree designed to prepare graduates for careers in financial analysis, investment management and corporate finance. It is, generally, a one-year, non-thesis degree.

In the typical curriculum, core courses, such as corporate finance, financial management and managerial accounting, are preceded by more fundamental courses in economics, accounting, and quantitative methods (time value of money and introductory statistics); at some universities, students with appropriate background may be exempt from (several of) the fundamental courses. Nearly all of the MSF program will include inherently quantitative courses, although there may be some non-quantitative elective coursework involved, such as corporate governance. The MSF usually concludes with advanced, applied topics such as portfolio management and financial modeling.

The MSF curriculum may also include financial economics and financial risk management (and sometimes quantitative finance / computational finance) as advanced topics. Here, the exposure will likely be limited to the generalist level; these areas are usually studied as disciplines in their own right, via specialized degrees in economics and applied mathematics. The emphasis on MSF programs is to have student's gain practical knowledge on useful financial techniques rather than focus on theoretical concepts that would otherwise have zero value in the institutional world.

Programs generally require a bachelor's degree prior to admission, but many do not require that the undergraduate major be in finance, economics, or even a general business degree; the usual requirement is a sufficient level of numeracy - often including some exposure to calculus and / or probability, as well as work experience at the managerial level, for which the former becomes a critical component if the candidate lacks a forementioned finance-related undergraduate degree.

Although there is much overlap with an MBA, an MSF focuses on finance and financial markets and is usually shorter in duration. The MBA, by contrast, is more diverse, covering general aspects of business - such as human resource management and operations management - not dealt with in the MSF. Note that an MBA without a specialization in finance will not have covered many of the topics dealt with in the MSF (breadth), and - often even where there is specialization - those areas that are covered may be in less depth. Although not common, some MBA candidates will dual major with an MBA/MSF, or later pursue an MSF degree, to gain specialized knowledge of a core business unit.

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification is sometimes compared to a Master's in Finance, and in fact, several universities have embedded a significant percentage of the CFA Program "Candidate Body of Knowledge" into their degree programs. In general, though, the CFA program is focused on portfolio management and financial analysis, and provides more depth in these areas than the standard MSF, whereas as regards other areas of finance, the CFA coverage is in less depth or non-existant, such as with topics dealing with advanced practical modeling techniques.