The IEF boosts its training offer with the Barcelona Finance School

The Institut d'Estudis Financers (IEF) has decided to redirect its training strategy with the launch of the Barcelona School of Finance (BSF). The new center will begin offering classes in September and will provide master's degrees, postgraduate courses, and specialized courses aimed at local and foreign professionals, with a focus on Latin America.

After reaching more than 120,000 workers in the financial sector in its more than 30 years of history, the IEF has opted to boost its open training by increasing its offerings to reach new profiles, focusing on emerging trends such as sustainable finance. With the BSF underway, the IEF will continue to offer specific courses for organizations, as well as continue its financial education program in schools.

"We are adapting to new needs to attract an audience we had not reached before," explains Ferran Teixes, general director of the BSF, as well as the head of the IEF since January 2022, replacing Josep Soler, who had been in the position since its foundation. "We also want to take advantage of Barcelona's position as an international hub," Teixes emphasizes.

The IEF plans to invest 475,000 euros in the first two years to launch the new school, which will be located at its headquarters on Avenida Josep Tarradellas. In the first year, about 100 students are expected, with classes not exceeding 25 people.

The BFS's offerings will consist of four master's degrees, six postgraduate courses, and 15 specialized courses, with durations ranging from the entire academic year (master's degrees) to between 15 days and one month (specialized courses). This will expand the open training previously offered by the IEF, which consisted of one master's degree, one postgraduate course, and four specialized courses.

The IEF's new center will maintain the master's degree in finance it has been offering for more than 20 years, with a price of between 7,000 and 8,000 euros, and others focused on advanced finance and financial innovation and fintech will be added, with a higher price for the new ones, between 10,000 and 12,000 euros. For January of next year, a circular economy master's degree is planned. Different types of scholarships are contemplated: for excellence, for young people, for entrepreneurs and SME professionals, and for women.

The teaching program of the BFS will be aimed especially at active professionals who want to broaden their knowledge or get up to date. For this reason, the courses can be combined with work. The training will be in-person, but will be complemented with the possibility of following the classes by streaming, with the aim of reaching foreign students. The faculty is being reinforced to cover the disciplines that the school of finance wants to start addressing.

The new school of the IEF does not want to compete with other business schools in the city such as IESE or Esade. "We are specialized in finance," emphasizes Teixes, with natural rivals such as the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles (IEB), Afi Escuela de Finanzas or the Escuela de la Fundación de Estudios Financieros (Escuela FEF). They are working to reach agreements with other European schools with the same focus, such as those in Frankfurt or Ireland, without ruling out opening branches.