We are excited to share with you the recording of our Alumni Webinar held in June.
In this video, you will find inspirational insights from two esteemed MSGF alumni. They will discuss their reasons for choosing the program, the value and benefits they gained from the experience, as well as provide tips on getting support from employers and family, time management, and more. You will also receive an overview of the program and guidance on the next steps for applications.
Below is an extracted transcript of the Alumni webinar.
To help you efficiently locate the information interests you, we have organized the content into the following topics. Simply click on the sub-headings outlined below to be directed to the corresponding sections.
INTRODUCTION
PROGRAM INTRODUCTION:
ALUMNI TALK:
CONCLUSION:
INTRODUCTION
BRONWEN:
Hello everyone and welcome. I'm so pleased to see everyone here today to learn about the HKUST - NYU Stern Master of Science in Global Finance program.
Today, we're having a wonderful alumni panel discussion with two of our esteemed alumni from the class of 2019. But to start, my name is Bronwen Sanders and I'm a director of admissions for NYU Stern. And today, for the next 40 to 45 minutes or so, our panelists will talk about their experience in the program, including the impact that the program has had on their careers.
Our goal today is to share some information with you about the MSGF program, answer your questions and help you understand whether the program is a good fit for you.
PROGRAM INTRODUCTION
[Overview]
BRONWEN:
The MSGF program is a partnership jointly organized by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, otherwise known as HKUST, and the NYU Stern School of Business.
The partnership stands apart as one of the leading jointed reprograms in the global finance space. As the program is hosted by both HKUST and NYU Stern, Professionals learn from a mix of faculty with knowledge of both the Eastern and Western Finance markets.
The program is a one-year part-time program designed for experienced working professionals.
The faculty includes top notch professors from HKUST and NYU Stern's renowned scholars who bring research insights into the classroom and supplement with practical industry insights.
The program’s just-in-time delivery of topics ensures that participants can immediately apply what they learn in the classroom to their work environment.
Overall, the format of the program offers us prestigious and comprehensive finance education that is designed for busy working professionals with a focus on practical learning, industry connections and a powerful global network.
[Schedule and Curriculum]
The MSGF program is designed as a part-time one-year executive program with six intensive modules across New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai, three financial centers of the world.
We have one intake per year and right now we are recruiting for applications for the class of 2025 that begins this coming November of 2024.
The curriculum and the program cover a broad range of finance topics that are always evolving based on current trending topics and competencies to stay competitive in the finance industry. Additionally, students work in groups on an integrated project where students form teams with like-minded individuals to work on real life finance issues.
All modules will be held in person with your cohort and faculty and take place approximately 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM each day with some evening social engagements.
We regularly update the curriculum to reflect the change of the financial world. New content such as behavioral finance, Fintech and climate risk have been added to the curriculum so that our students will keep abreast of the latest developments in the financial world.
Our teaching faculty are not only involved in teaching and research. They also work very closely with practitioners. They customize the class discussions based on the industry's perspective so that our students will learn how to apply the knowledge to solve real world issues.
And it's important to note that when you're not physically in a module, you're still engaged with the program, and this workload is approximately 25 hours per week. And this is through online readings and assignments, either to prepare you for an upcoming in person session or to integrate the learnings from a previous session. Upon completion of all modules and the successful presentation of an integrated project, graduates are awarded a Master of Science in Finance.
ALUMNI TALK WITH Caroline Qin and Steven Demmler
[Career Background]
BRONWEN:
Welcome Steven and Caroline. Thank you both so much for being here today. I want to start by doing quick introductions. Caroline, ladies first, I would love if you could tell me a little bit about your background, what you were doing when you started the program, and where you are now.
CAROLINE:
Hi, everyone. This is Caroline. I'm currently an SVP at Citibank under the Institutional Credit Management, essentially, I'm covering the credit underwriting for large corporates in the U.S. When I started the program in 2019. I was a VP at a Chinese bank, the China Construction Bank.
BRONWEN:
Great, and Steven?
STEVEN:
In 2019, I was at Citigroup, trading global macro derivatives following 12 years or so of trading various asset classes, some very esoteric like energy efficiency, down to kind of vanilla bonds and stuff like that.
I've made a left turn now and started an entertainment finance company that is essentially a private equity and production company. We just produced the film by Paul Schrader that premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Just got back a week ago from doing the red carpet and all that, which was wild.
BRONWEN:
Congratulations. That's amazing.
STEVEN:
Thank you. And then we've also done private equity real estate and purchased a 20-acre film studio out of bankruptcy in downtown Dallas and are in the middle of renovating it. You know, kind of up to top standards to then hopefully do something positive with.
And I will say I've done all of this with a classmate of Caroline and me. We're partners at Talon and I met him in the program.
