Master in FInancial markets and Risk Evaluation (FIRE)IAE Toulouse2012/2013 E-brochure

A word from the director

Pr Catherine CASAMATTA Dean, IAE Toulouse

IAE Toulouse has a very ambitious goal: to promote excellence in research and to offer high level training in management combining up-to-date academic knowledge and practice of the business world. Research activity at IAE is sustained by a CNRS-affiliated research centre (CRM) and a PhD programme covering all field of business. Our programmes are designed to give students the opportunity to develop rigorous analytical skills, creativity and ability to exchange ideas.

The Master in FInancial markets and Risk Evaluation is a remarkable example of our strategy. It is born from the collaboration between our finance department faculty and financial practitioners. Courses are challenging and thoughtful, and provide students with in-depth knowledge of the workings of financial markets, as well as relevant practical know-how. It is a unique opportunity to learn how to use financial models and why to use them. I hope that students and partners will experiment our values of a human-sized school that fosters thinking, open-mindedness, and mutual respect.

More than 50 years of humanism, excellence and innovation

IAE Toulouse is one graduate school of management, one CNRS management research centre, and one management doctoral school.

IAE Toulouse has 20 professors, 23 assistant professors, 34 associate professors, 5 international visiting professors per year, 350 professional experts or managers and 47 administration assistants.The research activities of the school members span the main areas of management: accounting, finance, human resources, marketing, and strategic management.Over the past three years, the 41 permanent members of the research centre had 52 published or accepted papers in top economics and management journals.

IAE Toulouse is: • 450 managers in executive education programs• 2500 students, including 350 international students• 76 PhD students• 70 nationalities represented on campus

• 34 training programs• 18,000 alumni worldwide• 5 student organizations• 75 partner universities

IAE Toulouse students (Exc. France)

MIDDLE EAST

3%

NORTHAMERICA

3%

SOUTHAMERICA

7%

ASIAPACIFIC

30%

AFRICA

43%

EUROPE

14%

About IAE ToulouseTeaching styleWe use a variety of dynamic teaching methods to expand our critical thinking: lab experiments, case studies, individual and group projects, interactive and online materials, and guest lectures.Oral and written communication skills and team working are continuously used throughout our courses.

IT facilitiesStudents benefit from a dedicated trading room equipped with a trading platform (GL-Trade), as well as other software for the courses (SAS, SAP, Business Objects,…).

Students associationThe IAE students association was created in 1955. It aims to foster integration and inter-student relations at IAE. The association organizes parties, weekends away or longer trips. IAE students can also suggest other ideas to the association's board.Examples of 2011-2012 activities: integration party, ski weekend, carnival of Toulouse, halloween party and a gala dinner. In 2012 they launched an Investment Society.

Junior ConsultingThe IAE junior consultancy is a student-run think tank and management consultancy structure established by IAE students in 2007. On a non-profit basis, it allows companies and organisations to benefit from the IAE students' economics, managerial and financial expertise at advantageous rates.

The IAE Toulouse experienceDowntown environmentLocated just a step from the Place du Capitole, the IAE Toulouse campus is an exciting environment with everything you need, making it easy for you to deal with everyday life while focusing on your studies: supermarket, cafes, restaurants, post office, launderette, banks, health centre…It also offers plenty of rural possibilities: meadows, woods, lakes, montains and sea surrounding us and yet just over an hour away from Toulouse by train.

Arts Centre - tabThe Arts Centre leads the UT1 Capitole President’s initiative to make the arts a central feature of the University's academic mission. The Arts Centre is an academic unit that is home to the creative film screenings, lectures and readings, dance, music, theater and visual arts programs. One of the main Arts Centre priorities is also to promote knowledge sharing through close collaborations with the academic staff of our University. The creation of these links between students & faculty must also reflect our campus' reputation for scientific excellence.

SportsWe have all-weather pitches supporting sports including football, rugby, tennis, climbing, swimming, martial arts...

