International residency | MBA in Finance

The international residency provides new perspectives through the combination of leading academic faculty and exciting company visits. Recently, the residency has taken place in Boston, USA.

Overview of recent international residencies
- Program highlights - international residency 2014
  Program highlights - international residency 2014
  Courses, guest lectures and keynote speakers:
  Welcome Reception with welcome address by Steve Bloomfield at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA)
  Courses at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA) - Harvard University:
  Class "Behavioral Finance" (Warren Cormier)
  Class "Behavioral Corporate Finance" (Manfred Frühwirth)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Abenomics - A New Approach of Economic Policy" (Shinju Fujihira)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Energy Finance" (Ehud Ronn)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Islamic Finance" (Nazim Ali & Shariq Nisar)
  Distinguished Guest Speaker in Behavioral Finance: Brigitte Madrian (Harvard Kennedy School of Government)
  Distinguished Guest Speaker in Behavioral Corporate Finance: Malcolm Baker (Harvard Business School): "Low Volatility Anomaly and Bank Capital"
  Keynote Speech at the Gala Dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club: Jeffry Frieden (Department of Government, Harvard University): "The European Financial and Economic Crisis - from the Perspective of the USA"
  Company visits:
  Standard & Poor's
  Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Boston FED)
  State Street Global Advisors
  Social activities:
  Brunch cruise in Boston - Odyssee Ship
  Red Sox baseball game
  Joint Lobster Dinner at the Oceanaire Seafood Room
  Joint Farewell Dinner at the 52^nd floor of the Prudential Center ("Top of the Hubs Restaurant")
- Program highlights - international residency 2016
  Program highlights - international residency 2016
  Courses, guest lectures and keynote speakers:
  "Behavioral Finance" (Deborah Gregory)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Pension Finance" (Brigitte Madrian from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government)
  Guest lecture on Pension Finance by Luis Viceira from Harvard Business School
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Project Finance" (Akash Deep from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government)
  Guest lecture on Banking and Financial Regulation by David Scharfstein from Harvard Business School
  Gala Dinner at Harvard Faculty Club with keynote speaker Robert Kaplan from Harvard Business School: “Balanced Scorecard: Why businesses need non-financial metrics to measure performance”
  Company visits:
  Goldman Sachs
  Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI)
  MSCI Analytics
  MSCI ESG Research: The next generation of ESG Ratings: More data, more context, better decisions
  MSCI Index Summary
  Fidelity
  Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Boston FED)
  The Fed and the Economy
  Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
  Social activities:
  Welcome Reception - Harvard Faculty Club
  Harvard University historical tour
  Red Sox baseball game
  Segway tour in Boston
  Lobster Dinner: Union Oyster House/ Oceanaire Seafood Room
  Joint Farewell Dinner at the 52^nd floor of the Prudential Center ("Top of the Hubs Restaurant")
  Take a look at the pictures of the 2016 international residency.
- Program highlights - international residency 2018
  Program highlights - international residency 2018
  Courses, guest lectures and keynote speakers:
  "Behavioral Finance" (Warren Cormier, Executive Director, DCIIA Retirement Research Center, U.S.A.)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Globalization" (Sophus A. Reinert from the Harvard Business School)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Ethics in Finance" (Paul Healy from the Harvard Business School)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Project Finance" (Akash Deep from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government)
  "Hot Topics in Finance: Entrepreneurship Finance" (Joseph Lassiter from the Harvard Business School)
  Gala Dinner at Harvard Faculty Club with keynote speaker Kenneth Rogoff from Harvard University: “The future of monetary policy: from negative interest rates to cryptocurrencies”
  Company visits:
  Cambridge Innovation Center
  Venture Café
  Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
  Novartis
  Amundi Pioneer
  Goldman Sachs
  Social activities:
  Welcome Reception - Harvard Faculty Club
  Harvard University historical tour
  Red Sox baseball game
  Sightseeing tour Boston
  Lobster Dinner: Union Oyster House
  MIT Museum
  Brunch Cruise
  Joint Farewell Dinner at "Top of the Hubs Restaurant"on the 52^nd floor of the Prudential Center

Cutting-edge courses

Our students attend two classes featuring cutting-edge topics - "Behavioral Finance" and “Hot Topics in Finance”, making it possible for students to exchange experiences with outstanding professors. During the latter class, students gain exposure to new developments that are becoming increasingly important in the field of finance. Recently, covered topics have included energy finance, machine learning in finance, and Fintech.