[Reasons for pursuing the MSGF program]
BRONWEN:
Given where you were three or four years ago, what prompted you to pursue the MSGF program?
STEVEN:
I looked at the curriculum and there are some of the modules more familiar to me. Obviously being a derivatives trader, the derivatives module was a little more straightforward for me, but I hadn't done corporate finance. You don't need it for a lot of what I did in trading, so there were gaps in my background.
I was a fan of two things primarily: One was the executive structure. I didn't have to bail on a profitable job to go back to school and then hopefully get the same profitable job or slightly better back. Then two was about broadening where I do business. For me, it was important that the program was in New York, where I'm from, but also in Hong Kong, and a sprinkling of Shanghai.
CAROLINE:
For me, I think the main motivation is that I didn't want to change my career track completely. I like what I was doing. I was quite clear I wanted to do a part-time program, so I started searching for a program that had a compressed time schedule. It allowed me to have better work life balance.
I was also looking for a program with global exposure. Personally, I also have a very global exposure. I grew up in China, then moved to Singapore to study and worked there for 30 years before I moved to the US. I really appreciate the value of the global connectivity the program offers.
Also, when I first started the program, I just moved to the place, so I really appreciated the NYU angle, which allowed me to connect better with the workplace and with how the things had been run in the Western world.
BRONWEN:
Great. And Caroline, did you have specific interest in any of the courses that were being offered?
CAROLINE:
Yeah. I was interested in the up-and-coming things like blockchain, and I found the module on cryptocurrency very interesting. I'm glad to see now there are more such courses added to the curriculum.
BRONWEN:
For sure. And Steven, obviously you've made a very interesting pivot right since graduating from the program. How did the program link that kind of change for you?
STEVEN:
Sure. It's not a random pivot from trading into entertainment. I grew up in New York and in entertainment. “I did 150 episodes of Saturday Night Live and wound up being a junior writer before I chickened out” is how I say it, because that was always my goal. “I wish I could be a writer, but I really love food and shelter, so I went into finance” is what I tell people.
Part of my journey in MSGF was taking the time to fill in gaps, but also thinking about what putting those things together might look like. Not giving up a pretty good career in finance to do this, but how to do the things together.
The great part of a cohort traveling back and forth around the world is this mix. What that does is kind of like when you go away to summer camp. You're all going through this thing that's really short but intense and all over the place together.
It was through the conversations I wound up helping my now partner out with a business deal he was doing outside of the program. He called and asked if I could help and I said, well, it's not really what I do, but I tried. It worked, and it helped. That kind of kicked off our conversation of “what else do you want to do? What else do you want to try?” The modules were great, but for me the most valuable part was the space between them when we were all forced to be somewhere that wasn't home. The conversations and the time spent really generated the idea for talent.
BRONWEN:
What drew you to the program specifically? Was the global presence something interesting to you?
STEVEN:
Yeah, I think that was the primary thing.
I got into the MSGF program and MIT’s MBA, which is very mathematical and rigorous and is for what it is for. But to me it was too insular, and I liked the idea of using the tools, because ultimately the modules provide you tools to go do whatever you want. I liked having those tools in a global context and thinking from the beginning about “how does this apply”? If I feel like moving to Hong Kong, how do I make all of this work for me? You know, that's just who I am. I'm always like “how do I do something different and interesting with what was given to me?” So, for me the global aspect of it was really important.
Then if I'm to be frank, I'm a born and raised Manhattan person, so I've been wanting to go to NYU. It was a great excuse also for me to finally do that. And I traded at a fund in Hong Kong for about a year and a half prior. They were two cities where I was comfortable.
[CFA and MSGF Program]
BRONWEN:
Caroline, I know you had your CFA coming into the program. Could you tell me what drew you to the program and how do you feel that the program complements or differs from getting the CFA certification?
CAROLINE:
That's a good question. CFA feels like a study journey on your own and you try to accomplish level 1, level 2, level 3… so that really help with your academic rigor.
But what I like about this program is the classroom experience. Your classmates are made up of people around the world. They really give different perspectives. [For instance,] in our cohort we had someone from Russia. For certain countries, which you probably only read about in the newspapers, having someone from there to chat with can be very helpful to understand the global events.
[Full-time MBA vs part-time MSGF program]
BRONWEN:
Questions that we get often from prospective students is what kind of program is right for them. Some people are thinking about pursuing a full-time MBA program or maybe even a part-time Executive MBA program. Any advice that you would give to someone trying to decide between the different types of programs?
STEVEN:
I'm very biased because clearly, I made a very specific choice. For me, I have not seen a full-time MBA outweigh a Master of Science obtained in this way. It's because while I was getting a master’s, I produced a bunch of value at a real job and was able to do both at the same time, right?