Improve your FrenchThere are several ways to improve your French: Free classes offered by Toulouse University (PRES) for exchange students "Language Resources Center" (CRL) at UT1: learning software programmes, tandem (conversation swop),

conversation groups, etc.

FIRE programme: Ethics, rigor & excellence

In-depth and intensive, the Master in FInancial markets and Risk Evaluation is fully run in English.

Throughout the courses we stress the links between financial economics theories, quantitative skills and key finance activities.

Finance is science, so quantitative skills are needed but finance is still business, so real-world relevance is crucial. Therefore we offer up-to-date fundamental topics like empirical finance, historical episodes, compliance or regulation.

In the same manner, we call on top practitioners with relevant experience to teach, a great way to immerse the degree in undogmatic wisdom. They deliver 33% of the courses taught.

Topics are chosen in the economics courses for their relevance to finance in close consultation with a panel of advisers from leading financial institutions (see the partnerships section).

Career objectives are analyst, actuarial assistant, asset management, consulting, insurance, hedge funds, management consulting, private equity, research, risk management, sales, structuring, trading, wealth management…

September to septemberClass: 6 months

Internship: 6 months

Coursework/projects 47%Exams 53%

Course duration: Assessment:

Your courses

Asset pricing

Economics of insurance& financial markets

Investments and risk management

Quantitative methods for insurance& financial markets

Internship

Valuation of financial assets and arbitrage Fixed income markets Pricing with asymmetric information Computational finance

Microeconomics of insurance Trading Design of structured products corporate and markets

Asset management Risk analysis Socially responsible investments & ethics Alternative investments and hedge funds Financial risk management Market risk management

Empirical finance Econometrics for finance VBA for finance Excel for finance Life insurance Non life insurance

Practitioner lectures in finance & insurance Career development skills Internship

Practitioner lectures• BEUZIT Cyril, global head of interest rate strategy, BNP Paribas (London): ECB, sovereign

debt crisis & financial markets.• DELPECH Jean-François, head of equity research, ODDO Securities (Paris).• FLEURY Nicolas, trader, CA-CIB (London): interest rate derivative trading. • FOLDVARI Sandrine, quant, AHL (London): quantitative trading strategies.• HAFID Hasnaa, advisor, IRDI/ICSO Private Equity (Toulouse): venture capital & growth

capital.• de la RAITRIE Alexandre, relations investors, DNCA Finance (Paris): micro & macro

analysis.• REUTENAUER Victor, credit quant analyst & vice president, Citigroup (London):

numerical methods & interest rate derivative.• STRATFORD Christopher, international management consultant, ProDev Consultants

(Toulouse): helping public and private institutions prepare for intercultural change (restructuring, acquisitions, privatisation...).

• TIBBI Philippe, Head of Amafi (association française des marchés financiers), professor of finance at Polytechnique & radio host at BFM (Paris): « Les marchés financiers font-ils la loi? »

• VIGUIER Laurent, commodities portfolio managers, Statoil (Stavenger - Norvège): valuation of flexible gas, oil and power contracts.

A gateway to financial research

Our master programme offers a 'research track’ to prepare students for the doctoral programme and PhD in Finance.

Students who choose to follow the research track will take specific research-oriented courses. Specifically, the unit "Research methods in finance“ replaces certain practitioners’ courses.

Moreover, students must write a short research thesis which may (but does not have to) form the starting point for a doctoral dissertation.

Admission to the doctoral programme is then subject to excellent performance within the FIRE programme, possibly some additional coursework, the development of a promising research agenda, and the identification of an appropriate supervisor.

The teaching team

International academic researchersChristophe BISIERE (IAE-TSE), Christian BONTEMPS (TSE), Fany DECLERCK (IAE-TSE), Olivier FAUGERAS (TSE), Alexander GUEMBEL (IAE-TSE), Augustin LANDIER (TSE), Sophie MOINAS (IAE-TSE), Guillaume PLANTIN (IAE-TSE), Sébastien POUGET (IAE-TSE), Stéphane VILLENEUVE (TSE) and Ekatarina VOLTCHKOVA (TSE).

