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  • After five years of crises-related monetary expansion, what financial assets remain under-priced?

    This question provides a good opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the impact of monetary policy changes on asset prices, a matter that often discussed in college courses on macroeconomics and finance. The reference to the crisis-era opens the door to considering different types of monetary policy response, going well beyond the traditional use of open market operations. Knowledge of what central banks have actually done and plan on doing might, therefore, be useful. Plus you may want to reflect on the notion of under-pricing of financial assets and whether that notion makes any sense in the first place.

     

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  • ”All wealthy people should give back to society”. Do any philanthropists from earlier eras provide a model for giving by the wealthy in the 21st century?

      This question can be readily answered by talented analysts with a wide range of backgrounds, reflecting the fact that ethical, historical, economic, political, and even anthropological perspectives might have plenty to offer in formulating an essay on this topic. Don’t forget that the essay question has two related parts—a statement at the beginning to react to plus an inquiry as to whether past practice offers much of a guide to future behaviour. Including the temporal dimension offers a number of intriguing ways to write this essay and you want to consider which line of argument is most compelling, original, and of relevance to the 21st century.

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  • Simplicity versus complexity: What are the limits of structured financial products?

      Once seen as a means to combine financial instruments in ways that deliver higher returns or better manage risks, structured financial products have had a bad press in recent years. This question encourages you to reflect on the reasons for this adverse commentary and whether those reasons were and remain valid. It might also be worth considering whether it makes sense to lump all structured products together in the same category or whether classes of structured products should be viewed differently. To provide a solid foundation for your answers, you may want to draw upon the concepts and tools developed in university finance and banking courses.

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  • The Stalled Global Recovery: Is this time different?

     Recessions are normally over faster than the most recent experienced by the industrialised economies. This underperformance has coincided with a slowdown in growth in the larger emerging markets, giving rise to the view that the world economy is stagnating. This question asks you to reflect on whether and why the growth dynamics are so different now, compared to before the global financial crisis of 2007-9. The subtitle of the question contains a subtle hint—it refers to the title of Reinhart and Rogoff’s well-known book that draws upon lots of historical data to examine the factors that determine the rate of recovery from financial crises. This essay is a fine opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of macroeconomics and on the factors that determine government reactions to financial crises and recessions.

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  • What are the key qualities of a successful 21st century private banker? Why?

     Although the focus here is on the principal positive attributes of a private banker, before writing the essay it may be worth reflecting on the role of private bankers in the 21st century and the contemporary circumstances that face private bankers and are likely to face such bankers in the years ahead. Moreover, it might be worth considering the extent to which being a successful private banker involves attributes brought to the job or that can be learned on the job. Does the answer to this question depend on the approach taken to creating value in private banking in the first place? Where possible, use this essay to demonstrate your understanding of private banking, drawing upon any relevant material covered in the courses taken at university. 

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