Harvard Business School Library (Baker Library)

Renowned international experts

During the international residency, the students have the opportunity to meet outstanding personalities. Here are a few examples from the past:

Behavioral Finance: Warren Cormier, Executive Director, DCIIA Retirement Research Center & founder of the Behavioral Finance Forum and Prof. Brigitte Madrian from Harvard Kennedy School of Government worked through the topic together with the students in 2014.
Behavioral Finance: Prof. Malcolm Baker from Harvard Business School held a guest speech on the topic of Bank Capital and the Low Risk Anomaly in 2014.
Hot Topics in Finance: Prof. Ehud Ronn, University of Texas / Austin, world-renowned expert for Energy Studies and director of the Center for Energy Finance Education and Research, was teaching on the topic of Energy Finance in 2014.
Hot Topics in Finance: Prof. Nazim Ali, director of the Islamic Legal Studies program at the Harvard Law School, lectured about Islamic Finance and developed the horizon of the participants in new directions.
Hot Topics in Finance: Prof. Akash Deep from Harvard Kennedy School of Government was teaching infrastructure finance in 2016.
Hot Topics in Finance: Prof. Sophus A. Reinert from Harvard Business School was teaching globalization in 2018.
Hot Topics in Finance: Prof. Paul Healy from Harvard Business School was teaching ethics in finance in 2018.
Hot Topics in Finance: Prof. Akash Deep from Harvard Kennedy School of Government was teaching project finance in 2018.
Hot Topics in Finance: Prof. Joseph Lassiter from Harvard Business School was teaching entrepreneurship finance in 2018.
Keynote Speech: Prof. Jeffry Frieden from the Department of Government of Harvard held a keynote speech on the European Financial and Economic Crisis in 2014.
Keynote Speech: Prof. Robert Kaplan from Harvard Business School held a keynote speech on the balanced scorecard in 2016.
Keynote Speech: Prof. Kenneth Rogoff from Harvard University held a keynote speech on “the future of monetary policy: from negative interest rates to cryptocurrencies” in 2018.

Filler Kaplan Speech 2016 — Prof. Robert Kaplan | Harvard Business School | Keynote Speech 2016

S. Nazim Ali

Head of the Islamic Finance Center | Harvard Law School | USA

It was wonderful meeting you and rest of the members in the class. I am impressed with the quality of students and their enthusiasm and active participation in learning Islamic finance. The books which we have provided will benefit your students if they want to learn more on the subject.

Invaluable insights into the global financial system

The company visits are another undoubted highlight of the residency. They give students special insight into the American way of doing business and the strong financial system in the Boston and Cambridge area. Developing a thorough understanding of the US capital market is essential, especially for finance experts.

By exchanging experiences with the finance experts of these organizations, students can identify similarities and differences between the US and the financial systems of their respective countries. Moreover, the company visits include presentations on finance-related and career-related topics.

The financial center of Boston - Outlook from the farewell dinner on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center Building

Boston & the financial industry

Here you can listen to a speech by Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Paul Samuelson about the importance of Boston for the financial industry.

Walter Lackner, MBA

Head of Group Corporate Workout Competence Center | Erste Group

I have very much enjoyed the extraordinary opportunity to attend lectures by Harvard faculty members like Brigitte Madrian, Shariq Nisar, Shinju Fujihira, Malcolm Baker or Jeffry Frieden.

And finally a lot of impressions

The residency is rounded out by a social program (e.g. a campus tour at Harvard University, a sightseeing trip in Boston including the well-known Boston Freedom Trail and a farewell reception on the 52^nd floor of the Prudential Center Building in Boston). Thanks to the social program, our students have plenty of opportunities to network in a relaxed atmosphere. Altogether, this international residency is designed to be a real highlight of the Professional MBA Finance and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for students, both professionally and personally.