MBA recruitment trends, Fintech assessment

Hello from London. In this edition, we highlight a strong jobs market for MBAs, surveys stressing the societal mission of business schools and developments in data skills.

Business school news

MBA graduates are still enjoying a strong jobs market, but that does not mean they can expect rising salaries. The latest recruiters survey by business school entrance exam administrator GMAC found that while almost 9 out of 10 employers were either confident or highly confident in the ability of business schools to prepare students to be successful in their organisations, median starting salaries for new MBA graduates was stuck at $115,000, a level unchanged in three years.

Four-fifths of business schools surveyed by the Association of MBAs said they were under pressure to change their fundamental value proposition and business model, according to a survey. More than half believed their role was to develop and nurture responsible managers.

Imperial College Business School has teamed up with apprenticeship training body Corndel to teach data skills to employees at some of the UK’s largest employers. UBS, Bupa, BP and Aon are among the companies sending staff on the data driven professional programme, which starts in September. A growing number of British business schools are offering such courses, in part because they can be funded by an apprenticeship levy imposed on large employers in England.

Jonathan Moules

Looking for transformational businesses

Entries are invited for the FT/IFC transformational business awards. We are seeking submissions by 31 July for companies and initiatives created since 2016 with annual revenues of at least $3mn or a capital base of at least $5mm.

Categories are for companies making a difference to human capital, climate change, finance and gender-lens finance. There is also recognition on new deep tech ideas with the potential, with additional funding, to have a transformational impact.

Message in a chart

Fintech continues to accelerate: it is growing and going mainstream. People exploring or working in finance already know that changes in fintech are rapid, dynamic and global. However, business schools could do better in teaching the topic. In the latest Masters in Finance ranking, only two-fifths of the graduates rated nine or 10 out of 10 for the topic. The score is lower among MBA alumni.

Enthusiasm among students is gaining momentum. Optimism that tech can improve financial services, for example by making transactions faster and more secure, is trigging interest. Schools in Asia Pacific are doing better in teaching Fintech than schools in other regions.

Leo Cremonezi and Sam Stephens

This week’s reading

Nato to increase forces on high alert to 300,000
Alliance’s chief outlines plan to upgrade defence of Baltics and raise number of troops ready to deploy more than sevenfold

China lured graduate jobseekers into digital espionage
FT investigation reveals student translators were targeted by front company for Beijing-backed hacking group APT40

Klarna valuation crashes to $6.5bn from $46bn
fintech’s decline highlights how investors are souring on ‘buy now, pay later’ sector

Quiz: Are you up to date with the news?

Japan’s biggest semiconductor makers warned that the government’s push to revive the domestic chip industry is being threatened by what? Test yourself with ten questions.

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