Given a choice between the mentioned colleges, the best institution for Finance will surely be TAPMI School of Business for various reasons.

Let us first have a look at some statistics about all the three colleges.

TAPMI:

• Laboratories: One of the most exclusive reasons for choosing TAPMI is a well-equipped Finance Lab which helps students gain hands-on experience and understand core financial concepts through practical studies as opposed to only theory. The lab is equipped with 16 Bloomberg terminals and 7 Thomson Reuters terminals.

• Curriculum: The course curriculum for PGDM BKFS at the institute is CFA C-BOK (certified body of knowledge) and FRM (Financial Risk Management) certified and meets the latest global industry standards.

• Faculty: The program in Banking and Finance is backed by experienced faculty members who have years of experience in academics and industry.

• Accreditation: It is one of the few management institutions in the country to have a two-tier global accreditation, i.e AMBA, and AACSB.

• Extra-Curricular: The institute organizes multiple events, workshops, and industry visits to provide students with a well-rounded experience. Student managed investment funds and multiple club activities are all part of the module in finance.

IMT-G:

• It offers a PGDM program in Finance that has an industrial and financial backing overlooking a high number of companies for recruitments but fails to provide a high placement rate considering an exceptionally high batch size, which keeps the majority of the students from getting a full-time job.

• It observes the highest placements in the marketing department and sees very few core companies for finance, with corporate finance and banking jobs marking the minority. Apart from the brand name of IMT, it is not considered to be the best institute for a program in Finance.

KJ Somaiya:

The institute offers PGDM programs in Finance which are well-structured but fail to impress in terms of management and placements. While the fee structure of the program is lower compared to the other institutes, it observes many good companies as part of their recruitment drive due to the location, but still has an overall low placement rate within the Finance sector.

Given the three options, the best institute for a program in Finance would definitely be TAPMI School of Business for the well-structured curriculum, good placement opportunities, and facilities provided.

With the well-versed diversity and well-facilitated campus, both the colleges are in a league of its own. There are very few management institutes that offer specialization in financial studies as a separate course. NIBM and KJ are placed in top among these few Institutes.

Ranking:

• KJ is considered one of the best colleges in India with a 56 NIRF 2020 rank and 5th rank by the Times 2020.

• NIBM is also one of the best in India and is ranked above 100 by NIRF.

Admission:

KJ:

• Admission for the courses is done based on the score for CAT/CMAT/GMAT/XAT with a 50% graduation score.

• The cutoff score of GMAT is 95+ percentile, cut off score of CMAT is 95+ percentile, and cut off score of CAT is 85 percentile.

NIBM:

• Admission for the courses is done based on the score for CAT/CMAT.

• NIBM Pune also accepts the MAT score. The cutoff score of MAT is 94+ percentile, cut off score of CMAT is 94+ percentile, cut off score of CAT is 80 percentile.

• The final selection is done by the university based on the written ability test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI).

Courses Offered:

NIBM:

• NIBM offers a full-time PG Diploma in Management program (PGDM) in Banking and finance and one course in MBA.

• The total fee for the MBA course is about 7 Lakhs.

KJ:

• KJ offers a full-time PG Diploma in Management program (PGDM) in Banking along with finance and 12 different courses in MBA.

• The course fee is about 15 Lakhs.

Placement:

NIBM:

• NIBM Pune has a 100% placement record.

• They provide many internships and social development projects for students to avail of a better job opportunity.

• The highest salary offered was 14.5 LPA with an average salary of 9.44 LPA.

KJ:

• KJ also has a 100% placement record.

• The highest salary offered was 27 LPA with an average salary of 9.50 LPA.

The Faculty is considered better in KJ than in NIBM due to its better ranking. Also, the placement and internship opportunities are more in KJ than in NIBM. So, considering the statistics it can be said KJ is better than NIBM in a few aspects.

Among all these institutes, TAPMI, Manipal and KJ Somaiya are the better choices for pursuing PGDM in Finance.

TAPMI offers CFA C-BOK and FRM certified curriculum and has a finance lab powered by 16 Bloomberg and 7 Reuters terminals. Students also get training with SBI- Staff Training College, Hyderabad, and BSE Training Institute, BSE Mumbai to acquire industry-relevant skills. BFSI was among the top sectors offering placement offers in the 2020 placement drive at the institute. 28% of students got recruited in the BFSI sector.

KJ Somaiya Institute of Management has a location-wise benefit as the institute is situated in Mumbai- the financial hub of the nation. It attracts many reputed companies from the finance domain for placement. According to last year’s placement highlights, 31% of students were recruited in Banking and Insurance Services and 16% of students got offers in Financial Services.

The BIM Trichy placement batch-profile of 2020 shows the maximum number of students (30) opted for the Finance sector.

The table below shows the placement highlights at the three institutions for the academic year of 2020.

Between GIM and KJ Somaiya which is the better institute that depends on which domain you will choose. Both the institute is reputed for management education and have their advantages.

Given below is a brief comparison between the two institutes.

For Finance, KJ Somiya is a better option than GIM. KJ Somaiya has a location advantage as it is situated in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. The course fee of KJ Somaiya is also lower than the GIM.

KJ Somaiya, Great Lakes, GIM, and TAPMI all of these are highly proclaimed institutes in India for management studies. Each of these institutes is good in different domains of management studies. KJ Somaiya and GIM are better for Finance. Whereas, GIM is reputed for Marketing.

In general, the order of preference should be as given below.

1. KJ Somaiya
2. TAPMI
3. GIM
4. Great Lakes

Given below is a comparison between the institutes.