HEC Paris and AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) today announce their partnership that will offer asset management education through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), launching in April 2016 and open to all. The MOOC will be available through the Coursera online platform.
The MOOC aims to make topics related to investment and financial markets more accessible to the wider public through a digital solution. The financial landscape has significant implications for everyone despite their age, gender or profession and is becoming increasingly complex as it is constantly evolving due to changing regulation and global demographics. However, the average level of financial literacy remains a concern as highlighted by the March 2014 EFAMA Report on Investor Education(1), which draws attention to the fact that while ‘small investors’(2) are expected to make more financial decisions, the challenge of providing more financial education has not yet been met.
AXA IM has chosen to partner with HEC Paris for this project as a recognised leader in financial education; HEC Paris’ “pre-experience Global Masters in Finance” has been consistently ranked as the #1 program worldwide since 2011 by the Financial Times, (3). HEC Paris also has a proven ability in developing advanced and specialised MOOCs, having already developed six MOOCs as well as a collection of MOOC, called SPECIALIZATION, which combines four MOOCs offering training on how to solve ‘real life’ corporate problems. This particular MOOC will be available in English, French and Chinese.
Andrea Rossi, CEO of AXA IM, said: "In a changing and complex world, in which the financial sphere has a growing influence, AXA IM feels that it is essential to share our asset management expertise to increase the accessibility of financial education. The partnership with HEC Paris, an internationally recognised higher education institution, allows us to do so by making high quality training specific to asset management available through an online platform. At AXA IM we are passionate about financial education and this particular MOOC forms part of a range of financial education initiatives that we are involved with."
Peter Todd, Dean of HEC Paris, explains: "This new partnership is part of a broader commitment to create strong links between HEC Paris and AXA IM in the digital field. Combining the academic skillset of HEC Paris with AXA IM who can help bring asset management to life allows us to offer a comprehensive programme on asset management, which has the potential to benefit a broad cross section of people exposed to financial decision making in their everyday lives."
About AXA Investment Managers
AXA Investment Managers is a global asset management company combining rigorous risk monitoring with expertise across multiple asset classes to help clients meet their financial needs. With approximately €669 billion in assets under management as of the end of September 2015, AXA IM employs over 2,350 people around the world and operates out of 28 offices in 21 countries. AXA IM is part of the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management.
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About HEC PARIS
Specialising in education and management research, HEC Paris offers a complete and unique range of programmes for the leaders of tomorrow: the French Grande Ecole programme, specialised Master's degrees, MSc, MBA, Executive MBA and TRIUM Global Executive MBA and PhD courses, as well as a wide range of programmes for managers and executives. Established in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HEC Paris is a founding member of the Paris Saclay Campus and numbers a permanent faculty of 110 professors with more than 4,000 students and 8,500 managers and executives on its training programmes every year. HEC Paris was ranked as the number 2 business school in the general classification of European business schools published by the Financial Times in December 2015.
HEC press contact: Leyla Douci-Habane, 01 39 67 94 23, douci@hec.fr