Imperial Ushers in New Finance Center: MBA News

Imperial Business School’s new finance center was opened by the UK’s chancellor, George Osborne, amid talk of its potential to become a leading research hub.

The promise shown by the project and facilities at the Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis has already been sufficient to lure leading US faculty, in the shape of Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale, to its doors from Wharton and NYU respectively.

Allen and Gale will now head up the finance center, made possible by the £20 million (c. US$33M) donation from hedge fund, Brevan Howard. But, Imperial Business School’s grand ambitions don’t end there.

“We will work to position the center as Europe’s leading hub for financial analysis,” said Allen in a press release for Imperial Business School. Gale, meanwhile, expressed his belief that the center’s scope would act as a beacon for the brightest minds in finance:

“I look forward to showing off the Brevan Howard Centre and Imperial to international colleagues during our first conferences. I have no doubt that some of the world’s best scholars and students of financial economics will follow in our footsteps and join this great university.”

The finance center plans to leverage Imperial College’s wider expertise in STEM subjects – something that has no doubt contributed to its high standing in the QS World University Rankings 2014/15 and creates a wealth of entrepreneurial opportunities, adding to the school’s appeal among those considering an MBA in London. Now those with an eye on careers in finance also have an added incentive to target the school.

Brevan Howard center to focus on financial stability

As well as establishing itself as a hub for research, the Brevan Howard Centre has a stated aim to ‘engage policymakers, financial services professionals and the wider public’.

One of its first priorities will be to further an understanding of financial stability in the wake of the devastation caused by the Great Recession.

“Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale are genuine pioneers in our understanding of systemic risk, corporate governance and interbank liquidity. Under their leadership, the center’s potential is enormous,” affirmed the school’s dean, G. “Anand” Anandalingam, adding his belief that the work of the finance center “will allow Imperial Business School to make greater contributions to a strong and stable financial sector and to support wider economic growth.”