On February 22, the opening night of Module 4: Investment Firms and Industry Analysis, part of the Classroom Series in Financial Practice, was held at Weilun Building. Hosted by the MoF program, the opening was attended by SEM Associate Dean XU Xin, MoF Academic Director LIU Chun, and guest lecturer TIAN Kun, Director of the Public Funds Department at PICC Asset Management. Due to the course's popularity among students at Tsinghua, the classroom filled quickly, with many students opting to audit the course.

In his opening remarks, Prof. XU Xin emphasized that finance depends on a combination of theory and practice, and that practical experience is essential for a true professional. Additionally, he stated that: "our Classroom Series in Financial Practice seeks to introduce our students to financial practice, where they can analyze real case studies and leading edge research.”

Prof. LIU Chun introduced the structure of the Classroom Series, which is open to all graduate students at Tsinghua. Previous classes included Module 1: Institutionalized Buyer Investment Industry in China; Module 2: Chinese Seller Agencies and Advances in Finance; and Module 3: Online Finance. The purpose of the Classroom Series is to bring financial practice into the classroom, helping students with their career development and professional acumen.

TIAN Kun covered the financial market, industry basics, and the skills required for a good researcher. “You will hardly hear any theory in this class,” said Kun, “yet every class covers the real-life aspects of financial practice. This class will cover everything you need to know in the first six months of practice, and should assist you in your career development.” When asked what researchers need most, he responded to great applause: “ideas, and the capacity to implement them.”

Module 4 is different from previous courses in a number of ways. Students are separated into study groups according to industry, to better leverage their individual knowledge. Additionally, students will visit large securities companies and investment research institutes.

Students feel that the Classroom Series is on point with practical experience from investment funds. Mr./Ms. ZHAO, MoF ’16, felt that after theoretical courses in finance, financial practice presents a completely different yet just as necessary perspective. A class of 2016 graduate student from the School of Journalism stated that: “this course is a great opportunity for non-SEM students to learn about financial practice, and also a unique way for a classroom to operate, in terms of teaching, interaction, and grading.”

Authors: WAN Ningning, QI Li

Editors: REN Hui, LI Ting