New York Institute of Finance (NYIF) Review (2024) – Worth it?

In Investment Banking by Gaurav SharmaUpdated On:

The New York Institute of Finance (NYIF) is a well-known provider of niche financial courses and certifications. They train investment bankers, traders, financial regulators, and corporate finance professionals. NYIF has been around for almost a century now and countless bankers have passed through its proverbial halls.

NYIF was initially founded by the Ney York Stock Exchange in 1922 to impart training to its employees. Based out of New York, they have since become one of the preferred training institute for bankers worldwide. Each year, over 50,000 individuals are trained by NYIF across 125 countries. They have over 300 courses on offer many of which are available online or in-person. We dive into course specifics later, but first we must answer the questions – are these courses even for you?

1. Who are these certifications for?

NYIF provides finance courses and certifications for specific finance roles. You should consider these certifications if you fall into any of the following brackets:

  1. Undergrads or MBA students looking to get into banking and finance
  2. Young professionals looking to make a switch to finance
  3. Young professionals already in finance who want to make a lateral shift into another role
  4. Corporate finance professionals working in non-finance industries
  5. Business owners or managers who want to understand how specific areas of finance work to better deal with their bankers
  6. NYIF has also launched specific programs for high school students who are interested in finance careers.

This might seem like a pretty broad group of people, but there are 100+ courses divided into four skill levels so there is something for everyone as long as its related to finance.

Who are these courses not suitable for?

These courses are probably not for you if you are not interested in a career in finance or if finance is not a major part of your job. For example, if you just want to trade some options from home, you can still learn a lot from the derivatives course, but it’s probably overkill.

NYIF-Review

2. Brand Recognition & CV Value

Brand recognition may be an odd place to start a review, but it is one of the most important things when it comes to banking and finance. Finance is such a competitive field that many qualified candidates can’t even get past the resume selection phase. Recruiters have to sift through thousands of CVs and they look for keywords. Target schools, excellent academics, relevant certifications, relevant work experience are things that matter.

As already mentioned, NYIF has been training bankers for almost close to a century now. That’s a long time to build a reputation and get established. You will find bankers with NYIF certificates all over the globe in fields ranging from investment banking to credit analysis and from regulators to oil traders. They train about 50,000 individuals each year in 125 countries! That’s a lot consider how specialized the courses are.

NYIF certifications are not as recognized as something like the CFA, but they are certainly more relevant to core IB roles. That focus and relevance gives them value.

3. Available Courses & Certifications

There are over 100+ courses and certifications available at all difficulty levels. These are divided into:

  • Introductory
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced
  • Designation

Introductory

The Introductory Courses are for students or working professionals who are new to finance. If you don’t know where to start, then this is where you ought to begin. Its also a good place for interns to get to know their fields better. Here are some top picks:

Intermediate

The Intermediate or professional courses are the next level up. I generally recommend these to professionals with less than 1-2 years of experience in finance and who are looking to up their game and get better their jobs or looking to make a shift. College graduates with a background in finance or business should also start here. Here are some of the best ones:

Advanced

I would recommend the advanced courses to learners who are already in finance but are looking to make a switch. They would also be ideal for MBAs who have also completed some courses on finance and want to target a specific role in Investment Banking or any other markets related roles. Examples of these include:

Designations

There are two designation courses as of this writing. The first one is the Investment Banking Certificate which is a highly recommended and top-rated investment Banking Course for beginners. The second one is the Chartered Investment Banking Analyst™ which is a very in-depth certification with serious commitment required and only for serious candidates. Click on the link to read my detailed review of it to make sure it is the right fit for you.

4. Curriculum, Course Quality & Instructors

The course curriculum is for NYIF certification is highly relevant and well suited for practical usage. I like their focus on desk-ready skills and that is what sets them apart from academic institutions. Academic institutions focus a lot on theory, but NYIF combines theory with practice and that goes a long way in getting you ready for the job.

NYIF instructors are almost always industry veterans with plenty of experience under their belts. You get excellent insights and benefit from their experience in ways that is rather unique to NYIF. The videos are good quality, and you also have the option for in-person training for several of their certifications.

5. Pricing & Cost Structure

The pricing for NYIF Courses & Certifications depends on a couple of factors. Firstly, the in-person and virtual classrooms are far more expensive. This is understandable as your group is being instructed by real experts in real time who have taken out time to teach you. Online courses on the other hand have pre-recorded videos and therefore they are cheaper to take.

Which one to take is entirely up to you and your circumstances. Many banks/ firms are more than happy to sponsor and support their employee’s further education programs. If that is the case than you can probably get sponsorship and enroll in a program of your choice. Absent that, it would depend on your financial situation. If you are a student, it might be harder to justify the higher priced options. But if you are already employed, it’s probably a small price to pay to further your career goals.

Either way, your learning outcomes will not deviate significantly. Just that in-person courses generally tend to have more networking opportunities.

6. My Final Recommendation

I recommend a lot of NYIF Courses to my readers for specific careers. Competition for finance roles is still very high and now you are not only competing locally, but against a global talent pool. NYIF courses are laser focused on aspects that are relevant to each role and provide desk-ready skills to hit the ground running on Day 1. That is what recruiters want and that is why I recommend NYIF courses.

There are plenty of finance courses and certifications out there and I recommend them in specific cases as well. But the beauty of NYIF courses is that they are role specific and not generic in nature. For example, if you want to be a credit analyst, you take the credit analyst certification. Truing out for an M&A role? Take the M&A certification. Simple and precise.

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About the Author

Gaurav Sharma

Gaurav (LinkedIn) started his finance career as an intern in Citi’s Institutional Clients Group in 2009, eventually ending up as an Associate Director at Standard Chartered Bank’s Corporate & Institutional Banking division a few years later. By 2016, he was an independent consultant helping FinTech start-ups in London with product development and launch. Gaurav also helps banks with their digital banking initiatives and advises PE & VC firms with investments in the financial services and FinTech sectors. Gaurav writes on topics ranging from EU banking regulations and tradional finance to Blockchain startups and the future of banking itself! He has an Engineering degree in Computer Science and an MBA with a double major in Finance and Marketing. He is also a Certified Financial Risk Manager.