Going High Tec for a High-Impact Week in Munich

18.03.2020

Bachelor's Students Given Behind-the-Scenes Look at Fintech to Understand Impact of Technology on Value Chain of Financial Companies

The theme of the March 2020 Project Week at New European College (NEC) - WUAS' partner institute in Munich, Germany - was "High Tech". Bachelor's students spent a week looking into how technology impacts the value chain of companies in the financial sector. To bring this theme to life, NEC welcomed a series of guest speakers who could present in-depth on the various aspects of financial technology.

The week commenced with guest speaker Al Lakhani, founder and CEO of IDEE GmbH. With a long and dynamic career in finance, his most notable project includes the winding down of Lehman Brothers. Lehman was the 4th biggest investment bank in the US before it filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and is thought to have played a major role in the unfolding of the financial crisis of 2007-08. Al guided students through an introduction to blockchain technology and spoke about the fundamentals of cryptocurrency.

Lakhani was followed by Brendan Todd, a Munich-based financial advisor and insurance/mortgage broker with significant professional experience in finance and banking. Brendan guided students through the concept of financial technology and Fintech’s role within today’s market, along with Chancellor Sascha Liebhardt, who shared an academic perspective on the subject.

The second part of Project Week engaged students in a case study about equity research, led by Artur Kampik, the Managing Director at LeanVal Investments GmbH. A specialist in digital wealth and asset management, Artur spoke with students about digital disruption in the financial markets.

Bringing the week to a close, NEC finance lecturer and Founder/CEO of Finance2Stay GmbH Michael Epping presented on the topic of Fintech within portfolio management and the loan sector.

As a final component to Project Week, students were organised into teams and asked to report on the key concepts learned throughout the week.