ISFB and HEG: combining academic and professional expertise to serve the banking industry

November 13, 2025

The result of an alliance between HEG-Geneva and ISFB, two programs combining academic excellence and field expertise have been added to the banking training offering: the brand-new CAS Clientèle Entreprises, designed to meet the needs of advisors working with SMEs and large corporations, and the CAS Financements et Investissements, revamped to incorporate the latest developments in financial advisory services. These courses respond to the profound changes taking place in the banking sector, and aim to train advisors capable of supporting corporate and private customers in an increasingly complex environment.

Christophe Nicod, the Haute Ecole de Gestion de Genève (HEG-Genève) and the Institut Supérieur de Formation Bancaire (ISFB) joined forces in December 2023 to offer a genuine academic center of excellence in the field of banking continuing education in Geneva. What were the main motivations behind this alliance between two major players in continuing education?

The collaboration between our two institutes is based on several strategic motivations, which respond to the specific needs of the French-speaking financial centre. The main challenge was - and still is - to strengthen skills and expertise through academic continuing education in banking, which is all the more necessary in view of the transformations taking place in the sector.

The aim was also to create a unique skills center in French-speaking Switzerland, promoting synergies between academic and professional training. The programs offered combine academic excellence with practical knowledge of the banking professions, while drawing on the field expertise of ISFB members.

The CAS in partnership with ISFB x HEG meet a specific demand from specialists who wish to invest time on weekends and weekends in university-level training courses that encourage strategic thinking, while the ISFB Certificates are aimed at a population of specialists looking for hands-on training to develop skills that can be applied immediately in their day-to-day work.

Frédéric Ruiz, you are a lecturer at HEG Geneva, and co-program director of the CAS offered in partnership with ISFB x HEG. If you had to sum up the new CAS Clientèle Entreprises in a few sentences to convince a future participant, what would they be?

The CAS Business Customer program is designed to develop the skills of a strategic advisor, able to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their company's life.

The complex environment in which they operate requires a mastery of global issues, from the structuring of financing adapted to the complex contexts of transmission, to the mastery of banking products dedicated to SMEs and large companies.

As a result, the advisor develops a holistic understanding of how a company operates, and is thus better equipped to lead high value-added discussions.

These elements will be addressed through the prism of the extensive experience of over 20 speakers, all active in their field of expertise, and always in the format that is the DNA of these programs: experience transfer, application, collective intelligence and interactivity.

Frédéric Ruiz, also scheduled for the beginning of 2026, the CAS Financements et Investissements will cover both the fundamentals and innovative topics in financial advisory - can you give us a few concrete examples?

Offering innovative solutions in the field of financial advice is essential at a time when finance is going through a phase of intense innovation, so this CAS covers a wide range of topics that seem to be part of a lasting trend: investment in private markets, real assets and cryptoassets or the monetization of special assets; the integration of AI into investment or the digital economy to name but a few.

As history has regularly reminded us, enthusiastically embracing innovations while losing sight of the fundamentals is a strategy that often proves fraught with consequences. For this reason, topics such as real estate financing, intermediation, investment strategy, economics or the link between investments and geopolitics are also covered in depth.

This skilful blend of classic and "new generation" themes, unique in Switzerland, is a feature highly appreciated by participants.

Christophe Nicod, other HEG-ISFB CAS are planned for 2026, notably the Finance and Investment CAS. How has financial consulting changed in recent years, and how can this CAS help you adapt to this new complexity?

Financial advice to sophisticated private clients has undergone a profound transformation: it is no longer just a matter of offering products, but of structuring tailor-made solutions, integrating all wealth-related issues, which can sometimes also be entrepreneurial, international or technological. Customers now expect a global, innovative approach, capable of responding to complex, evolving situations.

CAS Financements et Investissements responds to this trend by covering all aspects of financial engineering, enabling advisors to develop cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary expertise, perfectly suited to the expectations of a demanding clientele in search of added value.

Frédéric Ruiz

Lecturer (HEG Geneva)

Christophe Nicod

Head of Continuing Education (ISFB)

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