Originally from Peru, Renzo Alonso Niquín Vásquez completed his undergraduate degree in psychology before he made an unexpected pivot into corporate finance. That shift brought him to the MSc – Master of Science Corporate Finance & Fintech at Clermont School of Business.
Founded in 1919, Clermont School of Business sits within the French tradition of management education while operating at an international scale. The school holds three major international accreditations, AACSB, AMBA, and EFMD Bachelor Programme Accreditation, and ranks among the Financial Times Top 100 European Business Schools Ranking. With around 2,000 students, roughly one-third of whom are international, the school draws students from over 60 countries worldwide. It also operates across four campuses in Clermont-Ferrand, Marrakech, Beijing, and Shanghai, and holds the “Bienvenue en France” two-star label from Campus France, a recognition of how seriously the school takes its international community.
That global reach, however, never comes at the cost of personal connection. Clermont prides itself on its human dimension, where small class sizes and personalised guidance give you the attention and mentorship you need to reach your goals.
For students seeking such balance – a school with global standing and genuine personal investment – Clermont SB can be a compelling choice. For Renzo, two things made Clermont SB stand out: scholarships available to Peruvian students and the opportunity to study and later build a career in France. Eighteen months later, the decision proved worthwhile. Today, he works as a Venture Capital Analyst at Mandalore Partners, the same company where he completed his internship. He credits much of that success to Clermont SB’s MSc – Master of Science experience.
“The greatest value I gained came from professionals who are truly hands‑on in their fields,” Vásquez says. “The practical tips and insights I learnt from them gave me an added perspective — beyond the academic one — that helped me pursue and secure an internship.”
Clermont School of Business is renowned for high-quality training and diplomas that develop top-level managers and executives. Photo credit: Florian Brioude
Built for the industry you are entering
Clermont offers six MSc – Master of Science programmes: Corporate Finance and Fintech, Business Intelligence and Analytics, Project Management, International Commerce and Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing and Artificial Intelligence, and Procurement and Supply Chain Management. All six are accredited by the French Conference des Grandes Ecoles, and each run for 18 months, combining an academic year with a six-month internship. The programmes follow the Bologna Framework, giving your qualification recognition across bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels internationally.
The best part? For the first four programmes listed, you can extend that reach further through a double degree to add an internationally recognised qualification to your credentials.
What truly sets the programmes apart is how closely they are built around real industry needs. Clermont worked with partner companies to shape the curriculum, which influences both the content you study and the way it is taught.
“For example, courses in fintech financing, cybersecurity, regulatory fintech, and paytech are directly aligned with current market developments,” says Aymen Turki, Associate Professor of Finance and Head of the MSc – Master of Science in Corporate Finance and Fintech. “Practitioners are regularly involved in our courses, bringing real-life cases and practical insights. Students are exposed to actual business challenges rather than purely academic examples.”
That kind of exposure has a real impact on where students end up. Renzo credits courses in Financial Analysis, Private Equity, and Leveraged Buy Out as the foundation for his current role. “These gave me the skills I need to work as a Venture Capital Analyst, where I rely on a blend of everything those courses covered,” he says.
The teaching style of the MSc – Master of Science Corporate Finance and Fintech is participatory and inspired by the Harvard model. You learn from both distinguished international professors and high-level practitioners, working through real cases, simulations, and professional role-playing exercises together. The technical skills you build are just as concrete.
“For instance, in the Corporate Finance and Fintech programme, students acquire skills in constructing financial reports, optimising investment portfolios, utilising learning and analytical techniques, and even creating blockchain-based solutions and cryptocurrency trading platforms through Python,” Professor Aymen Turki says. “We want them to leave not only understanding finance and fintech but being able to apply it immediately.”
Together, these experiences mean you’ll enter the industry equipped with the knowledge and confidence to thrive in an ever-evolving global business landscape — much like the 15,500 alumni who have gone before you, across France and beyond.
Four of the six MSc – Master of Science programmes at Clermont School of Business are QS-ranked. Source: Photo credit: Florian Bompan
Real-world experience through internships
At Clermont SB, you have access to 620 partner companies, giving you valuable internship opportunities. The six-month internship lets you turn classroom learning into real-world skills. Renzo experienced this firsthand during his time at Mandalore Partners. He applied valuation techniques, risk management tools, and data analytics to live corporate challenges, building the kind of credibility and professional network you simply can’t create in a classroom.
Such experiences serve as a valuable stepping stone into the job market. For Renzo, it did. “Mandalore Partners was transformative for me because it exposed me to the world of VC in a way I never thought possible,” he says. “The school gave me a basis with some of the courses I mentioned before because they taught me how to think differently, and this is what got me into the internship and my current role.”
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