Tag: Singapore

You weren’t dreaming when you saw students in full Commencement regalia taking selfies earlier this month. Olin holds graduation ceremonies several times throughout the year for programs that operate on a schedule outside the traditional academic year. The grads you saw lining up in Emerson Auditorium on Aug. 7 were members of the Global Masters of Finance (GMF) program who have circled the planet over the past 18 months in pursuit of their degrees.

The 18-month GMF program offered in partnership with Singapore Management University (SMU) begins with a mini semester in St. Louis; the cohort spends the winter in Singapore; and returns to the US in early summer for a week-long immersion in New York City and a week-long immersion in Washington, D.C. at the Brookings Institution. The final session of the program is held in St. Louis on the Danforth Campus.

This was the fourth class to complete the GMF program. There were 42 graduates who selected Alexander Roberts as their class speaker at graduation. Classmate Lingfeng Zhu translated Alex’s speech into Mandarin; they are pictured above.

Link to video of ceremony.

Link to photos  available for purchase from Grad Images.

Studying at Singapore Management University thanks to the dual-degree Global Master of Finance program offered me the great opportunity to gain exposure to the Asian lifestyle and education system. Not only is this program fostering my business acumen but it’s helping me build a stronger understanding of business trends within this part of the world; hence I decided to engage myself beyond the classroom and pursue a part-time internship.

Guest Blogger: Marco Iachini, Global Master of Finance, Class of 2015

After a few weeks of networking, online research, and emails, I was able to secure a position with a local start-up at the end of the fall semester. The Singaporean government strongly supports entrepreneurship—thus it’s very common to find local start-ups, especially in the financial technology sector.

The company I interned for created a finance-related phone app which was still in the pre-revenue phase, so I found myself wearing different hats on a daily basis. I wrote daily and weekly market summaries, helped with the marketing and social media strategy, and lastly, I learned how to use Cran-R to gather and analyze data in order to formulate new trading strategies.

Despite my availability being fairly limited, this opportunity gave me a chance to understand how to build a company from the ground up, and gave me insight into the startup world. Moreover, I had the chance of working alongside local successful finance professionals from which I learned many valuable lessons.

As my time in Singapore is coming to an end and I find myself preparing for my return to Olin, I think of how much I’ve learned from this internship and how useful it was for me inside the classroom and during job interviews. It gave me a chance to learn new skills, improve my business acumen, and most importantly, made me a more valuable professional. For these reasons, I strongly recommend to future GMF candidates: try finding an internship, as it will likely be an enriching experience especially here in Singapore!

Marco Iachini, and Yuan “Scotty” Hou, two members of the Global Master of Finance cohort, sum up their first semester in St. Louis before heading to Singapore Management University for the next two semesters in this blog post.

The first summer term in St. Louis was a challenging but successful experience. The program’s participation increased from the previous year, and brought together a more diverse group of students, including several students with non-finance backgrounds.

The coursework was very intensive and pushed the group to break conventional thought process, and begin analyzing cases and projects in a very dynamic, highly analytical way. The diverse backgrounds of the students contributed to build a more global approach to problem solving. The pace was fast and we put in many hours of work but the result was a successful classroom environment and an exponential growth curve for every student’s analytical skills in fields of valuation, investment theory and derivative securities.

Besides the intensive course schedule, the school also organized many extra-curricular events throughout the first semester: Joining the local community to prepare for the 4th of July celebration, a visit to the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis, the City Museum, and President Obama’s favorite pizza place, Pi on the Loop! Watching the Cardinals on a sunny afternoon and sharing the excitement of local fans, we gained a deeper appreciation of the American way of life through these experiences, and bonded with each other in the process. Engaging in these extra-curricular activities also provided a much needed respite for the students who were often preoccupied with the heavy workload.

The Global Master of Finance cohort will return to St. Louis next summer for their final semester before graduating in August. Good luck and safe travels!

Congratulations to the first cohort in the Global Master of Finance Dual Degree Program that will graduate Sunday, Aug. 3 at a ceremony in Emerson Auditorium. The 21 students began a rigorous year of study one year ago and divided their academic year between St. Louis and the campus of partner school Singapore Management University (SMU). The graduates will receive a degree from both schools.

Click on the video below to hear as GMF students reflect on their experience in this brand new graduate program that took them around the world, including immersion weeks in Washington, D.C. and New York.
videographers: Emma Kane, AB’15, Matt Flacker, AB’15, Marc Neimeyer, AB’14

Global Master of Finance dual degree students attended a gala dinner at Singapore Management University (SMU), on October 25, 2013, in celebration of the 10-year success of the SMU Masters in Applied Finance (MAF) program. MAF alumni, students, and distinguished guests were in attendance.

The event commenced with a professional forum followed by dinner.

Students in the Olin-SMU Global Master of Finance program, launched this summer, are currently studying in Singapore and will return to St. Louis next summer for their final semester.  They will graduate with two degrees: the MSF from Olin and the MAF from SMU.

Read more about the Global dual degree program on our website.

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