Daily workloads of 10 to 14 hours train participants to prioritise, work efficiently, and deliver under pressure, a skill that translates directly to the trading floor or deal room.
Teams divide up complex deliverables, coordinate independently, and present professional work products, replicating the real-world rhythm of an investment banking project.
From reading the Financial Times at 7 AM to polishing pitch decks at 2 AM, participants leave the program with a proven capacity for sustained, high-quality output.
Evening group sessions and negotiation simulations require every participant to contribute, argue, and persuade, building the interpersonal edge that separates good analysts from great ones.
The alarm goes off in my mountain chalet. Outside, the hills are wrapped in fog, and for a few seconds I wonder how the peaks stay snow-capped in 70-degree summer weather. Yesterday’s energetic discussion on the distressed debt negotiation project ran until 2:30 AM and seems to have exhausted my chalet-mates. I decide to go for a run up the Swiss Alps.
The morning lecture begins: hedge funds. The material is new and exciting. I raise my hand and ask the hedge fund executive teaching us this morning for examples of short volatility strategies; I had really struggled with the concept last night. “Short volatility,” he says, “is like writing a best-seller some day.” Because I had done my assignments, the light bulb goes on. We move on to M&A risk arbitrage and the other strategies funds use today.
The investment banking career information session starts. I have been looking forward to learning how to get a job at an investment bank and what a typical career path looks like. I always wanted to know the actual day-to-day responsibilities of analysts and associates. We are all stunned by the detail. Someone asks about exit opportunities for corporate finance professionals, and some of them sound very interesting.
The day’s lectures end. The negotiation project is due tomorrow, so the evening session is dedicated to project work. My deal team agrees to meet in an hour, after reviewing the materials, to discuss how to build the models. We divide up the tasks and split into groups on comparables-based valuation and volatility models for a hedge fund.
I’m hungry again even though I had a huge dinner. Jennifer brings my roommate and me a sandwich. The team keeps talking, then breaks up for individual work. The setting, colleagues from the US, UK, and Asia all working intensely in a mountain chalet, is something I won’t forget.
I finish the required readings for tomorrow’s class and decide to get some sleep. I’m tired, but I can’t wait for tomorrow’s class.
The Switzerland setting strips away every distraction. With a structured 10 to 14 hour day of lectures, independent research, group projects, and late-night model-building, participants leave having internalised the discipline and pacing of a real deal team. The mountain environment adds an unexpected benefit: it forces focus. There is nowhere else to be.
“Wall Street culture at this altitude is incredible. Most of my classmates are peak-performing individuals from the US, the UK, and Asia.”
My phone alarm wakes me with a jolt. I am not a morning person.
I grab a coffee and read the Financial Times on my way to the seminar. Thanks to yesterday’s class, I can actually follow the cross-border M&A story on the front page. I disagree with an article in the Lex column about speculators’ role in commodity prices. Must bring it up in class.
John, one of the faculty members, is chatting with other executive attendees, and I ask if I may join. They are talking about video game industry valuations. I’m not into games, but I enjoy the conversation because it ties into our valuation project, and it turns into a discussion of our personal interests and career ambitions.
Today’s lecture is on the usefulness of comparables-based analysis in an M&A transaction. The conclusion: discounted cash flow valuation was useless in last night’s case. Most of us are surprised, but it makes complete sense. The instructor walks us through several billion-dollar deals he handled himself. I can picture myself in a Fortune 500 boardroom.
My friend Grishma has just finished her interview session and calls it the best half-hour learning experience of her life: “I think I bombed, but I learned so much from my mistakes!” I tell her she looks very professional in her suit, and she smiles at the compliment.
My project team gathers to decide how to save our hypothetical client, whose stock price is plummeting while its bond yields soar. The public capital markets are closed to them; the only option is a private placement. How much is a distressed asset like this worth to anyone? We argue for a while.
One of the instructors stops by to see if we need help. We do. She suggests looking at operating margins and de-leveraging through a sale of real estate assets. The team is pulled in two directions, sell assets or raise equity, and the debate is energising.
