[Singapore, 25 June 2013 (Tuesday)] – The Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Master of Science in Wealth Management (MWM) programme has been ranked second in the world by The Financial Times (FT) in its Masters in Finance Post-experience Ranking 2013, making SMU the top institution in Asia to be ranked.

“SMU’s Master of Science in Wealth Management programme is distinctive for the fact that it was developed in close collaboration with the Wealth Management Institute and is supported by the wealth management industry.  Participants in the programme benefit from a broad-based education and get strong grounding in wealth management through interactions with both practitioners and academics.  They also get international exposure through the partnerships with Yale School of Management and the Swiss Finance Institute.  It is therefore rewarding to know that the programme has done well, particularly in providing students with international exposure and placing graduates in full-time positions,” said Professor Howard Thomas, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, SMU.

“We are also proud to learn that, among the schools ranked, our graduates top the list in terms of career progression three years after graduation,” he added.

Launched in 2004, SMU’s MWM is a 12-month full-time programme that comprises a rigorous curriculum which leverages on the strengths of four institutions – SMU, Wealth Management Institute, Swiss Finance Institute and Yale University, across three continents – Asia, Europe and USA.  The modular structure of the programme allows professionals to pursue a Master’s degree while working; those without wealth management experience can embark on an internship to enhance their employability.  The programme, which has trained nearly 400 wealth managers to date, will be welcoming its 10^th batch next month.

Overall, the ranking demonstrates a high level of satisfaction amongst SMU’s MWM alumni.  The survey found that SMU MWM alumni earn an average of US$85,836 three years after graduation and are the second-highest paid in the marketplace amongst the top five institutions listed.  Among the five institutions, the SMU programme also saw the highest percentage of graduates who received employment within three months of graduation (85%) and the highest percentage of company internships (47%).  FT’s survey also ranked SMU first in ‘Careers’, ‘Placement Success’ and ‘International Course Experience’.

This is the third year that FT is conducting the survey.  To be eligible, schools must be internationally accredited and the programmes must have run for at least four consecutive years.  The ranking considers the features of the institutions and their programmes, and is based on two questionnaires – one completed by alumni who have been in the workplace for three years since graduation and another by the business schools themselves.

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The full results can be downloaded here.

About SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business

SMU commenced its curriculum in 2000 with the School of Business, which welcomed its pioneer cohort of students in August 2000. In 2004, the Lee Foundation contributed S$50 million to SMU in honour of the late Dr Lee Kong Chian, a well-known Southeast Asian businessman, philanthropist and community leader.  In recognition of the Lee Foundation's generosity, SMU named in perpetuity the School of Business, the building and the university-wide scholars programme after Dr Lee Kong Chian.

Today, Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) is a dynamic Asian business school with about 3,000 students and over a hundred full-time faculty members with postgraduate degrees from renowned universities such as Cornell, Harvard, INSEAD, Oxford, Stanford and Yale.  The school offers undergraduate, master's (including MBA and EMBA) and doctoral programmes and is affiliated with a number of research centres such as the Institute of Service Excellence and the Centre for Marketing Excellence.

In 2011, LKCSB received both the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation and a five-year EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) accreditation.  For both accreditations, the School has the distinction of being one of the youngest schools in the world to be accredited.  In June 2012, LKCSB also gained admission into the EMBA Council to join the ranks of other internationally-renowned business schools.  www.business.smu.edu.sg