For me, it's a competitive advantage to not pause your career and then come back. With every other person who took time off to do the full-time MBA, it is like they’re restarting. At the same time, the jobs may or may not be what you want at that moment, and that's all you have to go for. So, it seems strategically more palatable or intelligent to me to be succeeding in two things at once without overburdening my time, right?
Citigroup was kind to me, so I was able to allocate the time I needed for school. It truly wasn't a 40-hour week gone to 80. It was a work week now just contained two things and I was kind of militant about my time management throughout the program.
CAROLINE:
For me, I really didn't want to take a pause to my career. I want to continue in this career path, that's why I choose a part-time program over a full-time MBA program. Some programs can be over three years, but the MSGF program is one-year. I think the impact to the family to me is more manageable.
[Support from the employer and family]
BRONWEN:
Some students feel they're busy. They're working professionals. They have families. They have a full-time job. Obviously, both of you received support from your companies in terms of that time off you would need to take to attend the modules. Could you tell me a little about how you were able to convince your employers for that time off?
STEVEN:
Sure. What I pitched it as was my ability to grow into trading related asset classes and help desks that were struggling improve because my desk was doing well. And I said if I do this, then I can maybe take this over.
I think that was probably my backup. It wasn't not true, but it wasn't what I wanted to come out of it. But ultimately it also was accurate. If I had stayed there, I could do that because of this program. Therefore, it added value to Citi.
But I will say what was more important was getting support from my wife because we have two kids. If anybody is considering and has a family and children, I’d recommend spending the time ahead of time to look at the modules and understand when you'll be gone and when you'll be jet-lagged, when you'll be home, and then also be working and worried about a final or an integrative project. Just be very proactive in planning, because if you are, it's all very doable. It all does fit in and slot in if you do the work up front.
CAROLINE:
On the employer side, I looked at the talent development program. I made use of that and also, I tried to plan my travel carefully. I also had a 2-year-old at that time. Getting the family support from my husband, or even from my mom, is definitely important.
[Tips on time management]
BRONWEN:
What was your experience with the assignments that happened, either leading up to a module or finishing a module? Did you have any good tips on how to balance between work and home?
STEVEN:
Yeah, I did a lot of reading and modeling on planes. You know, it's a 15-and-a-half-hour direct flight for me to and from Hong Kong. I mean 30 hours is a week of work. I was just very fastidious with my time management.
For me, it was more about what I am going to put on hold or give up for the next year to commit to this. It's kind of a rank ordering of priorities and then accepting that you can't do everything you're going to do for a year, because this is going to add more value and open up doors after that, right? And then a commitment to the process.
CAROLINE:
I had to spend quite a few long weekends on those assignments and projects. But it's better than a three-year program, for which I would probably spend more weekends doing that. I mean, there will be some sacrifice of personal time or family time, but I think it’s all worth it.
[Who would benefit from the MSGF program]
BRONWEN:
One last question I wanted to ask is what kind of person would you think that would really benefit from the MSFG program?
CAROLINE:
I recommend this program to people who want to have the global exposure rather than stick to one classroom to finish everything. If the job involves talking to international clients or working in international intuitions, I think this program is definitely helpful. Regardless of whether the person has finance background or not, I think this program will add value.
I will recommend this program to people with an open mind and those who want to gain that global exposure and also to continue in their career track, instead of taking a pause. I think they are both valuable considerations.
STEVEN:
The program is valuable for if you're at bank and if you want to move laterally to a different part of the bank and feel you have gaps, this probably fills in those gaps, so you're able to do that in a convincing way. To the bank, because both NYU and HKUST have such strong brands that this institution is aware of.
At the same time, I think I'm evidence you can take those tools and build whatever you want. I think really, it's for somebody who just wants to take the time to think. I don't know how to say it right, like I used the time to kind of pause trying to get the next promotion and to just focus on me for a year, and that turned out to be one of the most valuable pieces of it.
[Next steps for potential applicants]
BRONWEN:
Great advice. Before I formally say thank you to both of you, for those listening in, we would love to talk to you.
We'd love to have a one-on-one call with you if you are interested in the program, just in terms of next steps, if you haven't already. We do ask you to submit a preliminary information form with it. It just takes 3 minutes to complete and with your resume attached.
HKUST Office: msgf@ust.hk
NYU Stern Office: msgf@stern.nyu.edu
These are the emails for both HKUST and NYU stern.
Our next deadline is coming up very quickly on August 16. We are rolling admissions, but particularly for non-Hong Kong based students, we do recommend getting in as soon as possible to work through the visas for Hong Kong. But again, please do reach out to us. We're here to help on the admissions.
Stephen and Caroline, thank you both so much for your time today. It's great to see both of you doing so well just three to four years after the program and thank you both again for being with us today.
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