New FinTech course at Marquette has been developed by David Krause, Marquette’s Director of the Applied Investment Management (AIM) Program and is being offered this semester

Dr. Krause has created a new FinTech Topics course for Marquette students: Who says an old dog can’t teach new tricks?

David Krause, Marquette University's
Director of the Applied Investment
Management (AIM) Program

The global asset management and financial services  industry is growing and changing rapidly – and the Applied Investment Management (AIM) program at Marquette University is adapting… as it always has.

The Director of the AIM program, Dr. David Krause said recently, “The buy-side of the asset management industry is under considerable pressure to reduce their costs given the incredibly low fees being charged by index funds. They also need to demonstrate their value and to improve transparency given the emergence of the robo-advisor. We want to educate the next generation of asset managers (and bankers) who will be operating in an industry that must deal with the disruptions that will result from the new innovations in financial technology.”

While the industry is expected to continue to grow strongly (experts predict a sustained cumulative growth in assets exceeding 6% annually, resulting in a global Assets Under Management of over $110 trillion by 2020, and $145 trillion by 2025), asset management clients (institutional and retail) are becoming increasingly demanding, diverse and knowledgeable – and their expectations of investment outcomes is higher.

Krause said, "Millennials and Gen Zers will not tolerate poor customer service and today's newest investors expect to interact immediately with their investment advisors via digital mechanisms (including social media). Cybersecurity is also a major issue that will be discussed in the course. The demands that will be placed on the buy- and sell-side of the investment industry are huge and our graduates need to be prepared."

"The combination of strong growth, greater client expectations and massive cost pressures is changing the industry right before our eyes," he said. "And because the AIM program has always been on the leading edge of change within the academic investment industry, we are changing too."

Dr. Krause’s course on FinTech Topics (FINA 4931), which is currently being taught in the Spring 2019 semester at Marquette University, focuses on these issues. "This course and the topics covered should provide an opportunity for our students who understand the future changes that are taking place - and who can adapt. Even students graduating this May have an opportunity to become FinTech savvy."

There is a growing demand for graduates entering the industry who are stronger in their understand of the technology. Data analytics will be an important skill set for tomorrow's analysts to master. 

Krause commented, "Our graduates need to be able to add value within an industry where margins are under intense pressure  - while also understand the process of improving the quality of services delivered. Coding and programming are also likely to be required skills of the financial analyst." You can view other blogs about FinTech on this site - for instance: - AIM blog on "Here Come the Quants".

Dr. Krause's course will focus this semester on a range of new technologies and topics (including R coding, blockchain, cybersecurity, big data, and algorithmic and dark pool trading) that are emerging in order to meet this challenge. The application technologies highlighted include:

-         Robotics / Machine-Learning

-         Cybersecurity and Big Data Analytics

-         Blockchain (Distributed Ledger Technology)

Dr. Krause added, "The course is coming along nicely and I'm pleased with the students' enthusiasm concerning the content. I’m also working with a major FinTech software company on memorializing the course content, so that we might have an online version of this course and the new FinTech curriculum ready sometime in the summer of 2019 to offer beyond the classroom."