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Asper MBA launches Financial Analyst concentration

January 7, 2016 — 

The Asper MBA program has launched a specialized Financial Analyst concentration for students seeking accredited, ethics-based academic training in finance. The concentration will be open to students beginning Fall 2016.

“Our new concentration builds on already established strengths within the Asper School, including award-winning faculty and a strong Finance program,” says Michael Benarroch, Dean and CPA Manitoba Chair in Business Leadership, Asper School of Business. “It will provide our MBA graduates with skills and knowledge that are in high demand throughout the world.”

Marci Elliott, Executive Director of the Asper MBA, says the concentration responds to urgent industry needs.

“The past two decades have marked a dramatic increase in global financial market volatility, and a surge in the demand for ethical financial services professionals equipped to face heightened financial market risks and operational complexities.”

The only program of its kind between British Columbia and Ontario, the Financial Analyst concentration will prepare students to write all three levels of exams needed to obtain a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, with a focus on the Level 1 exam. The CFA designation is one of the most respected and globally recognized credentials in the financial services industry.

“The CFA Institute sets professional and ethical standards for financial services professionals worldwide,” says Elliott. “We worked with the CFA to map over 70 per cent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge into our concentration, in addition to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.”

Graduates of the Asper MBA (Financial Analyst stream) and a CFA designation will be qualified to pursue job opportunities at financial service firms including banks, pension funds, insurance companies, investment banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, asset management firms, and brokerage firms.

“There is no doubt in my mind that an individual who has attained the CFA designation is better equipped to be successful in his or her career,” says Timothy E. Burt, CFA

President, CEO and CIO of Cardinal Capital Management, Inc. “The Asper School of Business is taking what I believe is a necessary leap toward the future of finance. The high level of knowledge and skill needed to enter, succeed and flourish in this extremely complex field cannot be obtained merely through industry experience. This MBA concentration will produce the type of talent our province needs to grow and continue to maintain its competitive edge.”

 

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