About Swiss Finance Institute

What did you learn from your experience at Swiss Finance Institute?

Investment banking was always something that I had been very interested in, but it is very difficult to understand exactly what the job involves if you have not had an appropriate amount of industry experience. Swiss Finance Institute opened my eyes to the industry. Any classroom instructor can teach you some of the fundamental concepts underlying the industry, but only SFA instructors have the extensive industry experience that allows them to provide an insider’s perspective on careers in investment banking. In addition to learning and applying various concepts, we learned exactly how the industry functions – that is, who does what, how people advance through the ranks, what are the underlying reasons for various deals, etc. We also learned about ways in which to distinguish ourselves during the job search and hiring process. Because our instructors all had extensive industry experience at the executive level, they were able to speak from firsthand knowledge about all of these aspects of a career in investment banking.

What was the best part of your SFA experience?

I really enjoyed meeting new people. It is amazing how well you get to know everyone over the course of only a few weeks. I am sure that the friends I made while at SFA will definitely make great business contacts further down the road as we advance along our various career paths. Outside of the unique curriculum, the caliber and the quality of the program’s participants are really what make the SFA experience so special. Everyone is both excited and motivated to learn about finance and business, and this energy really fuels a lot of the classroom discussions and underlies the bonds that are formed between the participants.

- Cliff Chen, Goldman Sachs