Master in Finance and Strategy

Programme objectives

The Master in Finance and Strategy prepares students for careers in finance and strategic management. Graduates go on to work as analysts in investment banks, as management consultants or as business executives. The programme is structured around three central features, which unite its aims and distinctive features:

• Multidisciplinary training in management, the humanities and social sciences, with a strong professional focus provided by course instructors employed at the highest level of the sector and maintained through a consistent use of practical case studies.
• An even balance of courses in finance and strategy, ensuring that students are equipped to analyse situations from all angles and to design innovative solutions to major contemporary challenges including energy transition and climate disruption.
• A gradual process of specialisation: courses in the first year are designed to equip students from various backgrounds with a shared base of multidisciplinary skills, upon which they build an advanced level of expertise in their chosen concentration during the second year.

Programme Structure

The programme is taught in English with the option of taking some courses in French. It is completed over two years with an increasing specialisation throughout the programme.

In the first year, a series of compulsory courses give students in-depth knowledge of key concepts in finance, linking these to commercial development and competition.

A range of around 40 specialised and professionally-driven elective courses incorporate issues of sustainable strategy and finance, innovation and impact, as well as concerns surrounding data and digital technology.  

• First year, semester 1, all concentrations
• First year, semester 2, all concentrations

An optional gap year between the first and second year of the Master’s programme gives students the opportunity to gain full-time professional experience and to refine their career plans through two six-month internships completed at different organisations. During the second year, students choose a specialism and build up an advanced level of expertise in one of two concentrations: “Finance” or “Strategy and Management”. In addition, they can either choose to:

• Spend six months attending courses at Sciences Po, followed by six months completing an final internship;
• Complete a year-long part-time apprenticeship at an organisation, interspersed with part-time study and culminating in the submission of an apprenticeship report.

Finance Concentration

The finance concentration focuses on valuation methods and financial market instruments and operators. It prepares students for careers in merchant and investment banking. Electives are geared towards deepening understanding of the issues surrounding venture capital as well as specific topics such as banking regulation, blockchain, the impact of artificial intelligence on asset management and the financing of renewable infrastructure.

• Second year, semester 3, Finance concentration
• Second year, semester 4, Finance concentration
• Second year, semester 3, apprenticeship, Finance concentration
• Second year, semester 4, apprenticeship, Finance concentration

Strategy and Management Concentration

The Strategy and Management concentration prepares students particularly for strategic consulting roles, but also for financial or managerial positions in established businesses and startups.

The core courses in strategy and management are complemented with electives covering a wide range of topics related to corporate strategy: digital transition, innovation, negotiation, HR management, supply chain, M&A, financing and risk management.

• Second year: course programme for Semesters 3 and 4, Strategy and Management Concentration

International Business

The International Business concentration groups together the four dual degree programmes offered with the Master in Finance and Strategy. Students enrolled in these programmes have the opportunity to gain dual expertise by spending a first year in Paris taking courses for the Master in Finance and Strategy and a second year studying at the partner university abroad: 

• Fundação Getulio Varga-Escola de Administração de Empresas (Brésil)(eng.)
• Università Bocconi (Italie)(eng.)
• University of Pennsylvania (États-Unis)(eng.)
• University of St. Gallen (Suisse)(eng.)

Career opportunities

The Master in Finance and Strategy equips students for careers in a wide range of roles and sectors: investment banking, strategy or management consultancy firms. private equity, asset management, sustainable finance, insurance, real estate firms, risk management, auditing, financial regulation, strategic or financial management of large companies, start-ups and entrepreneurship etc.

Numerous career events, interview preparation sessions and opportunities for networking with recruiters help to ensure an excellent placement rate for students of the programme. 65% of Master's graduates are offered a job prior to graduating and 95% are employed within six months of graduation.

The Master in Finance and Strategy also offers students the option of working towards certain professional certificates, which further boost their chances of success in the job market.

 Contacts

• Scientific Director: Stéphane Guibaud

Finance and Finance with Apprendiceship concentrations:

• Academic advisor : Georges-Emmanuel Rosmade - Phone: +33 (0)1 45 49 76 17
• Academic assistant: Joelle Delafontaine - Phone: +33 (0)1 45 49 50 29

Strategy and Management concentration; International Business concentrations:

• Academic advisor : Marie Lizardo - Phone: +33 (0)1 45 49 50 09
• Academic assistant: Pauline Mothu - Phone: +33 (0)1 45 49 61 79