Recognizing the acceleration of FinTech and how it infiltrates almost every aspect of our daily life, ESSEC APAC has recently added a Finance track to its highly-regarded Master in Finance (MIF) program.
Part of the two-day MiF Finance Track study trip in Singapore, we visited the largest asset manager in Europe, Amundi. This exclusive arrangement is an extension of the partnership between Amundi and ESSEC. We were warmly greeted by Mr David Poh and Miss Michelle Ang. Miss Michelle Ang, Chief Operating Officer of Amundi Southeast Asia, gave an introduction of Amundi, we learnt Amundi’s emphasis in Singapore and its role (Singapore) in Southeast Asia. She also carefully walked us through the investment decision process, distinguishing between strategic and tactical asset allocation. After the introduction session, Mr David Poh, Amundi's lead Portfolio Manager for South Asian investment strategies, also gave us an overview of the wealth management side of the business, highlighting the different roles involved in the wealth management sector.
David Logerais, CEO of Amundi Intermediation Asia, later gave us a talk about the execution services and the opportunity to visit the trading desk to meet traders and to ask them questions about market trends and their daily responsibilities. For those who want to pursue a trading career, this was the best chance to get a closer observation and discussion with professionals.
We visited Société Générale, the French multinational investment bank on the second part of the study trip. We were welcomed by Pascal Lambert, Head of Southeast Asia’s office, he had visited ESSEC just a few weeks before and to share his professional journey with us. Pascal discussed Société Générale’s growth is not limited to Singapore but in all of Asia, and he also emphasized the importance of asset-based financing activities within the region which gave us the confidence to stand our career in APAC after our study.
Following the session by David So, the Director in the Debt Capital Markets talked about the Global Capital Market and the division’s product offerings. David then gave the example of his daily activities in the market and described the different stages of debt issuance.
The company visit ended smoothly with a talk given by the Managing Director, Edward Lee on derivatives products traded by Société Générale, with a special focus on hedging solution and cross-asset investing.
While writing this journal, our MIF Capstone is ongoing and partnered with Société Générale this year, I look forward to delivering a professional presentation soon.
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