International professional finance experts are from:AHL (London), BNP Paribas (Paris), BNPP Fortis (Brussels), CA-CIB (London), Citigroup Global Markets Limited (London), Courrèges Investment Solutions (Luxembourg), Deloitte LLP (Brussels), DNCA Finance (Paris), HSCB (Paris), IXO Private Equity (Toulouse), Natixis Asset Management (Paris), ODDO Securities (Paris), Société Générale (Paris), Statoil (Norway).

The quality of an academic programme undoubtedly depends on the quality of the professors. The team teaching the FIRE programme is a mix of international researchers and international practitioners who are among the best in their field of expertise.

Typical class

FEMALE STUDENTS

41%Why did you choose the FIRE programme?IAE Toulouse is a very good school. The professors are kind and patient, and we always have a further discussion in or after the class. I chose the FIRE programme because here I can learn not only finance theory, but also financial practice and activities. I can prepare for my career.How do you live the Toulouse experience?I have lived in Toulouse for about two years. For a foreigner, the city is beautiful, the life is comfortable, and the people are friendly. It is not very big, but you could find all the things you want!

Na LICurrent student on the FIRE programme

NUMBER OF COUNTRIES

5

Proportion of class with work experience in finance

82%Average work experience

5 months

Full-year internship

12%

Average age (range)

23 (20-25)

Number of students

20

Previous educationFinance 76%Engineering 12%Economics 6%Social sciences 6%

Elsa LADUGUIECurrent student on our FIRE programmeWhy did you apply to IAE Toulouse in general and why do you want to complete the FIRE programme in particular?I applied to IAE Toulouse because in my mind it is important to know how to lay bricks before becoming an architect. Thus, I wanted to gain an experience that was not only theoretical but also had ties with the professional world. That said I do not have regrets about any of the classes IAE offered me the opportunity to go to. In fact it's the quality of teaching that made me enrol into the FIRE programme. I liked the idea of joint teaching at the crossroads between the IAE and the TSE programmes. Through this approach I believe I will have an all-encompassing learning experience.

You carried out a one-year internship at BNP Paribas Securities Services located in Paris, what were the strong points?This experience was fulfilling on many levels. Staying in the same workgroup for 16 months allowed me to understand the intricacies of the workplace in more depth than 6 months would have allowed. I sometimes had difficulties grasping some of the concrete aspects of the work, given my theoretical-oriented background, but getting over this difficulty allowed me to bridge the gap between these two worlds and get a more wholesome point of view of my professional future.On a more personal note, I also got to learn a lot about a whole new city, meeting new people on a day to day basis, helping me develop my capacity to adapt, all the while being a very rich human experience.

Do you recommend this to future students?I definitely recommend this experience to future students. I feel that one gains more from an internship lasting more than six months, as it allows a better understanding of not only one job but also of the bigger goals of the company one is in. I would however warn them of the possible disappointment this internship might lead to when discovering the great gap between the vision one might have of the job and the reality of it.

Internships include:AC and OAirbusAmundiBarcalys BankBNP ParibasCOFACECrédit AgricoleExaneFaurecia

Internships

Internships per region:Paris 67%Toulouse 18%France - others 5% Europe 4.5%Asia 4.5%Africa 1%

GroupamaHSBCMurexNatixisPricewaterhouseProcapitalSociété GénéraleStudio Canal…

Courses take place from September to the end of March. Then students must write a professional thesis and carry out a 6-month internship in order to graduate. It is however important to stress that this professional experience may not be an internship per se. Our policy is that the best type of internship is a full-time job or a VIE!

The following information on internships is based on the last 4 graduations (2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012).

Type of working contract: Internship 94%CDD 4%CDI 1%VIE 1%

Internship sectorsSECTOR OF EMPLOYMENT JOB FUNCTION

Salary per month:Between 500-1,000€ 25%Between 1,000- 1,500€ 62%More than 1,500€ 13%

Internships: additional information

Working language:French 56%English 44%

- Do you recommend the FIRE programme?Yes 100%- Are the internships and courses complementary goods? Yes 100%What are the strong points of the programme?High quality courses, practitioner courses, quantitative courses, VBA courses, multidisciplinary & team working.

