Posts Tagged ‘Finance#8217;

The Saudi Spanish Center for Economics and Finance recently organized it’s Social Impact Finance Forum, to discuss the future of finance and alternative ways of funding. During that Forum academics, professional and finalists of the ‘What is out there’ competition explored whether a more ethical approach to banking is possible.

The Saudi Spanish Center for Economics and Finance is a joint center formed by IE Business School and King Abdulaziz University.

Prof Marco Trombetta of IE Business School shares his recent executive development experience in Ghana.

Cape Coast, November 2012. In a hot room where computers share the space with solar power charged lamps, Master in Finance students at IE Business School are asking questions to Veronica Kitti CEO of Alternative Sets of Assistance (ASA) Initiative, a Micro Finance Institution (MFI) based in Cape Coast and operating in the Central Region of Ghana. Just the day before, we had spent the whole day travelling on a small 4×4 bus through dusty roads of Ghana in order to visit some of the clients of the ASA initiative. Why are we all in Ghana? Because we are involved with “Financieros sin Fronteras” (FsF – Financiers without Borders) an NGO founded in 2010 by a group of people linked to IE Business School in Madrid.

Check out the full  article HERE. And some more stories about the Ghana experience HERE.

IE Focus | By Maria Luque, Professor at IE Business School

Microfinance has proved to be a prime tool in the fight against poverty, but it is not enough to eradicate it once and for all.

Microfinance, namely the provision of financial services for people on low incomes, has taken giant strides since the 1970s. It provided financial services for some 200 million people in 2011 according to the Microcredit Summit Campaign, and now impacts the lives of around 1 billion.

Microfinance institutions face big challenges. One such challenge is the impact of the world economic crisis which began to show in 2008, and which, according to Deutsche Bank Research, has caused a deceleration in the growth of assets, a drop in profitability, and a greater risk for portfolios. Another is the excessive focus on profit and the accelerated growth of some institutions, without the necessary institutional capacities or control.   Even so, the microfinance industry continues to grow steadily and has demonstrated that in the right conditions it is a key tool in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Until recently we focused on talking about microfinance as a tool that could lift people out of extreme poverty, promote production, and empower women, all of which are development Millennium Development Goals and indispensable factors to strengthen economic and social growth in developing countries. But growth and investment in assets are not the only things that access to financial services brings. Read more…

How many musicians and film producers are studying a Master in Finance? This is what we mean when we say we have the most diverse students in every classroom. Meet the Master in Finance class at IE Business School!

IE Business School ranks top 10 worldwide in all categories of this year QS Global 200 Business Schools Report.

This report focuses merely on the employability of MBA graduates by region and specialization asking more than 3,300 MBA recruiters. Focusing solely on employers’ views provide a reliable insight as to which business schools produce MBA graduates and alumni that are favored by recruiters. This is derived from employers’ votes as to which schools they prefer to recruit MBA graduates.

IE Business School was considered on the no. 4 spot in Europe, stepping up one position from last year, and in all categories IE was placed within the top 10:

Corporate Social Responsibility 5 (11 in 2011)
Entrepreneurship 4 (5)
Finance 8 (8)
Information Management 6 (6)
Innovation 7 (7)
International Management 6 (7)
Leadership 7 (10)
Marketing 6 (15)
Operations 6 (6)
Strategy 7 (9)

The Saudi Spanish Center for Economics and Finance recently organized it’s Social Impact Finance Forum, to discuss the future of finance and alternative ways of funding. It also served as the closing event for the What is Out There video competition.

The Saudi Spanish Center for Economics and Finance is a joint center formed by IE Business School and King Abdulaziz University.

IE Focus | By Francisco Lopez-Lubian, Professor at IE Business School

We will not start to pull out of the current crisis until investors regain their confidence in banks. That means restructuring not just assets, but also senior management.

The other day I was talking to a friend who knows I teach finance, and he asked me what I really thought about the current financial crisis and when it would be over. I asked him which kind of answer he preferred – the long or the short version.

My comments below are actually an attempt to provide something in between the two. Here goes:

1. The liquidity problem facing finance entities, particularly in Spain, is a result of a lack of confidence in the solvency of said entities. This lack of confidence is more than justified, given that ever since the situation arose half way through last year, all the agents who have made announcements and promises related to cleaning up affected assets have systematically failed to deliver.
2. In order for the finance system to start working again it is essential that confidence be restored, starting with the Spanish market. The technical solution that is set to be applied – the EU’s plan to recapitalize banks, is not guaranteed to reactivate the system, unless plans are drawn up to overhaul (or eliminate in some cases) the banks that partake in the bailout. The lack of coordination among the governments of EU countries is not helping to build the level of confidence that is essential to reactivate Europe’s finance markets. Every time an action plan is announced the loose ends that need tying up always get in the way. For example, those little details regarding who is going to finance what, for what reason, and when…
3. In any case, in order to maintain levels of confidence in the mid and long-term, it will be necessary to establish supervision mechanisms that prevent the same situation from arising again, or at least make it less likely to happen.
4. Perhaps part of the solution should be to focus on demanding that the information these markets provide be more transparent, not just with regard to activities and real profit (economic, risk-adjusted) but also in terms of remuneration systems   for administrators, the value they provide and how much their intermediation services cost, etc.

