Finance lecturers build global links in the US

A team from the Finance Section of the commerce faculty's School of Management Studies recently returned from Charlottesville in the US, where they networked with global academic partners of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute.

Dr Francois Toerien and Ashwin Prayag were among the 53 delegates representing 49 universities from 19 countries who attended the 4th CFA Programme Partner Conference.

"We were inducted as new CFA partners and made aware of the benefits of collaborating with global partners in both research initiatives and in developing curricula. It was also great to connect with the CFA leadership and academics from a range of countries," said Toerien.

The new partnership between UCT and the CFA, which was signed in Cape Town earlier this year, also opens the door to one of the world's top international competitions for finance students. UCT is selecting a team to enter this challenge. Last year's winners, a team from Singapore, were given five minutes on CNN after the prize-giving.

The upbeat mood among academics attending the conference was noticeable, Toerien said.

"Studies in finance appear to be anti-cyclical. Despite the global downturn in the economy, the experience of other business schools around the world is that many people are using the recession as an opportunity to study further, so that they are well placed to take advantage of the upswing when it happens."

A word of warning from the UCT team to anyone flying into the US: "Make sure you use cable ties rather than locks on your luggage, as the very zealous airport officials cut your locks!"