The following information is based on Master FIRE 2012 graduates.

Now that you are graduated:- Do you recommend the gap year?Yes 75%- Are you satisfied by the teaching team?Yes 100%

After 18 months alumni worked on average for 2 different firms and/or 2 different jobs

Career successEmployers in 2010 & 2011 are:ActenseAirbusAltranBarclaysCFG GroupCofaceCrédit AgricoleExaneLyxor Asset ManagementMosaic FinanceOddo OptionsPwCSCORSociété GénéraleTowers Watson…

Despite the turmoil in the financial sector, the employment rate is about 91% within 3 months of graduation.

83% of graduates seeking employment secured offers immediately after completion

26% decide to pursue further education: Ecole des Ponts, EM Lyon, HEC, ISFA (Institute Actuarial & Financial Sciences), ISUP (Institute of Statistics)…

The average starting salary is reported at€36,100

Master FIRE 2010 & 201157 studentsAnswers rate 82,46%

Working languageEnglish 35%

Employment per region

NORTHAMERICA

7%

ASIAPACIFIC

7%

AFRICA

2%

UK

4%

PARIS

59%TOULOUSE

21%

Sector of employmentSECTOR OF EMPLOYMENT JOB FUNCTION

A few examples of student careersAssociate directorBNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking – Hungary Branch

Brokerage business managerBNP Paribas – London

Coal derivatives trader EDF Trading – London

Commodity derivatives BNP Paribas – New York City

Front-office developer Oddo Options – Hong Kong

Front-office support proprietary trading ABS & CDO Natixis – London

Interest rate & derivatives trader - group ALMBNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking – Paris

Natural gas commodities portfolio managersStavanger Area – Norway

Sugar & biofuel risk analyst Bunge - London

Trade support associateDeutsche Bank – London

Trading analystSociété Générale Americas Securities – New York City

Treasury market risk analystCrédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Banking – New York City

Treasury - money market salesCrédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Banking – Paris

…

Career servicesIndividual career counselling and coaching sessions facilitate project definition, target company search, and provide self-marketing counselling for students, including those from outside France.

Personalized coachingDuring the FIRE programme you will follow some career development skills courses: CV writing, cover letter preparation, interview training, negotiation skills, cultural awareness, networking skills, using social media to aid your job search… IAE organizes a Career Development Skills Day which provides students with support for their job research, interview preparation and career development planning. You also have the possibility to follow SUIO recruitment workshops.

IAE LinkEach year, IAE organizes a Recruitment Forum. This forum enables students to meet with recruiters from some of the largest and most prestigious banks and firms.IAE Toulouse also provides to student an historical record of past internships.

Alumni networkBy joining the IAE Alumni Association, you will be part of a solid, active network of emotionally and intellectually 18,000 engaged alumni who support and further the IAE Toulouse’s vision and serve as ambassadors around the globe.

Alumni information

NUMBER OF COUNTRIES

34MORE THAN 300 JOB FUNCTIONS

MAIN SECTOR OF EMPLOYMENTServices 42.3%Industry 14.6%Banking, finance & insurance 14.5%Administration 10.2%IT 6%…

IAE TOULOUSEALUMNI

18,000MEMBERS

Master in FinanceAlumni

600MEMBERS

ALUMNI SERVICESIAE Toulouse Alumni AssociationLinkedIn Network

Partnerships

The finance department has developed a strong and clear focus on developing partnerships with company sponsored chairs. All these companies benefit from international visibility and networking opportunities.

Our main partners are (click on the name to visit the website): Finance Durable and Investissement Responsible: Allianz Global Investors France,

Association Française de la Gestion Financière, Axa Investment Managers, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Caisse des dépôts, Amundi, Dexia Asset Management, Ecofi Investissements, Financière de Champlain, Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites, Groupama Asset Management, HSBC Investments France, Institut d'Economie Industrielle, La Banque Postale Asset Management, La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild AM, Macif Gestion, Natixis Asset Management, UFG-Sarasin AM.

