Finance and Storytelling: A New Approach for University Students

The third meeting of the initiative 'Finance and Good Stories' was held today for the students of the University of Naples Federico II, a series of meetings promoted by the IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Intesa Sanpaolo in collaboration with Guido Maria Brera, entrepreneur and writer, author of the bestseller Devils. The project, born with the aim of bringing young people closer to the mechanisms that regulate modern financial markets in a conscious way, involves various stages the major Italian universities, inaugurating a new approach towards students, proposing an engaging narrative that tells the world of finance, unveils its hidden processes, and allows for a better understanding of the present. Guido Maria Brera, in his dialogue with the students, detailed some of the main events that have changed the face of global finance, such as the subprime mortgage crises and the sovereign debt crises of European countries, as well as the era of Quantitative Easing and the era of zero interest rates. The opening remarks were made by Maria Gabriella Graziano, Director of DISES University of Naples Federico II, and Mauro Micillo, Chief of the IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Intesa Sanpaolo, while the morning concluded with a moment of dialogue with the speakers by Marco Pagano, Professor of Economics of Financial Intermediaries at the University of Naples Federico II. The initiative, in line with the Intesa Sanpaolo Group's 2022-2025 Business Plan, falls within the broader commitment of the Division to young people, whether they are already operational within the organization or not yet entered the world of work. This is confirmed, for example, by the recent start of the second edition of the biennial Next Generation Executive Program of the IMI CIB Division, in collaboration with SDA Bocconi School of Management and Digit'Ed dedicated to young colleagues under 36 operating in Italy and abroad. The aim of the various initiatives is to try to inspire young people and accompany them on a journey of understanding finance and acquiring cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary skills.