Top business schools like IIM-B, IIM-C and FMS add muscle to finance labs

Top business schools like Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta and Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi are putting in place massive investments for expanding and setting up finance laboratories to aid research, enhance students’ proficiency in financial markets and assist them in placements. The finance labs at campuses are equipped with Bloomberg terminals and other national and international databases that provide real-time information on government securities, equity markets and capital structures.

IIM-Bangalore has allocated Rs. 10 million for an extension of its existing facility, which is expected to provide students access to 50 terminals and data from Bloomberg, Newswire 18, CMI, and CRSB early next year. The institute is serious about expanding the existing facility as these databases give students access to large amounts of empirical data for research and projects, says professor Sankarshan Basu, chairperson, career development services at the institute.

“This also benefits students looking at a career in the banking and financial services industry as the companies expect them to be familiar with such databases. Accessing them earlier makes them industry-ready from day one,” he adds.

This month, FMS opened its financial laboratory at an investment of Rs. 4 million. It is equipped with 12 Bloomberg terminals. These will help students in improving the standard and level of detail in their final-year dissertations and their term assignments, case studies and research with faculty members, besides assisting them at the time of placements.

“Most finance professionals work on Bloomberg terminals regularly, and being familiar with the scope and operations of such databases will boost a prospective recruits’ candidature,” says Nitesh Goyal, head of the finance society. Summer placements will begin at FMS next month. About 26% of the class of 210 in the 2012-14 batch found internships in the BFSI sector.

IIM-Calcutta too plans to replace its existing makeshift financial research and trading lab with a 4,000 sq-ft centre which will be accessible to students and faculty members from November this year. “The centre will function like the labs in overseas B-schools, providing students access to live national and international databases, fundamentals and other banking and non-banking data,” says professor Ashok Banerjee, Dean of New Initiatives and External Relations.

At XLRI, the primary purpose of putting in place such databases stemmed from placements. “Companies expect students to be familiar with such systems,” says HK Pradhan, professor of finance and economics and coordinator of the financial market centre at XLRI.

Source: The Economic Times, September 27, 2013