Jean-Philippe Muller: “IUM at the service of the financial centre”

2018 12 Jean Philippe Muller

IUM, the International University of Monaco - an INSEEC group partner - draws its strength from the cultural diversity and dynamism of Monaco. 75 different nationalities are represented by its student body and teaching staff. Among the five specialisations taught at the university - finance, luxury industry, international management, marketing and sports management - finance holds a special place. As its director, Jean-Philippe Muller, explains:

“We have training offerings ranging from the bachelor’s degree to research. With a real team of professionals, and very well-developed relationships in place with banks and management companies.
As of 31 December 2018, we will have trained and graduated 460 banking and finance executives with the “AMAF” certification. Indeed in 2014, in order to further strengthen the skills level of Monegasque bank and management company employees, on the initiative of AMAF the Monegasque government introduced a compulsory vocational training system.
To date, we have 132 former students working in banking and finance in Monaco: audit, banks, asset managers, hedge funds and family offices.
Transparency and confidentiality are compulsory for all professionals (3000 people) by virtue of a decree. It is on this matter that we are now working, by developing a training course in keeping with financial centre concerns. Moreover, we are highly focused on fintech, which is why we regularly organise the Fintech Talks, which are debates between students and professionals. We are wholeheartedly at the service of the financial centre.”

The Fintech Talks were conceived by Florie Mazzorana, research professor at IUM and Mines de Paris civil engineer. This entrepreneur has developed her expertise as an investment strategy consultant with banks and energy industry players. As fintech and finance lecturer, she wanted to give substance to notions that can be complex at times. “I wanted to bring research professors, students and financial centre professionals together informally to discuss the impact of disruptive technologies that are changing the world of finance and generating new business models. Once a month, we invite a professional speaker to talk about concrete applications of these new technologies in their work. For about an hour, participants exchange ideas, share their experiences and enrich their networks. This great interaction in working teams sometimes gives rise to new partnerships between companies and enables fine synergies to be created. Even if the participating students are not specialised in finance, they appreciate the highly concrete aspect of these Fintech Talks.” Diverse topics are addressed: blockchains, crowdfunding, artificial intelligence, payment platforms. Given the scale of their attendance, this is clearly in line with a need for information and the exchange of ideas.