Discover how the Executive Master in Finance (EMFin) combines your experience with newfound knowledge and skills to deliver strategic solutions to real-life challenges in finance.
Participants of the INSEAD Executive Master in Finance often remark positively on how the programme blends theoretical and practical learning.
Aside from core subjects taught in the first part of the programme, the EMFin curriculum delves into specialised topics in banking, asset management, corporate finance and private equity. The focus is not in merely absorbing financial knowledge but in encouraging participants to think outside the box by creating synergies across different disciplines. You will be challenged to create new ideas to apply in your finance career.
Ultimately, we hone practical knowledge and application in the last part of the programme through Capstone courses and a final project.
Capstone Courses
Capstone courses are designed to bridge the gap between studies and current business practices by looking at management and leadership issues in finance.
There are four compulsory capstone courses:
- Global Banking and Finance: Structure, Conduct & Performance
- ALCO (Asset-Liability Committee) Simulation
- Fair Process Leadership & Governance
- Leadership in Finance
Global Banking and Finance: Structure, Conduct & Performance
The course approaches modern global banking and financial intermediation from the perspective of industrial organisation. Given the constant changes in the global banking industry, a fair amount of class time is spent discussing and analysing current events and emerging trends. As such, you are expected to be updated with ongoing developments on topics relevant to the course. The class is also case-oriented, meaning you will be regularly engaged in class discussions and group activities.
ALCO Simulation
The class will be divided into teams to take on the ALCO Challenge. In this simulation, each group is tasked with creating long-term value for a bank while controlling its exposure to risks. The course ultimately calls upon the students to apply their learnings effectively to drive success for the bank they’re managing.
The ALCO Challenge presents an integrated view of product profitability, risk, capital adequacy, taxation, and the stock market value of banks. Furthermore, the simulation incorporates the latest financial techniques in profitability and risk management. It is entirely accurate and takes into account the effects of taxation and BIS capital regulations.
Fair Process Leadership & Governance
In this course you will learn how to apply a “Fair Process” approach to create value and overcome organisational issues at the top of the company. By demonstrating in class a framework for implementing such process, you can also pick up strategies in achieving alignment among board members, and between the board and the CEO. The course is meant to provide an overview of the decision-making processes within financial organisations.
Leadership in Finance
The course examines issues in leadership, management, and communication, and how they impact the formation and performance of teams. Equally important, the class also looks at how leadership and communication play critical roles in the success of finance organisations as client-facing businesses.
The Capstone Project
At the end of the programme, you’ll be submitting a final project which encapsulates the knowledge and skills you’ve gained from the Executive Master in Finance.
Work on the project begins much earlier than the last module—first, you will have to pick a topic or problem requiring a strategic but feasible solution. Although the project is not assessed based on its successful implementation, the outcome should be believably practical and convincing of success.
You may focus on challenges that exist in your current organisation or industry; alternatively, you may propose a topic from a different field of interest. The approach to the project need not involve heavily technical or quantitative methods. For example, a project could be about a thorough analysis of recent regulations on private banking and its implications to your company.
Once a topic is approved, you will be paired with a professor who will then serve as an advisor on your project. Your advisor can offer guidance on the frameworks used and give recommendations toward developing a sensible project.
Examples of Capstone Projects pursued by our EMFin participants:
- The Financing Trends for Oil & Gas Companies with Operations in the North Sea
- Estimating Option and Mark-to-Market Values Embedded in HUD Loans
- Development of the European Leveraged Finance Market since the Financial Crisis
- Analysing Startup Valuation and Fundraising: Are we entering Dot Com Bubble 2.0?
- Valuation Methodology: A Consumer Goods & Services Industry Perspective
- Private Investment in Public Equity: A Sound Strategy in Southeast Asia?
- Centralised Cash Management in a Multinational Conglomerate Organization: A Case Study – General Electric’s Corporate Treasury
- Antares Education Limited: Opportunity to Invest in a High Quality K-12 School in the UAE
- Scaling a Real Estate Business
*Note: This is only a list of topics. Actual projects are not available publicly as many of them directly concern the organisations to which our participants belong.
If you would like to discuss your profile and Executive Master in Finance application in more detail, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
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