- Finance is one slice of a placement class: 17 to 23 percent of offers at IIM Lucknow, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore and IIM Rohtak. Consulting is larger at each.
- BFSI shares look bigger (TAPMI 34 percent, IMT 27, MDI 23.2) but include sales and operations roles in banks and insurers, not only finance roles.
- Our files hold no investment-banking share for any batch, and a bank's name in a recruiter list does not show which role was offered.
- At IIM Lucknow, finance roles had a mean CTC of 34.8 lakh in the batch of 2026, close to the class average of 33.2 lakh.
An MBA in finance leads to corporate finance, banking, investing, risk and wealth roles, but finance is one slice of a placement class, and investment banking is only one part of it. The reports we hold show finance taking about a fifth of offers at several IIMs, with consulting larger.
This post lists the role families, shows finance's share of placements by college with batch years, explains what we can and cannot say about investment banking and pay, and covers the skills to build before day one. Data is from our verified college records, checked 6 November 2026.
Finance roles: corporate finance, banking, investing, risk and wealth
- Corporate finance and strategy: planning, budgeting, capital allocation, treasury and mergers inside a company.
- Banking: corporate and commercial banking, credit, and investment banking for advising on deals.
- Investing: equity and credit research, asset management, private markets.
- Risk and compliance: market, credit and operational risk.
- Wealth and financial planning: advising individuals and families.
Each has a different entry route, skill mix and pay pattern. 'Finance' on a placement report can mean any of them.
What does the data say: finance share of placements by college
| College | Batch | Finance share of offers | Largest slice |
|---|---|---|---|
| IIM Rohtak | 2024-26 | 23% | Consulting 28% |
| IIM Indore | 2024-26 | 20% | Consulting 41% |
| IIM Kozhikode | 2023-25 | 19.2% | Consulting 32% |
| IIM Calcutta | 2024-26 | 18.6% | Consulting 38% |
| IIM Lucknow | 2024-26 | 17% | Consulting 39% |
| IIT Delhi (DMS) | 2023-25 | 10.49% | Strategy and consulting 30.07% |
| IIM Sambalpur | 2024-26 | 10% | Sales and marketing 27% |
| IIT Madras (DoMS) | 2024-26 | 9% | Consulting 30% |
| IISWBM Kolkata | 2023-25 | 25% | Marketing 40% |
BFSI is a wider bucket. In 2024-26 reports it is 34 percent at TAPMI Manipal, 29 at IIM Jammu, 28.4 at IIM Nagpur, 27 at IMT Ghaziabad, 24 at IIM Shillong and 23.2 at MDI Gurgaon.
Investment banking: who gets it and what it takes
None of the reports in our files gives an investment-banking share, so we do not state one. Banks do appear in recruiter lists: Goldman Sachs and Citibank at IIM Ahmedabad (2024-26), Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank at IIM Indore (2024-26), and Goldman Sachs and Citi at IIM Kozhikode (2023-25).
A bank's name does not say which role was offered. It could be investment banking, markets, operations, technology or analytics. Ask the placement cell for the role list by bank for the last three years.
- These roles are usually decided early, through summer internships and the first recruitment rounds, so prepare before the programme starts.
- Expect questions on accounting, valuation basics, markets and deals.
- A strong profile still matters at the college stage, so check where your score could land in the MBA Predictor.
Pay by tier: what we can and cannot say
We can show college averages for the latest batch, and, at IIM Lucknow, role-wise means: finance 34.8 lakh and consulting 36.9 lakh for the batch of 2026, against a class average of 33.2 lakh (2024-26).
| Programme | Total fee | Average package | Batch |
|---|---|---|---|
| IIM Calcutta | 27 lakh | 36 LPA | 2024-26 |
| IIM Lucknow | 20.75 lakh | 33.2 LPA | 2024-26 |
| MDI Gurgaon | 22 lakh | 29.5 LPA | 2025-26 |
| IMT Ghaziabad | 22.85 lakh | 17.64 LPA | 2025-26 |
| TAPMI Manipal | 21.56 lakh | 14.3 LPA | 2024-26 |
We cannot give pay by specialisation for most colleges, and we hold no investment-banking pay. The highest package of a batch is an outlier, so do not use it as finance pay.
Quant and Excel skills before day one
- Accounting: read an income statement, a balance sheet and a cash-flow statement.
- Excel: lookups, pivot tables and a simple three-statement model.
- Corporate finance basics: time value of money, NPV, cost of capital.
- Markets: follow one sector and write a short note on a result.
- Statistics: averages, spread and simple regression.
Non-commerce students should build these before the programme starts. A finance resume template shows how to present them.
CFA or FRM alongside
The CFA suits investment research and portfolio roles. The FRM, from GARP, is built for risk roles. Neither is needed to start an MBA in finance. None of the IIM selection weights we hold gives marks for them. They can help for specific roles later. Take current fees and requirements from the CFA Institute and GARP.
Read three job posts for the role you want to see whether either is listed.
Colleges strong in finance
Use outcomes, not labels. The table above shows finance shares and BFSI shares. Specialised programmes also exist: NIBM Pune's PGDM in Banking and Financial Services, SSBF Pune's MBA in Banking and Finance (150 seats) and NIA Pune's PGDM in Insurance and Risk Management.
Check fee and payback before shortlisting. The highest package MBA colleges page lists packages, but averages and medians tell you more than the top figure.
Who an MBA in finance suits
- It suits people who are comfortable with numbers, enjoy markets or company analysis and accept a long hours culture in some roles.
- It suits career switchers with a clear plan and time to build skills before joining.
- Look elsewhere if you want a technical research career, where a master's in a quantitative field may serve better, or if your target is a role that lists no MBA.