Market Risk and Value Creation – SCOR. The aim of the chair is to support the theoretical and applied research on Risk sharing

mechanisms with the willingness to combine methodologies from financial economics, industrial organization and econometrics.

Partnerships

Investment Banking and Financial Markets - Fédération des Banques Françaises (BNP Paribas, Calyon, Crédit Agricole AM, Paris Europlace Finance).

The FBF IDEI research chair studies the investment banking and financial markets value chain. We are interested in the different steps of that chain, ranging from origination and security design, to issuance, trading and liquidity, and post-trading. We develop theoretical, empirical and experimental analyses of these topics, in close interaction with market participants and banks. The partnership brings together academics and practitioners to exchange ideas about investment banking and financial markets.

Liquidity risk and Accounting Standards (Autorité des Normes Comptables & Caisse des Dépôts).

This chair stress the link between market microstructure, market failure, accounting standards & price discovery.

Capital Market Dysfunctionalities: Paul Woolley Research Initiative.

Banque de France

How to apply?

We expect our applicants to be exceptional. We will look for evidence that you have a genuine passion for finance, and that you have the enthusiasm and motivation to make the most of your time with us.

Requirements A good previous degree or equivalent in business & management, economics,

engineering, finance, law, mathematics, science or social sciences.

Official test score reports:– GMAT or TAGE-MAGE– A Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or Test of English for

International Communication (TOEIC) or International English Language Test Scheme (IELTS): if English is not your native language or if you have not completed your undergraduate degree in an English speaking country.

Your university academic transcripts.

A 1,000 word personal statement.

A resume.

Criteria for admission

A good previous degree is required.

The program is taught in English, so English skills are required.

A good score at the TAGE-MAGE or GMAT will be sought but a high score does not guarantee a place and a lower score does not automatically disqualify an applicant.

The ability of students to acquire analytical skills in theoritical and applied economics, enthousiasm and character of the applicant will also be assessed through, for short-listed candidates, the interview.

A sound background in mathematical and statistical tools is advantageous but not a requirement. Students without such background will be expected to demonstrate a willingness and ability to learn them.

A professional experience (internship or full-job) is a large advantageous.

NUMBER OF APPLICANTS

113

Key figures

NUMBER OF APPLICANTS PER PLACE

5NATURE OF PREVIOUS DEGREE

FEMALE APPLICANTS

52%

NUMBER OF COUNTRIES

20

AVERAGE AGE (RANGE)

23 (20-30)

FRANCE 60%ASIA 19%AFRICA 14%EUROPE 5%AMERICA 1%

Business &_x000d_management

Economics

Engineering

Finance

Law

Mathematics

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

4.42%

15.93%

3.54%

70.80%

1.77%

3.54%

Graduate testimony #1Can you give us a brief summary of your career so far and your current position?Justine: After the FIRE programme I did a Market Risk Analyst / Portfolio Analyst internship at RBS Luxembourg (I got this internship through one of the IAE lecturers) for 6 months.Then I moved to London where I started to work as a Risk Analyst for Newedge (mostly on margining and credit risk) a French Prime Broker, then after a couple of years I started a new role as Sugar Risk Analyst for Bunge (Agro Biz Trade House worldwide but focused on sugar and ethanol in London) – I currently hold that position.

Raphael: After finishing my master, I moved to the UK and got my first job as a market risk analyst for RWE Trading. The role was involving monitoring risk limits, elaborating risk reports and provide support in development of new businesses (capturing optionality in coal physical contracts). After 2 years, I changed job and move to EDF Trading to do market risk analysis in Coal and Freight in a Front Office environment. The role was different as my work was more focused on establishing plausible scenarii and associated PnL losses and exit strategies with traders. Since the beginning of this year, I moved to a more commercial role by joining the Coal derivatives desk as a junior trader. My current role involved providing hedging solutions to internal/external counterparties to EDF and proprietary trading.

