Conversations with industry experts on Private Banking

The course is structured as a guest lecture series, with each session centered on a conversation with a senior professional active in private banking or a closely related field — including asset management, family office advisory, regulatory bodies, and wealth structuring. Guests are invited to speak not only about their area of technical expertise, but also about the broader context in which they operate: market dynamics, institutional pressures, client relationships, and the evolving demands placed on practitioners in an industry undergoing significant transformation.

Sessions are deliberately open in format. Rather than following a prepared lecture, guests are invited to reflect on their experience and respond to questions from the course instructor and students. This conversational structure serves a pedagogical purpose: it exposes students to the kind of unscripted, judgment-driven reasoning that characterizes professional decision-making, which is rarely captured in textbooks or case studies.

This course aims to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and professional practice in the field of private banking and wealth management. Students will gain direct exposure to the perspectives of senior practitioners, developing a nuanced understanding of how theoretical frameworks apply — and at times fall short — in real-world contexts. Beyond content, the course is designed to sharpen students’ ability to ask informed questions, engage critically with expert opinion, and articulate their own views in a professional setting. A secondary objective is to help students build an early sense of the industry’s landscape: its key players, institutional cultures, regulatory environment, and the career pathways available to graduates entering this field.

In presence

Learning in this course is experiential and dialogic. Students are expected to prepare for each session by researching the guest’s professional background and familiarizing themselves with the topic area, drawing on assigned readings where provided. Active participation during sessions is not optional — the value of the format depends on the quality of the questions asked and the engagement students bring to the conversation.

The exam will consist of a final multiple choice exam.