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Back To School
Louise Kramer
09/01/2005
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John Davis, faculty chair
of the Harvard program, explains that the course attracts family offices and
foundations as well as operating companies. Demand for the course, which costs
$30,000 for up to four family members, is so strong that the university is
looking to add a third session by 2007. “We are in a very fortunate position
with the Harvard brand to be able to attract people,” he says. “We are helping
families address what they have on the plate right now and also get their focus
five to 10 years out. One of those issues is the management of money and
wealth.”
Loyola University is in the process of assembling a similar program
through its Family Business Center. Loyola also plans to launch a new master’s
degree program in wealth management for the 2006 academic year, with tracks in
wealth management and risk management. The courses will be marketed to wealth
holders on an à la carte basis.
Universities emphasize their independence when positioning their programs
to compete with the existing offerings from the large private banks and trust
companies. As private investors’ confidence in financial institutions has
suffered in recent years because of the wealth destruction of the 2001–02 bear
market and the spate of high-profile scandals at some banks and asset management
firms, the universities believe their position outside the financial industry
gives them a marketing edge. “This is a burgeoning trend driven by wealth
holders who are more concerned about the quality of choices they are making,”
says Scott Fithian, chief executive of the Legacy Companies, a Boston-based
wealth management advisory firm that now brings in university management and
finance professors to instruct its staff.
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