Master of Financial Engineering Program

News Releases

November 13, 2009:
Top Firms Hire the Berkeley MFE Students for internships
Goldman Sachs, Citi, Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley are among the top investment banks hiring Master’s in Financial Engineering (MFE) students for mid-program internships.

Sixty of the sixty-two students seeking internships have been placed, with the remaining expected to be placed shortly, according to MFE Executive Director Linda Kreitzman. “The internship program is an integral part of the program; the firms test drive the students for full time opportunities and the students apply the skills they have acquired after completion of 75% of the coursework. The demand for the Berkeley MFEs is huge, says Kreitzman, because our students have a very strong reputation on Wall Street and in other financial institutions.”
All but one internship secured so far this year is paid, at an average monthly salary of $7,354.

Twenty-six students will work in New York, for such organizations as JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, Standard & Poor's, and Barclays Capital. Other students will hone their skills in financial centers ranging from Hong Kong and Tokyo to London and Munich, as well as in such US cities as Houston, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.

Alexandre Jacquet, MFE 10, was seeking exposure to interest rates, foreign exchange, and credit. He found it at JPMorgan in London where he works on the derivatives trading desk in emerging markets. “Being on the emerging markets floor of such a player gives the opportunity to understand the rationale behind diverse trades and to be part of a successful team,” says Jacquet.

Fellow MFE 10 Alexey Orlovsky prepared for his internship by conducting several research projects for different asset classes. “Such focus helped me secure an internship in the Research Center of Deutsche Bank in San Francisco, where I currently investigate behavioral bias in asset allocation decisions of US pension plan sponsors,” says Orlovsky.

The students will work in their internships until January 16, 2010 and classes will resume on January 19, 2010.
June 30, 2009: Executive Director Linda Kreitzman announces that early placement results for the class of 2010 for the Winter Internship Program (October 15, 2009 to Jan 15, 2010) are very promising with already 10 offers (accepted) at I-Banks from BNP Paribas, Citi, and Deutsche Bank, and interviews are under way from additional I-Banks and other financial institutions in the US and the world. "The Berkeley MFE students have the reputation of being well rounded on Wall Street and the financial community at large," says Kreitzman. "We placed 100% of the students in paid internships for the class of 2009 and we intend to achieve the same results this year," adds Kreitzman.