Institute for Financial Management & Research

Address: 24, Kothari Road, Nungambakkam Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Pincode: 600034 Phone: (044) 28303400 Fax: (044) 28279208 Website: Institute Website Affiliated with: University of Madras

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About Institute for Financial Management & Research

The Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), Chennai, is one of India’s most prestigious business schools and academic institutions. Established in 1970 as a non-profit organization, IFMR was sponsored by ICICI, the House of Kotharis and other major industrial groups. The Board of Governors includes leaders of major corporations in India. The Finance Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Madras are ex officio board members. Recognized as a Social Science Research Institute by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, IFMR is approved as an institution of national importance by the Ministry of Finance. Faculty members have worked and consulted with both national and international organizations. Students, too, are involved in these projects, ensuring continuous interaction with industry. IFMR is also an approved institution by the University of Madras for pursuing a Ph.D degree in Finance and Economics. Since its inception, IFMR’s mission has been focused on contributing to growth and development efforts in India with an emphasis on finance and research. IFMR also has several key partnerships with some of the leading academic institutions worldwide and offers a stimulating and world class environment to faculty and students alike. Through continuous interaction with world-renowned professors from Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stern School, Columbia University, Case Western and University of Texas at Austin, IFMR faculty is always tuned to current issues and debates in finance, economics and development. This facilitates new research, curriculum design and teaching methodology. IFMR faculty works on joint research projects and management development programs with professors at IFMR research centres. The professors conduct seminars at IFMR on current thinking in their field of specialization and also teach in IFMR’s management development programs and in the PGDM program.

Academic Programs

1.  Full-time (two years) and part-time (three years) AICTE-approved Post Graduate Diploma in Management courses.

These are:

• Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Management –Development and Sustainable Finance (PGDM-D& SF)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Management - Financial Engineering (PGDM–FE)

2.  PhD program (University of Madras)
3.  Executive Training programs.
4.  PGDM Part Time.

IFMR Centres

Centre for Micro Finance (CMF) - CMF’s mission is to help improve access to and quality of financial services for the poor in India through rigorous research, knowledge dissemination and evidence-based policy outreach.

Centre for Development Finance (CDF) - CDF is an action research centre focused on improving governments’ and markets’ capacity to channel finance into sustainable, holistic development.

Small Enterprise Finance Centre (SEFC) - SEFC seeks to develop a vibrant SME sector through sustained advancement of research and practice of SME financing and growth in India by conducting and facilitating rigorous research programs in cooperation with first class researchers and institutions worldwide.

Centre for Insurance & Risk Management (CIRM) - CIRM aims to develop risk mitigating instruments like insurance, derivatives and investments to reduce the vulnerability of the poor to the many risks they face.

Centre for Advanced Financial Studies (CAFS) - CAFS develops tools and concepts appropriate to market conditions in India and other emerging markets, provides research-based unbiased policy advice, and conducts post graduate programs that provide a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of modern finance. CAFS is also involved in executive education programs to bring the best current finance practices to professionals and tailor them to the needs of specific organizations.

Centre for Innovative Financial Design (CIFD) - CIFD works at the intersection of research and action to create and test financial products that bridge the gap between the financial needs and the financial access of the poor. To ensure the success and scalability of ideas, CIFD’s work follows a cycle of design, pilot test and disseminate.

Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia - J-PAL South Asia seeks to improve the effectiveness of poverty programs in South Asia by providing policy makers with clear scientific results that help shape successful policies to combat poverty.

Some of the Faculty

• Strategy & Marketing.
• Finance.
• Economics.
• Statistics.

Facilities

Hostel - The hostel at IFMR, with ground and three floors, has a built up area of nearly 24000 sq.ft. It comprises of 17 air-conditioned rooms with TVs to accommodate 35 Management Development Programme (MDP) participants and 30 bath-attached rooms to accommodate 80 full-time PGDM students, two spacious dining halls, kitchen with modern equipments, a lounge and recreation facilities for indoor games such as table-tennis, carom and chess.

Library - The fully air-conditioned library, spread over 4000 sq ft, has a vast, well-maintained stock of books, magazines, journals, project reports and CD-ROMs. The library is a repository for all World Bank, GATT and UN publications. It provides access to info-rich databases like EBSCO, JSTOR, Science Direct, E-Library, World and Global Development indicators online and Indiastat.com. It stocks around 170 national journals and 65 international journals. H.T. Parekh Library (IFMR) is an archive and reference library. It is used by Institute's Faculty Members, Researchers, Staff, Students as well as outsiders for their academic and research requirements. It is a depository library for all World Bank, GATT and UNU Publications and receives few complementary copies of publications from ADB, IFPRI, OECD, FRBs, UNCTAD.

Executive Training - IFMR offers executive training for a wide spectrum of managerial levels, disciplines and industries. Based on research conducted at IFMR research centres, the training is focused on emerging needs for skill sets in finance and related areas in banking and other industries. IFMR’s executive training programs combine state-of-the-art knowledge and skills in financial management with practical experience and insight into the functioning of the financial sector through an intense and pragmatic curriculum. Participants are exposed to the latest developments and business impacts to cover the entire value chain.

Two kinds of executive training programs are conducted:

1. Management development programs.
2. Customized training programs.

Over 4,000 programs of varying duration and focus have been conducted. Some of the programs have been conducted under the sponsorship of international organizations such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), across different countries.

