PhD Alumni Testimonials

Xavier Fixaris, who completed his PhD in Finance at EDHEC in 2022, shares his experiences of his PhD journey at EDHEC and of his recent teaching.

"INQUIRE was a great way to get to know the European quant finance industry" 

"Immersed among esteemed academics and leaders in quantitative finance was incredibly stimulating."

"My dissertation work is on advances in empirical asset pricing. The conference gave me the opportunity to interact directly with many leaders in this field and gain deeper understanding of the topics with face-to-face interaction."

As part of the EDHEC membership of Inquire Europe, the PhD in Finance candidate (executive track), Galina Kalcheva, had the opportunity to attend the CQA Fall conference that was held in Chicago on 20 & 21 September 2023. She shares her experience with us. 

"EDHEC Business School’s initiative to become the first academic member of Inquire Europe is another step towards sharing knowledge between academics and professionals"

One significant impact of the programme in my day-to-day work is that I am more careful about the robustness of the statistical analysis.

So far, among other things the programme has impacted my overall understanding of finance in general, since I am confronted with new and interesting questions and a vast literature that broadens perspectives on a variety of issues.

What I've found useful in the programme so far is that both the professors and students have a diverse range of research interests. This makes it essential to communicate your research clearly and concisely so that researchers from different backgrounds can appreciate it. This is a life-long skill and the programme offers a friendly environment in which to refine it.

The programme impact to date ? I have started to use some of new asset pricing models such as the production based channel to test and build new factors to help us make better investment decisions.

The experience has been very positive. I have had the opportunity to make a host of new contacts from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, cultures and industries. The quality, experience and reputation of the permanent and visiting staff are big plus points.

I appreciated that the programme is designed for industry professionals because of its flexibility and a strong focus on research that is on the edge of academia and industry.

Being mature and experienced, programme participants bring a lot to the classroom and are ready and well equipped to tap the industry knowledge of their peers and to take advantage of the expertise of their professors. It is empowering to be in a position to have in-depth, mature, discussions with people who are experts and have industry experience. This provides for a different learning...

Before starting the Programme, I talked to a colleague of mine, Igor Lojevsky, who recently successfully completed the Programme. He gave me very good advice and said that the Programme was high-standard and very challenging. That was the magic word! I wanted to take on a real intellectual challenge so it confirmed my first impression

As a finance practitioner, I like the balance in terms of technical rigour and the applications. I have attended many elective seminars which cater to a wide range of interests. In addition, these seminars are delivered by the top scholars in their fields.

I looked at the programme in detail and was excited as it opened up new subjects for me, things I did not have the opportunity to do on the job: the core courses mix technical topics like Empirical Finance and less technical subjects like Corporate Finance and the various electives cover a very broad spectrum, all of this promising to expand my perspective way beyond the confines of...

The class forms an incredible pool of talented and experienced people. Some of my peers are already at the top in their field and many others have the shine of future leaders. The diversity in the classroom is also astounding: here is a group of men and women from all continents, with academic backgrounds ranging from math/physics to political science, and a wealth of professional experiences...

The two features that stood out to me were the existence of an executive track that allowed me to continue to work while doing my PhD, and the track record of EDHEC-Risk Institute in doing research that has practical relevance to the industry.

I decided it was time to pursue a doctoral degree, primarily motivated by the desire to conduct original research, and to gain an in-depth and broad theoretical understanding after working with a large number of pricing models.  With a unique mixture of rigor and flexibility, the Executive Track at EDHEC was a perfect fit in my developmental plan allowing me to continue my career path...

EDHEC Business School’s PhD in Finance program is highly competitive, relevant to current finance research, and academically rigorous. Having studied in top research universities in three continents (Asia, America, and Europe), I can vouch that EDHEC PhD in Finance program is geared towards producing top researchers who can publish in both academic and industry journals. The faculty of the...

I also find that there is a lot of informal learning going on, during workshops for instance, or when professors deviate from the slides in class to discuss how a result was established after trials and errors, or how avenues were explored that turned out to be dead-ends. Through such interactions, I have come to understand research as a process rather than a finished product. It is also...

I think I have become more curious and questioning about what is written, published etc. The research part also prepares you to perform better when uncertain and to embrace that uncertainty - when a new project comes in or decisions are to be made.

I also valued the fact that, unlike the students in many full-time PhD programmes having little or no practical experience, all the students in this programme have industry experience. This experience enhances classroom discussions, often improves the quality of the questions asked of professors, and enhances interaction among students outside the classroom. For me, this improves the learning...

I looked at a few other institutions, but EDHEC-Risk Institute stood out because of its format, which makes it possible for executives to join, and for the outstanding quality and broad range of expertise of its faculty. Frankly speaking, there is no competition at the moment in this space.

The format of the EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance clearly stands out head and shoulders above everything else available in part time format. As a matter of fact, I had been searching for such a course for years but had never found a reputable institution until EDHEC appeared in my research. Could you tell us about your background - academically and professionally?

I would recommend the programme to any experienced asset management officer aspiring to higher intellectual levels and career development, and to anybody who wants to function on the state-of-the-art boundary, which is way beyond where professional designations take you. Come to think of it, I would recommend the programme to any serious finance practitioner.

What I also benefited from, and which I probably value the most, is the teaching methodology that the instructors used. This is what I share with others who ask for feedback on this program.

I was looking for a programme that would allow me to take an in-depth and comprehensive look at the research that had been done to spur innovation in the asset management industry. Naturally, this being a PhD in Finance, I also expected to review other aspects of finance which would not have direct relevance to my work as an investment professional. As it turns out, I find that these other...

EDHEC Business School’s executive education offers rank among the Top 10 globally according to the 2022 Financial Times Executive Education custom and open programme rankings published today. EDHEC…

I will not deny that part of the motivation of me pursuing this programme was to try and get an academic position in finance departments in the US. Having completed the programme relatively quickly I embarked on my search for an academic position. On 31 August 2015 when I entered to give my first lecture as a new faculty of the finance department in the University of Connecticut, I completed a...