A group of MSc Finance students began the spring holiday last week in western Germany and concluded it in New York City. Along the way, a detour was made to Asia before returning to home base in Liechtenstein for a visit to Zurich and, in route to the U.S., a stopover was made in London. In the year 2021 when the world is experiencing an unprecedented global pandemic which has halted almost all cross-border movement, you may ask yourself how this group of students managed such an expedition (and perhaps, after being in your home for the last year, how you could do the same). Alas, before hopes are raised, it is necessary to add in one key, descriptive word: online.
In true pandemic fashion, the traditional Educational Journey was this year conducted through a series of Zoom meetings with a dazzling line-up of guest speakers on topics spanning foreign relations, Chinese politics and business, international wealth management, Brexit, and, in keeping with our Liechtenstein roots, the role of Liechtenstein in global affairs. The official title of the journey was ‘Wealth Management in Times of Political Turmoil’, of which served as a guide for both speakers and students to engage in lively, thoughtful discussions with one another. The speakers themselves and the topics on which they spoke could largely be split into two groups: pure, academic politics and private-sector financial practice. Such a division ensured that the students were endowed with both a theoretical and practical view of the topic at hand.
Overall, the week allowed for students to learn what it really means to consider and oversee the oft-discussed, difficult to measure geopolitical risk in asset management. However, in the course of exchanging ideas with such an accomplished group of speakers each excelling in their fields of interest, the students concluded the journey with a deeper understanding of the world as a whole and how they themselves might follow in the paths of the speakers in making it a better place in the future. They and the University of Liechtenstein send their sincere and warm gratitude to the speakers in their respective corners of the globe.
Blog entry written by Caroline White.