What are some important stages of your development?Justine: The most important step to me will always be the IAE internship. That’s what decided the path of my career as well as for that of most of my friends.Then I would say my current job which is also my second one, as at this stage you get to the point where you know what you want to do and what you are capable of and you start getting more significant responsibilities.

Raphael: Education wise, I think the key was to move into the UK one academic year as an Erasmus student. It gave me the opportunity to chose my subject and to discover a new way to learn financial concepts. After this year spent abroad, I wanted a master which could brings me new skills and practical tools to evolve in an working environment. The FIRE programme in Toulouse was the perfect choice as the first year of the master is quite general and the second year gives you the opportunity to specialize in one area in particular.

Graduate testimony #1Courses, conferences, meeting. What are the most significant memories of your year at IAE Toulouse?Justine: Mostly a degree that was easy to sell because (in the case of London) they quite like quantitative backgrounds and VBA classes are here a big +++++I must say I do not use any of what I learnt in theory in my day to day job (in the sense no one would ever ask you to do a BS model in practice), but this helped me to have a very good understanding of financials markets mechanisms.

Raphael: What I like the most at IAE Toulouse was the fact that teachers were also doing research. As a result, lectures were fascinating and really detailed. Nevertheless, the academic part of the formation was also combined by conferences given by professionals already running successful careers, giving a more practical/applied approach of the concepts learnt previously. The interactions with others students and the sense of belonging was also really strong, as the availability of the professors.

If you could give advice to future students who wish to prepare for a career in finance, what would it be?Justine: To very carefully choose their final internship as this is what they will most likely end up doing for most of their career (at least the first few years).To get as much programming skills as possible. This really adds value and gives another dimension to their profile.And... when going for job interview to stop acting like they are passing an exam. As paper / theory knowledge is one thing but also need to show common / practical sense and understanding of business! So it’s good to know all the models but you need to show you understand how this translates businesswise!

Raphael: I think if any advice it would be to be a careful about what internship to take and also not be afraid to move abroad. I guess also the key to work hard and try to find new way to do things and innovate as much as possible.

Justine LAURREGUY (April 2012) Raphael Jacquin (April 2012)Sugar Risk Analyst for Bunge, London Coal Derivatives Trader at EDF Trading, LondonMaster FIRE 2007 Master FIRE 2007

Can you give us a brief summary of your career so far and your current position?Audrey: I carried out a 6 month internship with Société Générale CIB to graduate. After this internship I was hired in the same department. My responsibilities included analyzing, producing and certifying trades on the FX market. I had to insure that the deals and market information converge and to check if the portfolio is correctly priced. We then published this result and linked it to the greek one.Next I took a position as a Corporate Credit Analyst still at SG CIB where I score European groups and prepare proposals to their credit requests. My working relationships are therefore senior bankers, front-office traders and risk managers. Financial products that I used cover everything from currencies rate to structured products. I’ve chosen that job because it is at the intersection of financial markets and corporate finance.

Yannick: I am currently working as a Market Risk Analyst on Treasury where I work closely with the Traders and the Risk Managers providing them analysis on the PnL and monitoring their Risk indicators (e.g. VaR, Greeks, Foreign Exchange exposure...). The main activity of the Treasury desk here in New York is to rise the liquidity for Credit Agricole in USD, CAD and MXN. I was previously in Paris at Credit Agricole CIB in the same position but on Debt and Credit Market during my senior year internship (finalizing my Master 2).

Graduate testimony #2

According to you, what are the strong points of the FIRE programme? Audrey: One strong point of the programme is that it covers a lot of topics and is very complete. We learned from corporate finance to programming, which is very useful to evolve professionally later on. In addition, the programme combines strong theoretical or mathematical courses with more practical topic, such as asset management. We also benefit from professionals who help us to link what we learn in class with the working environment. Another very strong point is that course on visual basic. This is extremely useful because we are often asked to spend a lot of time writing macros in Excel or Access! Having a strong foundation of computer skills is attractive for companies, and can be a way to prove your autonomy. The gap year is also very valuable!