We all know that this crisis will not begin to show signs of easing until investors regain their confidence in banks. In other words, they need to feel that the banks have been sufficiently rationalized, and be able to see that banks are being run by a professional and reliable management team with a plan of action to make them profitable.

I think we are all aware that the current times will go down in history. All this talk of crisis, recession and recovery reminds me of something Ronald Reagan said in 1980 said when he was running against Jimmy Carter for president: “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”

It may be necessary for many “Carters” to lose their jobs before the things start to get back to normal.

IE Business School has further consolidated its position as No. 2 school worldwide in finance according to the latest ranking of Masters in Finance published by Financial Times.

IE achieved this result for the second year running in the pre-experience category with its full-time English-taught Master in Finance, aimed at young professionals with an international profile. The student body of IE’s Master in Finance comprises 95% international students from 26 countries, with an average GMAT score of 680. They will complete the program at the end of this month to start work in international companies that include Morgan Stanley, Merril Lynch, Jefferies, Barclays Capital and Rothschild. The Master is the first program in Spain to be made a CFA (Chartered Financial Advisor) program partner, the leading international endorsement for financial analysts.

“The financial sector needs specialized profiles with an international focus,” says Ignacio de la Torre, Director of Masters in Finance at IE Business School. “IE’s finance programs equips students with this type of education, and our graduates go on to work in firms like Goldman Sachs, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Nomura, and in emerging economies that offer enormous potential given the accelerated development of their capital markets”. Read more…

What do the fields of Psychology and Finance have in common? If you were thinking “besides the fact that they are spelled without using any of the other word’s letters” than here is an opportunity to come up with a better answer to this question. Take out your agenda and block the following date to join our virtual master class

Date: May 30, 2012 (Wednesday)
Time: 15.00 (Madrid time), 21.00 (Singapore time)
Registration: IE Event Page

The Psychology of Finance  

Psychology plays a pivotal role in the pricing of assets. On average, during rainy days the stock market underperforms in comparison with sunny days. How human psychology affects these variables will be briefly viewed in this master class:

• Define behavioral finance and review the role of human behaviors in decision making
• Explain key behavioral biases
• Identify how biases may result in less than rational investment and corporate decisions 

The session will be spearheaded by Dr. Kevin Spellman who describes himself as a pracademic – he has academic and professional experiences. He is a Professor and Director of the Investment Game at IE Business School, and the Director of the Investment Management Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He earned his PhD in behavioral finance from Durham University (UK), and has an MS in finance from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BS in finance from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He is a member of the Financial Management Association, the CFA Institute, and has been a member of various CFA societies and a board member of the CFA Society of Madison. Dr. Spellman is a CFA charter holder.

Spellman’s academic pursuits (since 2000) have been in investments, including security analysis through portfolio management. His research focuses on issues related to behavioral finance, investment strategy, and asset pricing. He has taught various courses in financial management, investments, CFA review, and forensic accounting and has worked at various firms on the buy-side and sell-side of Wall Street. His experience crosses most asset classes (private equity, international equity, domestic equity, real estate, etc.), investment styles (contrarian, value, growth, momentum), and types of analysis (quantitative, fundamental, economic/strategic, behavioral)

We all hear this word at least a few times during the day. It’s a short one, starts with “c” and ends in “risis.”

It’s a word that has the power to change the world and can be found throughout history. This time, everything started with the collapse of the debt crises in the US, which led to financial problems for the rest of the world and a tremendous collapse of the global growth. Will the euro break up? Will the US dollar keep its reserve currency role during the upcoming decade? Why is the Japanese Yen weak after the last Bank of Japan intervention?

These are only a few questions on which we will focus during this Virtual Master Class, as its topic will be the foreign exchange market.

Virtual Master Class: Foreign Exchange Market
Date: April 18, 2012
Time: 3pm Madrid time, 9pm Singapore time
Registration: IE Event Page 

About the speaker

The session will be spearheaded by Carlos Gallo, Associate Professor at IE Business School and Head of Head of Total Return & R&D at Invercaixa Gestión S.G.I.I. Professor Gallo’s areas of interest include the evaluation and analysis of risk return relationships, optimal and efficient portfolios construction, fundamental analysis and valuation of companies and other kind of investable assets. He started his career at the Spanish Market for Futures and Options followed by his incorporation as a derivatives expert at HSBC Investment Bank in Madrid. Some years later he joined Invercaixa Gestión, SGIIC, and the financial management firm in which he handled specialist investments in global equity markets as the Japanese, British, Swiss and the euro zone. At present, he manages the total return funds as the Fund Manager, Asset Allocation Team.