IFMR Research - IFMR has seven research centres that constitute IFMR. Research defines its own mission that contributes to this common vision, including: access to financial services, improving opportunities to mitigate risk, improving public goods provision, and ensuring scientific evaluation of scalable solutions to meet the broad goals of our vision. Together, the centres of IFMR Research design and test appropriate financial products for the poor and for small businesses, evaluate public and private sector anti-poverty strategies, promote government transparency through better measurement of public goods outcomes and public expenditure processes, and partner with a wide array of public, private and non-governmental organizations to produce clear recommendations for policy makers and social entrepreneurs. The centres bring cutting-edge academic findings and a shared commitment to methodological rigour to bear on their projects, leveraging key partnerships with some of the top economists and development specialists in the world and a wide grassroots network in India. Inputs from the centres are used to continuously update IFMR’s academic programs. Scholars from the centres also deliver lectures on campus and IFMR’s faculty is engaged with them in research projects.

Wi-Fi - IFMR has state of the art facilities for students and faculty in a Wi-Fi campus with high bandwidth broadband connectivity. A recently opened, unique facility is a world class trading floor, set up in collaboration with NCDEX Institute of Commodity Markets and Research (NICR).

Classrooms - These are air-conditioned and equipped with audio-visual aids and internet connectivity. Students and faculty have access to two labs with intranet and internet facility and computer-based management games.

Trading Floor - Over the past decade, Indian financial markets have seen explosive growth. Market regulators have been constantly introducing new products across various asset classes. However, little effort has been made to refine understanding of these products, especially in areas of pricing and evaluating risks. As a result, a number of SMEs have suffered significant losses from forex derivatives trading. To plug the knowledge gap, IFMR’s Centre for Advanced Financial Studies (CAFS), has set up a world-class trading floor, with support from IFMR Trust. The trading floor is the outcome of an MoU between IFMR and National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX), a professionally managed, online multi-commodity exchange set up by national level institutions. IFMR will become one of the premier repositories of commodities data. Technical support will be provided by the NCDEX Institute of Commodity Markets and Research (NICR). IFMR’s trading floor comprises 26 Dell computer terminals, each equipped with a 2 GHz Pentium Core 2 Duo processor and 2 GB RAM. All terminals are equipped with 17” TFT monitors. All terminals have access to NCDEX trading software. The trading floor has LCD televisions displaying financial news, one network LCD monitor that displays multiple screens like financial news channels, text and presentations, a Creston touch panel system and a high-network LCD projector. A 5.5-foot NCDEX ticker-board gives real-time feeds from equity markets with connectivity to all workstations. All equipment is connected through a dedicated broadband connection.

Industry Interaction - IFMR students enjoy close industry interaction. Students are taken on industry visits during the induction week. A business leader is invited every week to deliver a lecture on a current business issue or management topic, or share the success stories of his/her organization. The GL Mehta Memorial and Srikanth Memorial lectures, delivered by eminent people, are annual events that attract large media coverage. Students work with professors on short-term projects for companies.

Genuine software - Packages like Reuters, Financial Trading System (FTS), Barra on Campus (containing Aegis and Cosmos), Prowess, Capitalline, eViews, Statistica, Gauss Optimization software, MATLAB simulation package and project management software are available for use by students.

Canteen - The outsourced canteen provides quality food. The kitchen staff is familiar with all kinds of cuisine to suit the diverse background of the programme participants, students and other residents.

Clubs - IFMR has a number of student clubs that regularly conduct a variety of activities.

The clubs currently on campus are:

• Arthasabha, the finance club of number crunchers who huddle over balance sheets and pink papers to decide tomorrow’s wealth generators.
• Insight, the marketing club that brainstorms on customer psyche and case studies and organizes live competitions.
• Edge IT club.
• Mitr HR club.
• Samarthan social work club.
• Seventh Sense, the cultural club that conducts stress-buster activities.
• The Entrepreneurship Club that discusses which ideas can live on outside blueprints.

IFMR B-School Fest - Abhyudaya is a national level B-school fest conducted by students of IFMR. The entire event is a student-driven initiative. B-school students from across India participate in this fest. Abhyudaya '08 was conducted on Feb 2-3, 2008, on the theme ‘BODMAS’ - Business of De-mergers, Mergers, Acquisitions and Spin-offs. Over 1000 students from 54 B-schools participated in the events, online and on campus.

Student Committees - Various committees are formed to handle important activities at the campus, like the placement committee, colloquium committee, alumni committee, students’ welfare committee and Abhyudaya committee.

Promotional Events - Students are part of annual promotional events like ‘CAT Exit Interviews’ and ‘Visit the Campus’, where they interact with potential IFMR students and answer career and education related queries.

Website and Media Activities - Students maintain the college website and participate in media-related activities.

Placements - IFMR has an excellent placement record. Since inception of the PGDM program, students of all batches have been hired at attractive compensation. All the students of the passing out batch (2007-09) have been well placed in companies with promising career opportunities. Thus, IFMR can say with humility, 100% placement e ven in a recession-hit scenario! Nineteen companies participated in the campus placement process for the full-time PGDM batch of 200 7 -0 9 . Some of the recruiting companies that participated in IFMR's 2009 placement process are Amara Raja Batteries, Citigroup, Dalmia Cements, Darashaw, FL Smi d th, ICICI Bank etc.

Achievements

• PGDM first year student Nikhil Bhatia won second prize in the event ‘Best Manager’ in the b-school fest Manaquest 2008 organized by ITM Chennai.