Luis Javier Hernandez Derbez

Associate 
Employer: The Boston Consulting Group
Graduated: 2015
LinkedIn

Why did I choose Financial Economics?

After completing my Bachelor in Economics, I had developed strong quantitative and analytical skills, however, I felt the necessity to study finance more in depth in order to be fully prepare for working in the private sector. The Master in Financial Economics at Erasmus School of Economics is a 12-month programme that is very practical because of its strong focus on teaching core financial skills that companies value in their future employees.

Furthermore, the Master has a vast variety of electives and seminars relating to finance in order to match the different interests of each individual student. For example, some electives and seminars have a stronger focus on private equity, while others focus on corporate finance or asset management. In addition, the wide range of courses allows students to make an appropriate choice in line with their finance background. It enables every student to study at their own pace, while still learning the most important financial skills needed for their future careers.

Rotterdam

Apart from having great courses and seminars, the faculty is extremely helpful and willing to help out whenever it is needed. Erasmus University Rotterdam's campus is located in a great neighborhood in Rotterdam. Furthermore studying in Rotterdam is a great experience because of its modern atmosphere, business environment, and close proximity to other important cities in Europe.

My career so far

After I successfully graduated from the Master in Financial Economics at Erasmus School of Economics in September 2015, I immediately started my career as an Associate at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Mexico. With the skills that I learned during my Master, I have been able to help large fortune 500 companies to improve their business operations in Mexico. Not only in their financial decisions, but also in their day to day operations and strategic decisions. For example, during my time at BCG, I helped a large Fortune 500 in defining their competitive strategy in Mexico. Specifically, I helped this company to develop a more effective process to optimize their pricing decisions and marketing penetration strategy.

Finally during my time at BCG I have also been able to help out the community by giving pro bono consulting to important non-government organizations in Mexico, particularly in helping them define an effective strategy to increase their impact in the community.