The curriculum is highly practical and designed for mid-career professionals in Finance roles.  
Kelly Chai

Kelly Chai

Kelly Chai
Nationality/Passport: Chinese Year of graduation: 2024 Current Role: Vice President, Citco Fund Service

Can you tell us a little more about yourself and your personal/professional journey so far?

I started off my career as a banking specialist, later became an auditor, and have now moved into the fund investment industry. My spectrum of responsibilities has been broadened from data processing to fund management. Geography wise, I have worked in Buffalo, Hangzhou, Dublin, Hong Kong and now I am an expat living in Singapore.

So, what made you decide to take on the EMFin programme at INSEAD, amongst the other programmes out there?

As a mid-career female professional, I have always felt that I am lucky enough to be what I am now and I am treasuring all experiences that have formed the current version of myself. Though I always strived to be, and give the best in what I do, I felt somewhat disconnected and less secure in the keeping up with the changing financial world.

The INSEAD EMFin programme was the first and only choice for me, as well as the only one my Private Equity fellows recommended to me. The class modules fit me perfectly and enable me to pursue my personal goals, keep up with my work, and help with keeping my family well balanced.

The curriculum is highly practical and designed for mid-career professionals in Finance roles.  

You’ve completed module 1. Please share your thoughts on your classmates, the faculty and classroom experience?

We have such a diverse composition of classmates in terms of nationalities and industry experience. During module 1, we took advantage of this diversity to complete intensive sub-group work such as recap sessions, case studies, group presentations, projects and more.

Key messages that are relevant to our day-to-day finance world have been emphasised, and our minds and critical thinking skills have been stretched in the classroom so much so that whilst we are still focussing on the theory, we have already started to think about how all of this can be applied to the post-pandemic developments in finance that are happening every day.

Elon Musk completed his takeover ofTwitter, FTX filed for bankruptcy … I can’t wait for module 2 to catch up with our Professors and classmates to discuss more!

Any parting words of wisdom?

Fake it till you make it. The non-verbal signs of our bodies and behaviour can affect our individual mindsets and make concepts valid resources to build within ourselves a better "us". I first learned this from a TED talk and I feel it works well for me as well as my kids.