Every fall, many students from China’s key universities, including 25 percent of Peking University and Tsinghua University graduates, chose Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) for graduate study. The recently released PHBS 2016 employment report tracks some outcomes.
A total of 252 Chinese students graduated from PHBS with masters’ degrees in finance, management or economics in 2016. Some graduates also completed the dual degree program either in financial engineering at National University of Singapore (NUS) or in economics at Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Many graduates are now pursuing careers in the financial sector or devoting themselves to academic research. It shows that about 95% of graduates choose to enter the job market, and 4% choose to pursue doctoral degrees in the U.S., Italy, Singapore and Hong Kong.
PHBS 2016 graduates stand out in a fiercely-competitive job market with a majority of the graduates working in leading finance and management consulting companies. Among the 240 students who choose to enter the job market, 53% initiated their career in the investment banking sector and securities, including companies like CICC, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Inc ., CITIC Securities, JP Morgan Chase & Co (Hong Kong), and Deutsche Bank. Security companies, commercial banks, and fund companies are among the top three employers, which attracted 37%, 16%, and 9% of the graduates respectively. These are closely followed by asset managment companies, government, and VC/PE with 8%, 8% and 7% respectively.
Graduates who find employment in government and state-owned institutions are mainly working in vital economic policy decision-making departments like General Office of the State Council, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and the Beijing Development and Reform Commission. In addition, two graduates are doing academic research at the South Korea Institute of Science and Technology, as well as the Peking University New Structural Economics Research Center.
Compared with previous years, the number of PHBS graduates pursuing doctoral degree in economics, finance, and management in top-tier universities are on the rise. In 2016, nine graduates got offers from prestigious universities like Wisconsin, Madison, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Tech University, and University of Florida, etc.
Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen still remain the most desirable metropolises for young talent, attracting 89% of new graduates, compared with 86% last year. Capital cities in other provinces are also attractive. What’s the unique charm of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen? A research paper focusing on the relationship of returns achieved by hedge fund managers and their work experience found that the annual returns on funds set up by top managers with work experience in global financial centers (such as New York and London) are 1.5% higher than that of other funds. Knowledge and information can be effectively and rapidly passed to new graduates in those cities.
PHBS’s stated mission is to build students’ competence, wisdom, fitness and moral integrity to cultivate leadership, self-discipline and global vision. Currently, PHBS is working toward building a world-class business school with international faculty, modern facilities and a state-of-art financial lab to support students’ education and acquiring professional skills.
By Fabio Deng
Edited by Priscilla Young and Annie Jin