Yannick: The great quantity of group projects was a strong point as it prepares you to be ready for your internship. Having a deadline, working with others, using softwares (especially Excel) and presenting your work. The projects were all year long and on a lot of different topics, it teaches you how to adapt and change quickly from one subject to another.

Graduate testimony #2

For which reason did you choose IAE Toulouse and in particular FIRE program? Audrey: I chose this programme because it’s organized on a human scale and is competitive with private business schools because it has, in my opinion, a higher quality of instructors. I also chose the IAE for my M1 because I would be able to do internship each year and the programme is known by companies.

Yannick: After my Master 1 in Econometrics at the University of Toulouse and my gap year working at Societe Generale Bank and Trust in Luxembourg, I wanted to get a degree that would not only specialize me in Market Finance but also bring me a good level of general knowledge in Finance. I also thought that the IAE would give me a good balance between theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. My favorite course was the Structured Product taught by Johann Barchechath in which we simulated a Front Office with Traders Sales and Structurers.

If you should give an advice to future students who wish to prepare for a career in finance, what would it be? Audrey: I would tell them to not pick and choose among the courses under the pretext of a pre-defined career agenda because market and corporate finance are closely related. You shouldn’t disregard math or data based courses, which can seem daunting, because they are the base of any future career. I would also advice them to pick their end of studies work experience very well because a companies equate a good internship with academic success. And lastly, work on your English!

Yannick: I would tell them to be willing to work all around the world. And by all around the world I mean not only the already well-known finance places but the new ones such as Sao Paulo or Dubai (or others). There will be a lot of opportunities to cease and, I think, this would make the difference to start a career.

Audrey Salattes (April 2012) Yannick BOUGARD (April 2012)Analyst Credit Corporate - Middle Office PnL Treasury Market Risk Analystfor Société Générale CIB, Paris for Credit Agricole CIB, New YorkMaster FIRE 2007 Master FIRE 2010

Graduate testimony #2

The finance department

The finance department has 21 full-time professors from IAE Toulouse and TSE, including 7 international members, graduated from the world’s greatest universities. It belongs to the Top 5% Top Level Institutions (as of April 2012) of the Repec ranking and is ranked 24th on 145.

The professors bring to the FIRE programme their teaching experience in well-known international programmes such as Georgia State University, HEC Paris, London Business School, New York University, Princeton University, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Oxford, and University of Warwick.

Over the past three years, the permanent professors of the finance department have 40 published or accepted papers in the top-three finance journals and in top economics journals.

The finance department members are working on some of the most taxing and tremendous problems facing the financial industry: banking, contract theory in continuous time, corporate finance, insurance, investment, market microstructure, psychology and experimental economics.

The department runs a highly successful Ph.D. programme with a strong placement record and hosts visiting faculty members from leading US and European schools. It sponsors about 20 research seminars and workshops per year by leading US and European academics.

Interview

You held a faculty position at the Saïd Business School of Oxford University, why did you choose to join Toulouse?Toulouse offers an outstanding research environment, particularly for someone with an interest in financial economics, like myself. In addition I had spent some time as a visiting researcher in Toulouse in the past. That allowed me to get to know other researchers, notably the finance faculty at the IAE. I realized then that the working environment was very friendly and cooperative. Getting along well with your colleagues is very important. In deciding to come to Toulouse this was also an important factor.

Can you tell us a little about your research activity?My research applies economic theory to a variety of finance problems. Recently, I have been working on the international contagion of financial crisis. Globalization has increased international capital mobility with potentially harmful consequences: “hot money” by international speculators sometimes flows out of a country very abruptly, pushing that country into a crisis. The outflow may be in response to a crisis elsewhere, effectively leading to contagion. Some well known economists (and many politicians) have argued that too much capital market integration is therefore a bad thing and barriers to capital flows should be erected so as to prevent contagion. In my recent research I show that this argument only tells one side of the story. The other side is that free capital flows can also sometimes prevent a crisis from occurring by allowing a country to import capital – without which it might face a liquidity or credit crunch. The argument in favour of barriers to capital flows is therefore weaker than often made out to be.

