SMU Professor of Finance (Education) and Associate Dean of Postgraduate Finance Programmes Benedict Koh has a clear vision for the future of Singapore as a leading global financial centre and a magnet for financial talent. Prof Koh believes that finance skills will need to change and develop due to the technological advancement. He added, “We must act now to train and retrain our workforce so that the finance sector continues to support our economy and connects us to global markets.”
SMU was recently appointed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Manpower to spearhead the SkillsFuture initiative across all areas of financial services, including wealth management, fund management and risk management. “We have a wide range of programmes to prepare Singaporeans for a more technology-driven environment in the design, delivery and governance of financial services,” said Prof Koh. SMU, for example, runs several short courses – from compliance to blockchain – focused on the digital economy, and it has developed finance leadership programmes for more-senior professionals.