I don’t think I give off that vibe. I’ve always said there’s value in a top full-time MBA program.
I’ve also said before that a CFA vs MBA isn’t a fair comparison . the MBA is so broad and has much farther reaching opps. The CFA is far more targeted.
Help BSwan, I’m being targeted again… I re-read all my replies in this thread, and I didn’t say much at all, certainly not taking any sides or views…
A - From money-minded investor’s point of view:
MBA from top school will pay off in the long term. Take 2 examples:
1/ Supposedly you have $150,000, you decide to invest it by yourself for 10 years, with annual return of 30%
-> In the 10th year, your networth would be ~$2 mil. That’s Good.
2/ If you have $150,000 but spend that for 2 years MBA. So you lag behind 2 years in the race. Upon graduation, with the brand-name, you got a job in a $1 billion asset under management, assume your ability is the same as in case 1, the annual return is 30% and management fee is 0.5% (assuming the usual 2% management fee is eaten up largely by the firm). After 8th years, you earn ~$41 mil. That’s Great!
Or even better, if you learn good marketing skill, management ability and with large rich networth, you can build your own firm, raise more $$$$, get larger portion of management fee (or even carried interest if it’s LBO), you’re even richer.
MBA degree is an education that helps to fasten your wealth accumulation in long term - if you are looking from money-only point of view.
Ray Dalio ($3 billion) was a smart investor (who say no, please identify yourself!!) even before enrolling MBA class. After MBA he did the same thing, but smarter. Now he has thousands of smart guys working FOR him. He built a money machine for him by multiplying his talents, time and energy. He surely know the concept of “leverage” in talent management. Admire! (Hmmm… My dream is simply to intern there @ Bridgewater for 3-6 months w/ just enough living allowance. Oh my cheap dream!)
B - From other perspectives:
Normally after some years working you are kind of stuck in one field and have quite minimal understanding or perspectives in other fields (functions/industries/countries). I think MBA can broaden your view, hence boost creativity.
Also, what if you are in a career track that leads you to nowhere, but the busy work schedule keeps you away from learning new skills and knowledge required for your dream (or near, or at least more interesting) job? Or you kind of lack of leadership skill, or other colleagues with higher rank simply all have MBA ivy-league degrees? Sorry, it’s REALLY tough to get those MBA guys listen to you, unless you are of WAY higher seniority (respected in some cultures, know something WAY better than those guys or have bunch of money (ie: you are the investor/the company’s owner).
Or simply, you just want to have a time of your life, live in a new country, indulge yourself in a new culture etc. (I’m not elaborating more about this group because I don’t have the luxury to be part of this group using my own money!)
Simply put, MBA has its unique value for ambitious people, but since it involves large money & time, think hard before enrolling that. To me it’s a yes definitely, but I have to make sure that I have enough money to survive during and 3-4 months after MBA. I meant it, SURVIVE - because once it’s worth doing it, it should be done by all means but within a safety margin.
Please let me know where I can apply that they will pay me 50 bps of AUM or 50 bps of profits (don’t have time to reverse engineer your calc. I will apply today.
i’ll take a smaller bps pay, just show me how to get 30% annual growth for a decade.
Guys, the assumptions are definitely optimistic, just for the fun of the exercise. The point here is not whether the assumptions are realistic or not, but it’s the expected earning under the same set of assumptions of one person with MBA (who is smart enough to utilize that value to sell to big corps which often seek out for not only well-trained but also have high tolerance for corporate world). Also, don’t forget the Other perspectives/Other opportunities open to him/her.
Btw, I don’t have any MBA degree … Not enough $ for that big investment yet. Anyway, compare to CFA value, I don’t think a MBA degree that ranks out of the top 50 league table worths it. But top 20 or even 50 MBA degrees definitely have good values
You are just too good, numi! #respect
+1
I want to be Numi when I grow up *if that ever happens*