IFSA Event : Geneva students are hungry and getting prepared to face the challenges !

Geneva students are hungry and getting prepared to face the challenges !

How do the students perceive the new reality that will emerge from all the challenges affecting our financial industry ?

How is tomorrow’s workforce considering the future of our country and financial place ?

On November 24, I had the pleasure to animate a workshop at Geneva university organized by the International Finance Student Association (IFSA) about the evolution of our industry, the context in which the changes are occurring and some of the questions bankers are currently asking themselves about fintech, regulation, evolving clients needs, new operational mindset, etc.

This was an interactive session full of questions, thoughts and pertinent remarks. The students are still not convinced banks are innovative companies but are not ready to open a bank account with Apple, should this company become once a bank… They are curious of all the value the start ups and tech companies can bring and how they can contribute.

If they clearly expect to find difficult working conditions when they will start their career, they appear to be aware of the industry challenges and the expectations of their future employers. While I was listening to the their aspirations and vision of life and business, I understood these young people are getting ready to enter this complicated world with the right mindset : not with optimism but with realism ! and with the conviction that hard work, sense of initiative and responsibilities and development of the right skills will put them in the driving seat.

We can encourage efforts made by the International Finance Student Association, Geneva’s section to create a bridge between university and companies. For more information, please visit : http://ifsa-network.com/geneva/.

Be hungry, there is a lot to do and we need your energy, commitments and ideas.

Bon appétit !

Meeting tomorrow’s bankers @UNIL

On May 12, 2016, I have been invited by Professor Amit Goyal to participate and animate a course for future bankers within the financial market cursus (3rd year bachelor) at Unil (University of Lausanne).

I met approximately 50 students to whom I presented the key challenges that our industry is currently facing, how a market player such as Notz Stucki approaches these issues. I also went through a couple of key questions and structured my presentation as follows:

I have not only presented my ideas but we also exchanged views on certain topics which I am pleased to share and summarise below:

Two third of the students consider the financial industry is (still) offering good working conditions (challenging, interesting and remuneration).

Not a single student dared to express a (strong) conviction that swiss banks are innovative companies.

One third believed the swiss banking secrecy is still alive while 2/3 believed it does not exist anymore.

As a majority of the students were using a Macbook during the class, I asked them if they would trust Apple as a bank. In other words: if Apple was a bank, would they consider having this company managing their assets. Surprisingly, no one was ready to open an account.

Finally, the students shared their views on the key skills an asset manager should have to meet clients’ needs:
– Technical skills (financial markets)
– Ability to create trust
– Transparency
– Understand clients needs
– Risk management abilities

Food for thoughts !

This was a useful exercise which offered me the opportunity to take a step back, and keep in mind what is key to help us to make the appropriate decisions and schedule the right priorities for our future.