IE & Asia-Pacific

The Master in Advanced Finance class 2012 has already started! This year the class welcomes students from 13 countries of 5 continents, with an average age of 29, ranging from 24 to 36 years old, 23% women, and an average full time working experience of 5 years. The countries represented are: Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, India,  Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, USA.

19% of these students are CFA level II or level III holders, 42% of them have worked overseas and 31% studied their undergraduate degrees overseas before IE. 15% of the class are Dual Degree students (International MBA and Master in Advanced Finance).

The students started the course with two days of orientation where they attended several World Awareness Seminars, followed by official classes of the first semester.

If you wish to get more information on the Master in Advanced Finance, please join our events or visit the program website.

The Bachelor in Business Administration will comprise two sections run in Madrid and Segovia as from the 2012-2013 academic year.

IE University’s Bachelor in Business Administration will have a section based in Madrid for the coming 2012-2013 academic year in addition to that of Segovia. The Madrid-based option is the latest addition to IE University’s business administration programs, which to date have been run exclusively at the University’s Segovia campus. Both sections will offer a degree program with a markedly international slant and a special focus on entrepreneurship, with the same faculty, program content, and extracurricular activities.

The launch of this new section marks a new development phase for IE University designed to offer new options to students. IE University students can now opt for the Madrid-based campus situated in the city’s financial district, or the historic Segovia campus housed in the Santa Cruz la Real convent built in the 12^thcentury, with 1,100 students from 75 countries.

The Bachelor in Business Administration, recently accredited by international management education accrediting agency AACSB, will be run in both English and Spanish in both Madrid and Segovia. It is an officially recognized degree program with 200 students from 52 countries who receive a solid education oriented to doing business in a global arena.

The differentiating feature of the program is that it combines management education with a solid grounding in humanistic values in an international environment. Students undertake highly diverse activities such as the Social Impact Project internship program, whereby they work with NGOs and Spanish and international institutions on innovative projects focused on social development in different areas of the world.

“IE University’s commitment to a dual campus will benefit future students by providing broader educational options,” said Salvador Carmona, Rector of IE University.

In the summer of 2011, sixteen MBA students from IE Business School travelled to South Africa to take part in a 7 week life-changing experience. As fellows of the Leadership Development Program of the Emzingo group they worked on consulting projects for local NGOs.

The other day we met with Tarun to talk about his first impressions on his new life at IE University. He started the BBA program in September 2011 and met with classmates from over 70 different countries. Tarun graduated with his IB Diploma from the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in Singapore.

What attracted you to come to IE University?
I have always wanted to study business or economics for my career and was on the lookout for exceptional universities in this area. IE University’s exceptional and innovative style of education was what drew me so strongly towards it. Its methodology and emphasis on practical knowledge through experience sets it apart from the other universities.

Tell us a little about your first impressions after your first semester studying the BBA and about the diversity on campus.
At first, I was under the impression that if I didn’t brush up my Spanish skills, I would find it difficult to adjust here. However, my experience here proved otherwise, especially due to the warm and friendly nature of the students here. Due to the extreme diversity, I have had first hand experience with people from all walks of life and have managed to build relationships regardless of borders and regions. If globalization is the ultimate goal of the world, IE University is probably Utopia already.

What is the thing you find most exciting about life at IE University so far, any difference with your country?
The most exciting difference is the abundance of opportunity that IE provides. While people would support freedom to pursue my own dreams in any part of the world, IE takes it a step further with the inclusion of the advisor, who does whatever they can to help you achieve what you want, and give direction and shape to your dreams. At IE, one can aspire to be anything, and the university will do its best, on its part, to help achieve that dream.

The IE Consulting Project (IECP) is offered during the elective period and ends with a presentation to senior management at a Fortune 100 company. During the International MBA program students have the opportunity to participate in several real consulting projects. Watch the video below to learn more!

