After elaborate arrangements, Xiamen University (XMU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) have entered into a strategic alliance to jointly develop Graduate Program in Applied Finance (MAF) for Chinese financial talents. The program is cooperated by Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics (WISE) and Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), and is aimed at nurturing financial elites who have the international outlook and executive abilities for Chinese and Asia-Pacific’s economic development.
The MAF is an intensive full-time program designed to be completed in two years. The incoming students will spend their first year at WISE to familiarize themselves with fundamental knowledge of modern economic and financial theories, quantitative analysis and business English. Then, the students will study at SMU for the second year and immerse themselves in specialized courses in applied finance, such as financial engineering, risk management, corporate finance, investment bank and commercial bank management. The curriculum of MAF is carefully structured to strike a good balance between theory and practice, and hence provide a great potential for students’ practical executions. The courses are not only taught by international renowned scholars who come from LKCSB or other international leading business schools, but also taught by experienced industry professionals who are influential in Singapore financial circle. Besides, the MAF is designed to meet the examination requirements of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Hence, the MAF students will not only graduate with a Master degree in applied finance from SMU, but will be also well prepared for the CFA examination. Furthermore, students with excellent records in MAF will be recommended to Singapore financial institutes and acquire precious work abroad experience.
SMU is one of the three international renowned public funded universities in Singapore, and the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China has recognized its educational qualification. The educational and administrative practices of SMU, which are modeled after American institutions, in particular the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, are greatly sponsored by the Singapore government. Nowadays, SMU has already established itself to be a world-class premier university in the field of business and social science in Asia-Pacific region. The LKCSB, as an essential part of SMU, stands out in the fields of financial risk management, financial derivatives design and pricing as well as financial market operation. It has also gathered a team of distinguished faculty, many of whom obtained their PhDs from world-renowned business schools or economics institutes. In recent years, the LKCSB has achieved great success in publication of research outcomes in international leading academic journals in finance and teaching excellence in terms of fulfilling the demand of academic and executive talents in local and regional financial circles. SMU and XMU are closely tied to each other. In 2006, Professor Pang Eng Fong, Dean of LKCSB, and Professor Tan Chin Tiong, Provost & Deputy President of SMU, were invited to visit XMU successively. In January this year, Professor Chongshi Zhu, President of XMU, paid a return visit to SMU and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Professor Howard Hunter, President of SMU. As a fundamental component of the Memorandum of Understanding, the MAF is crucial to the further development of both universities in the sense of worldwide academic exchange and cooperation in teaching and research at the postgraduate and executive education level.
Founded by XMU in 2005, WISE is a world-class premier institute for research and education in finance and economics. Since its foundation, WISE has successfully recruited and promoted a team of international scholars who have passion and potential to achieve research and teaching excellence in the field of finance and economics. Besides, WISE has also strived to participate in worldwide academic communication and collaborations. It has impressively held a series of world-class academic conferences and symposiums. During all of these practices, WISE now has already served as a dynamic center for academic researches and education as well as a window for oversea communication in the South China and Asia-Pacific region. Especially in the fields of econometrics, finance and financial econometrics, WISE has established itself to be an international renowned academic brand and signified the leading position of XMU in quantitative finance.
The enrollment of MAF will begin later this year and two executive classes will open for the fall 2007 semester in Xiamen and in Shanghai with a joint effect of Econometric Research Center of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
For more information, please click in:
LKCSB official website: http://www.business.smu.edu.sg
WISE official website: http://www.wise.xmu.edu.cn
