Do Kyun Kim

What made you decide to do a Master in Finance?

Having had several professions in different industries, I was determined to continue my career in the finance industry with an international exposure. Although I have learned various concepts and techniques in finance, I did not have a proper finance education. It was a natural choice to do Master in Finance as I could further expand my knowledge in financing subjects while developing management skills and leadership in light of upcoming career shift from a practitioner to a manager.

Why the INSEAD EMFin amongst all other available Master programmes worldwide?

I like the INSEAD EMFin programme most due to its several merits. Firstly, it covered the broad spectrum of corporate finance and capital market. I did not wish to focus on one particular finance subject nor to become “Quants" in financial engineering. Secondly, INSEAD has a very strong global brand name particularly in Asia and Europe where I had been working and desire to work in the future. Lastly, I liked the format of the programme: it enabled me to continue working as I did not wish to give up my existing job which I was enjoying. 

Did the programme meet or exceed your expectations?

Yes, I think it is literally worth every penny (I was self-sponsored). INSEAD EMFin exceeded my expectation, which was to have a better understanding of overall finance subjects. At the end of each module, I came home with a fresh new insight that helped me improve my performance at work. I was fully recharged with a positive energy/motivation from the classmate and faculties.

Now I am also connected to the immense INSEAD network which benefited my career development. 

How did the EMFin help you in your career?

While developing expertise in a special area of focus (in my case, structured finance/project finance), EMFin helped me form a framework to understand various subjects in the financial industry. And it eventually helped me gain the capacity to handle the issues that are likely to be subjects of CFOs. I think this programme paved a way to learn key relationships with CFOs by understanding their subjects in finance or to ultimately step up as CFO myself.

Do share with us your classroom experience!

The quality of professors was impeccable in a sense that they not only have deep academic insights but also were connected to the finance practice, which is rapidly changing these days.

I found a way to apply what I learn from school to my job. Also, I learnt from my diverse classmates who were bright and open-minded. We freely exchanged our thoughts in a meaningful manner and influenced one another, making my a group assignment an enjoyable and intellectual challenge.

What is one module that you enjoyed most, and why?

I enjoyed Prof. Peter's accounting course most. I would have never imagined that accounting could be so exciting before taking his class. He wisely used case studies for us to understand the important accounting issues properly and greatly helped me improve extracting information and gain insight from financial statements. I am still using most of what I learnt from his lecture in my daily job.

Can you share the multi-campus experience?

Having lived in Singapore for several years before, I loved to go back to the Singapore campus to study. Singapore is a truly international and attractive city and is so easy to adapt to. I also enjoyed the module in Fontainebleau, which is a small village and all the classmates could meet one another after school.

What advice will you give to potential participants?

We all know that it is not so easy to be away from your job for 12 weeks. In a short run, you would face a challenge to continue working and studying at the same time. For those who are not self-employed, you will need support from your senior managers, some of whom, may not like you being away from work. However, I would recommend this to those who wish to achieve their ambitious objectives in their career in finance. I am sure that INSEAD can facilitate the need of potential participants to reach their career goal in life.