Interview

To what extent is education in France different from that of the UK?Universities in the UK tend to attract a larger number of foreign students so that the student mix is more international. This is probably partly due to the status English enjoys as an international language. But in part I think it is also due to the fact that UK universities have a strong interest in setting up high quality programmes that foreigners wish to enroll in, since these often generate fees that form an important source of income for universities. In terms of the course content and delivery, French education appears to emphasize more the formal / mathematical aspects of problem solving. Here French students tend to dominate the ones from the UK. On the other hand, students in the UK are expected to participate more actively in class discussions and explain concepts and how they can be used to solve problems. This can be pretty useful later in life, because students acquire a clearer understanding of when it is more or less appropriate to use specific analytical tools, or how to apply them in new contexts. Moreover, an ability to express oneself clearly is very important on the job.

What advice would you give a student who wants to work in the world of finance?I think that in the transition from university to a job in finance, it is important to appreciate that one cannot and should not simply apply finance models like cooking recipes. Someone who learns to use finance models and concepts as a tool for reasoning and analysis will in my view come up with better solutions in practice.

Alexander GuembelProfessor of finance

IAE ToulouseApril 2012

InterviewCan you tell us a little about your background?I studied at the IAE Toulouse where I obtained a Master and a PhD in Finance. After my PhD, I worked for three years as an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Robinson College of Business (Georgia State University) before coming back to Toulouse as a Professor. Last year, I was a Visiting Professor at Princeton University where I taught courses on investments and behavioural finance.I learned a lot from my various stays in the US but I was always keen to come back to Toulousebecause of the wonderful atmosphere, both intellectual and personal, that surrounds the Finance Department at the IAE Toulouse. I have a lot of great colleagues/friends in here and it provides me with a great working environment.

Can you tell us a little about your research activity?My research focuses on financial markets, using a multidisciplinary approach to understand what affects the value of financial assets. For example, I use experimental methodology in order to understand how psychology affects investment behaviour and performance. Recently, I have been interested in the psychology of speculation. Most of the students of the Master in Finance have participated in the bubble game that Sophie Moinas and I designed to understand the formation of speculative bubbles.I am also currently working on the financial history of the Mills of Toulouse. Those Mills are amazing because they were the earliest stockholding companies in the world. We have found stock prices of the Mills starting from 1372 (the year of creation of the Bazacle Mills Company) in the Haute-Garonne archives, and are analyzing how various types of risks (from wars to epidemics) affected the financial returns of the Mills over almost six centuries.

InterviewNow more than ever, finance is a field which requires passion and commitment but also strong ethics and advanced technical skills, how do these important issues impact your trading and asset management courses?I try to ensure that passion and commitment are always present in my courses by offering students a mix between formal courses and more relaxed financial games and investment simulations. It is my belief that learning by playing is not only fun but also effective! I always strive to introduce advanced quantitative skills after students have had the chance to experience the concept during games and simulations.I also believe that the issue of ethics in financial markets is crucial not only to ensure proper functioning of financial markets but more generally so that finance can be at the service of society. I am in charge of a research centre named the “Sustainable Finance and Responsible Investment Chair”, joint with the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. The centre is sponsored by the major asset management companies in France. We study whether and how moral values affect investment behavior.

If you could give advice to future students who wish to prepare for a career in finance, what would it be?Make sure you develop a technical skill (be it in mathematics, statistics, computer science, financial analysis or accounting) and follow your dreams!

Sébastien POUGETProfessor of finance

IAE ToulouseApril 2012

Internet

For more information:

Website: http://www.iae-toulouse.fr/1-36994-Specialite-Finance-de-Marche.php

Contact: master2.finance@iae-toulouse.fr