In recent years the need to close the gap between developed and developing countries has become increasingly urgent, particularly in the shadow of the current economic crisis. The corporate world is aware of its growing role in socio-economic development and increasingly the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement enables it to assume this role in a highly effective manner.

This Virtual Conference introduce the practical aspects of Microfinance through a case study looking at Financieros sin Fronteras (FSF – Financiers without Borders). FSF is a non-profit association and joint collaboration between IE educators and students, that promotes the integration of the most disadvantaged people into the financial circuit. FSF’s mission is to conduct research and develop innovative and practical formulae to strengthen microfinance institutions (MFIs) that promote the eradication of poverty by encouraging entrepreneurship.

About the Event:
Speaker: Maria Luque, Executive Manager of Financieros sin Fronteras
Date: January 18th 2012
Time: 15.00 hrs Madrid local time (GMT+1), 22.00 hrs Singapore time)
Registration: IE Event Page

About the Speaker:
Maria Luque is the Executive Manager of FSF. A proven entrepreneur, Maria has also worked in the business creation department for the Australia & New Zealand Migration Bureau in Amsterdam, helping entrepreneurs develop their business projects. Maria brings extensive knowledge of microfinance, economic development and CSR policies in the private sector. Maria graduated in European Business Administration from the Hogeschool voor Economische Studies in Rotterdam and holds a Master of International Relations from IE.

IE University’s Bachelor in Business Administration has been accredited by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), the US-based international accrediting agency for business programs. IE University’s Bachelor in Business Administration thus joins the list of IE Business School programs that have been accredited since 2001.

This means that IE University’s Business Administration Degree now forms part of a select list of programs run by 643 business schools in 43 countries accredited by AACSB in recognition of their faculty’s commitment to academic excellence, continuous improvement, and close ties to global business realities.

“The recognition of the quality of our program by a prestigious international organization like AACSB is a major step forward for our project, aimed at equipping students with the competences they need to map a career in a constantly changing global environment”, said Isabel Sánchez, Vice Rector of IE University and Director of IE’s Bachelor in Business Administration.

IE University’s Bachelor in Business Administration was launched in 2009 and it has a student body comprised of some 200 students from 52 countries.

On January 10th, the IE Venture Day competition kicked-off very early in the morning at Fudan University in Shanghai, where aspiring IE entrepreneurs presented their business plans to a world-renowned panel of VC and Angel investors. This was the first time the IE Venture Day takes a step further delivering its entrepreneurial spirit abroad by launching the project in the Asian “hub”. The Venture Day is part of the IE Venture Lab which is the vehicle for preparing IE Business School student and alumni startups for pitches in different VC and Angel investor locations.

The Business Plan presentations included projects in micro finance, renewable energy, tourism, electric cars, theme parks, medical devices, biotechnology, agriculture, education, internet platforms and social media. The winner of this edition was the team of Medsynch, a new concept for health monitoring system. Some investors highlighted that all the Business Plans from the IE students were truly representative of the IE Business School approach to entrepreneurship and of its commitment to supporting new and disruptive ideas among the investors. In fact, during the event, one of the teams, XXBB (a social platform for Chinese mothers) has received a proposal from one the investors in the panel!

The IE Venture Day included as well a presentation from a local Angel Investor: The guest speaker, as well as a Jury member for the event was Mr. James Tan, a well-known Angel investor based in Beijing and Singapore who addressed the group on Startup Activity in China. Mr. Tan is Co- Founder of 55tuan and Managing Partner of QuestVC. QuestVC is a venture capital firm with offices in Beijing and Singapore that invests and incubates companies at the seed and angel stage. James is co-founder and former COO of 55Tuan, the largest social e-commerce site in China with 5,000 employees across 200 cities. Prior to this, James was in the technology and financial sectors with companies in the Singapore Technologies group and JPMorgan Chase.

Meet some of IE University’s students as they talk about settling in and their impressions during the first few days at IE’s campus in Segovia. Video produced by IE University’s Media Lab.