Singapore, 19 October 2015 (Monday) – For the first time, the Singapore Management University (SMU) Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) has been ranked in the Financial Times (FT) Executive MBA Ranking.  In its debut, the business school’s Executive MBA (EMBA) programme set up four years ago achieved a good standing of 10^th position among Asian institutions, and 36^th globally this year. It is also the highest-ranked new entrant in 2015.

The findings of the FT Executive MBA Ranking 2015 reveal that SMU’s EMBA graduates commanded the highest salary compared to those from other Singaporean institutions. They are also among the better paid in Asia and the world.

Being ranked highly for pre-EMBA work experiences (6^th globally and 4^th in Asia) and the international course experience (21^st globally and 5^th in Asia), the SMU EMBA provides outstanding exposure through its senior student profile and global exposure.  It is also notable that LKCSB made the top 100 on the first year of qualifying for FT’s EMBA rankings.

Professor Gerard George, Dean of SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business, and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said, “I’m delighted that yet another programme from our School has been recognised by Financial Times as among the best in the world.  Taught interactively in a dynamic city campus in Singapore with study stints in China, India and the USA, the SMU EMBA offers a truly global education that prepares the modern leader for top leadership roles in Asia.  In a relatively short span of four years, we have been successful in attracting senior leaders from a wide variety of industries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with more than 75 per cent of the class comprising C-suite and Director-level executives with an average of 20 years of working experience.  This accolade is a strong testimony to the high-quality education that we offer; it also reaffirms our journey towards being the best among Asian business schools.”

The SMU EMBA, which was first introduced in 2011, is an innovative programme designed to provide the modern leader with both Asian and global business perspectives.  Delivered in a combination of intense one to two week-long sessions and concentrated three-day weekends, the 12-month  modular programme offers overseas study segments held in renowned partner universities, namely the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University in China,  the Indian School of Business in India, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. This offers participants the unique opportunity to learn from four world-class institutions.

Notably, its curriculum has been designed in consultation with more than 100 corporate leaders from Asia, resulting in first-of-its-kind or customised modules such as “Agile and Disruptive Strategy”, “Network and Alliance Building” etc.  Professors with vast international research and consultancy experiences teach in small-size classes comprising a very senior profile of students who are industry leaders from diverse backgrounds, to offer participants an enriching experience. The programme, which received its fifth cohort in May 2015, has graduated more than 130 graduates from 20 countries in the past four years.

This is FT’s 15^th annual ranking of EMBA degrees.  EMBA programmes must meet strict criteria in order to be considered for the ranking – schools must be accredited by either the American AACSB or the European EQUIS accreditation bodies, and the programmes must have run for at least four consecutive years.  This year, 129 programmes from across six regions, namely Africa, Asia/Oceania, Europe, Middle East, North America and South America, took part in the ranking process.

In June this year, SMU LKCSB  ranked third in the world in the Financial Times (FT) Global Masters in Finance Post-experience Ranking 2015 for its Master of Science in Wealth Management (MWM) programme.  The School is the only institution in Asia to make it to the top five positions globally, placing just after London Business School and University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.  The business school also emerged second in Asia and 34^th in the world in the FT Global Masters in Finance Pre-experience Ranking 2015 for its Master of Science in Applied Finance (MAF) programme.  According to FT, LKCSB is the first school to have ever been featured in both the Pre-experience and Post-experience rankings, and is the highest-positioned new entrant.

For full results and more details, please refer to the following:

• FT EMBA Rankings 2015: http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/executive-mba-ranking-2015/pdf
• FT EMBA Rankings 2015 Methodology: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/86fa3b0a-570f-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html#axzz3oyOQyXer

For more information on the SMU EMBA programme, please refer to http://www.smu.edu.sg/programmes/postgraduate/emba

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