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The African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management (AIFMRM) held an event for female students where business women shared insights into their exciting and varied careers in Finance. The purpose of the event was to encourage students to consider careers in finance and to address misconceptions regarding limited opportunities for women in this field.

Programme:

• 16h30 Arrival
• 17h00 Industry speakers
• 18h00 Panel discussion and Q&A
• 18h45 Networking and refreshments

AIFMRM hosted a panel discussion with experts in education and finance on whether we should have free tertiary education and how this could be financed.

Panelists:

• Michael Sachs (Deputy Director General – Budget Office, National Treasury)
• Professor Nico Cloete (Centre for Higher Education Transformation and University of the Western Cape)
• Professor Servaas van der Berg (University of Stellenbosch)
• Dr Co-Pierre Georg (AIFMRM, University of Cape Town)

Panel Chair:

• Koketso Sachane (Heart 104.9FM)

AIFMRM held a summer school for PhD and Master’s students registered at South African universities, studying Economics, Finance, or closely related fields. The summer school ran from 16 to 22 December 2016 at the University of Cape Town.

• Professor Golub (Harvard University) taught a two-day course on “Interconnectedness”, covering the basics of network analysis in economics.
• Professor Katharina Pistor (Columbia University) taught a two-day course on “Law and Finance”, introducing students to the field.
• Dr Co-Pierre Georg (University of Cape Town) gave a one-day short course on “Introduction to Empirical Banking in Emerging Markets”, introducing the most relevant literature and methods, as well as available data sources in South Africa.

The African Institute for Financial Markets and Risk Management (AIFMRM) and the UCT Careers Service held their second annual Panel Discussion and Industry Q & A on Risk Management career options. UCT students interested in risk management as a career choice attended the event.

The proceedings started with a sequence of 10-minute presentations from three senior Risk Managers in South African financial services, followed by a brief information talk about AIFMRM’s MCom in Risk Management of Financial Markets offered through the Faculty of Commerce. After that, a 45-minute panel discussion allowed students to quiz the financial services professionals and AIFMRM academics about career paths. Afterwards, students interacted over drinks and snacks with Risk Management recruiters and practitioners from Barclays Africa, Rand Merchant Bank, FirstRand, Liberty, First National Bank, MMI, Thomson-Reuters, Sungard-FIS, Sanlam, Deloitte, Standard Bank, EY, Old Mutual and KPMG.

 

A well-functioning financial system is key for emerging markets to unlock their growth potential. However, the financial systems of many emerging markets remain in their infancy. AIFMRM and Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) jointly hosted a conference from 8 to 10 December with Imperial Business School and the Review of Finance addressing challenges faced by financial intermediaries in emerging markets.