Postgraduate profile: MSc international securities and investment banking

Gareth Evans took an MSc in investment banking to build up specialist knowledge in the sector.

After completing my undergraduate course, I spent a year working in an investment bank in New York and on returning home I decided that a postgraduate qualification in that area would be valuable for my future career. Many of the postgraduate courses required a background in maths or economics at degree level so I had to research carefully to find one that suited my non-financial background.

The realities of postgraduate study

Three terms of constant study and exams was intense. I quickly got to grips with the basics, before having the chance to subsequently specialise in areas including options and interest rate products and also write a research project of my choice. The ICMA Centre has industry-standard dealing rooms with live information feeds, so we were able to get a sense of working on a real trading floor and my tutors included ex-industry professionals so we could learn considerably from their experiences.

Aside from the course itself, I had the opportunity to develop my IT skills and take part in an investment fund group, where students and staff met regularly for open discussion and made investments with a small fund throughout the year. I also won a place in an international trading competition in Canada with three other students from my course. 

We were given different scenarios by a trading manager and then competed against business schools from all over the world to be the best performing team. It was pretty manic but a great experience! Since finishing the course, I have been working in the energy trading business where I have been able to put some of what I learned into practice. I think it's important to remember that you can't expect to walk straight into a job just because you've got a postgraduate qualification but it does give you a good basis to work from.

Gareth studied an MSc in international securities and investment banking at the ICMA Centre.