Chris and I plug in a potential solution: buy back debt and issue convertible equity. The rest of the team disagrees on the choice of warrants and options. It really does feel like a Fortune 500 boardroom. With time running out, we decide to build and present both versions. Peter and Jill are on the PowerPoint, both dressed extremely fashionably; I jokingly warn them not to go clubbing, knowing it is the last thing on their minds.
New York places participants at the centre of live financial news and deal-making culture. Reading the FT before breakfast, debating commodity price mechanics with faculty, then building capital restructuring models until 2 AM: this is what project management under pressure looks and feels like in a major financial centre.
“I can picture myself in a Fortune 500 boardroom. The instructor gives personal examples of billion-dollar deals he handled himself.”
Today’s class is about the effects of diversification. The lecturer covers alternative asset classes such as real estate, commodities, and collectibles, and how each performed at different stages of the economic cycle. We have an in-depth discussion about which alternative asset class looks best for the next ten years, and why.
After lunch we meet Swiss Finance Academy alumni, some of whom are wealth managers at investment banks. They talk about their jobs, give us an update on what is happening in capital markets worldwide, and explain exactly how decisions get made. Later we discuss the current outflow from fixed income funds into equity funds, and how high-net-worth individuals can avoid costly mistakes.
Next comes a lecture on junk bonds and high yield: volatility, duration, convexity. We have spent the last few days on spreads, duration, and convexity, and it is fascinating to see how high yield bonds react in a market selloff, and why shorting convexity can pay. The lecturer also makes the case that discounted cash flow valuation was useless in the underlying situation, drawing on billion-dollar deals he handled himself.
Later we look at the role of governance in family offices, something we are all keen to improve. We are asked to design a strategy for the legacy of a successful entrepreneur who has no interest in running the family business. Some of us can relate to that personally.
Our team project is on commodities: study the historical prices of gold, interest rates, and CPI to understand how they influence each other. The lecturer shows how those correlations shift over time, and the session moves from lecture to active team debate.
I have learnt a lot that will directly change how I run my own family office. Until now I simply let the money manager take care of my investments; now I can ask better questions and make sure the right checks and balances are in place. I can’t wait to get back to the office and make some improvements. Happily, I head out for a drink with a few attendees I have got to know quite well.
The London wealth management track is notable for its direct connection to practitioners: alumni working in live wealth management roles join participants over lunch, and the knowledge transfer is immediate and practical. Participants leave better equipped to manage their own assets, handle client relationships, and navigate complex alternative investment decisions.
Coffee and the Financial Times on the way to the seminar. The cross-border M&A story on the front page finally makes sense, and I have an argument ready about speculators and commodity prices.
Comparables versus discounted cash flow in an M&A transaction. The instructor shows why DCF told us nothing useful in last night’s case, then walks through billion-dollar deals he handled himself.
Grishma comes out of her interview session shaken but thrilled: “I think I bombed, but I learned so much from my mistakes!”
Our hypothetical client’s stock is collapsing and its bond yields are soaring. Public markets are closed; a private placement is the only way out. The question is what a distressed asset like this is worth to anyone.
After a faculty check-in on operating margins and real estate sales, Chris and I settle on buying back debt and issuing convertible equity. We build both versions of the recommendation and finish the deck at 3:30 AM.
We look over the slides one last time. Each of us speaks. The underlying analysis, the awareness of risk, and the ability to see past other people’s hype turn out to be everything.
My team convinces the other team of our analysis. As I finish presenting, I realise how useful this will be when I choose an investment manager. I have always had the powers of observation and insight this line of work needs.
The CMA™ New York track is the most intense offering in the program. Participants genuinely live through the cycle of an M&A deal: identifying the problem, researching solutions, debating strategy under time pressure, and presenting to a room of peers. The late nights are not cosmetic; they build the resilience and pacing discipline that define a professional in this field.
“After I finish presenting, I realise how helpful this knowledge will be when choosing an investment manager. The program doesn’t just teach you finance. It teaches you how to think like a finance professional.”
Swiss Finance Academy programs are by application only. We select for ambition, intellectual curiosity, and the capacity to thrive in a high-performance environment.
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