Victor Fradet, 27, Nash Yang, 29, and Fabien Mayer, 21, are at very different stages of their careers. But in the journey towards being a captain of their destiny in the financial industry, their roads intersected at ESSEC Asia-Pacific business school.

Victor was pretty new to mechanical engineering. At the same time, Nash had years of experience as a civil engineer and a master’s degree, and Fabien came fresh out of business school in Italy.

Although ESSEC’s Master in Finance (MIF) meant different things to each of them, their stories show a common thread: the MIF was key to unlocking a brighter future.

Victor Fradet: A Chance for New Beginnings

Today, Victor, class of 2020, works at Standard Chartered Bank designing and pricing investment solutions for corporate and hedge funds in Asia. The work is fast-paced and intense—a world away from his life in the laboratory.

Yet, the transition has been a smooth one. In fact, Victor notes that engineers and finance professionals have a lot in common: they must be rigorous, analytical, and comfortable with complex mathematical calculations, especially when dealing with the financial markets.

ESSEC’s Master in Finance program—with three tracks: Corporate Finance, Fintech and Analytics, and Financial Markets—was, therefore, a perfect fit. Judging from how he secured his job even before graduation, he was perhaps also the ideal choice.

Nash Yang: A Worthwhile Investment

At 29 years old, Nash was slightly older than most of his peers in the MIF. To abandon an established career in engineering was no doubt risky, but he quips that the investment is small “compared to what you can make in the future.” And in any case, no risk, no reward.

His decision was well-calculated, considering ESSEC’s reputation as having the best Master in Finance in the world and a network of partners from Barclays to Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, just to name a few.

Having started in ESSEC only in 2020, he has already begun to reap the benefits. Besides acquiring substantial knowledge, he secured a year-long wealth management traineeship at UBS upon graduation.

Fabien Mayer: Finding Value in Versatility

While Victor and Nash want to specialize, Fabien’s time at ESSEC has inspired him to diversify.

“I’m not sure if I will follow the standard path of starting in investment banking or a graduate program after all,” he muses.

He shares that his current internship as an investment analyst at SPRIM Global has demonstrated how the knowledge acquired at ESSEC translates across different sectors and functions. This opened his eyes to the possibilities and piqued his interest in learning about other industries.

Like their roads into ESSEC, Fabien, Victor, and Nash have embarked on vastly different trajectories when they graduated. But that is the beauty of the MIF program—that with it in their arsenal, they are more than equipped to flip the odds in their favor. As they say, the future favors the bold.