After Maria studied Principles of Finance during her undergrad’, she became eager to learn more about finance and its relationship with economics. She earned a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (First Class Honours) and before doing a Masters, Chidecided to go into the workplace to find out which areas of finance she would be more interesting in focusing on.

Maria worked in her native Chile, as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of the Finance and Accounting Group specialising in Financial Risk Management. She designed and implemented financial risk management frameworks and policies, devised valuation models for agricultural assets in the forestry, wine and fishing industries, evaluated the effectiveness of hedging strategies, and advised clients in transition to IFRS engagements.
 
“After three years consultancy, I decided to complement my consultancy experience with formal training in finance to consolidate and deepen my knowledge while broadening it in areas I hadn’t worked in,” she says. Maria chose Said because of its reputation for academic excellence, and also to live the Oxford experience. “The School has a very collaborative spirit and provides students with a friendly and supportive environment, which contrasts greatly with the educational experience found at many other universities,” she says.

Maria has found the MSc in Financial Economics both challenging and rewarding. “I have particularly enjoyed the group assignments, which have given me the chance to apply the concepts learned and get to know my peers better – which has made the long hours more enjoyable! I have also enjoyed attending several top speaker events that have allowed me to learn more about the current state of financial and economic affairs, as well as their social implications.”

After Maria graduates she will return to Chile to continue developing her career. “I hope to work for a boutique investment bank, within a diverse corporate finance practice,” she says. “Eventually I would like to set up my own private equity fund.”