The UiS will allocate the same amount to this development over a five year period which brings the total amount to 40 million. The aim is to increase competence in the communities regionally, nationally and internationally.
The initiative was taken by the finance industry in the Stavanger region at the conference sponsored by Stavanger Aftenblad last fall. A committee was appointed with representatives from UiS and the industry who asked the following question: What do we have and what do we need? The partners are Skagen Fondene, SR-Bank, HitecVision, Private Equity, Sandnes Sparebank and GE Money Bank.
Development of competence
"We have for a long time wanted to have an academic economics department at the university as a supplement to the existing competence in the region, which can act as a sparring partner and develop new knowledge. It is important to offer more education. The finance industry in the region has enjoyed favorable progress and has succeeded without having had any natural advantages. We are an industry in which there is keen competition and where we have to succeed daily. Therefore we need brains with the right competence to work for us," says Harald Espedal, CEO at Skagen Fondene.
The aim is to involve as many of the benchmark partners as possible to ensure that the industry is united in establishing something unique at UiS and in the Stavanger region. We have looked to international centers of learning for inspiration, he adds. The finance industry in Stavanger is the largest outside Oslo measured in capital management, and several of the leading savings banks have their headquarters here.
For UiS the venture is an important part of the university evolution and involves a considerable boost in academic competence, research and study programs. The industry will benefit from access to qualified labor, which again may provide it with a competitive edge.
Investigation into the best procedures
Rector Aslaug Mikkelsen says that close cooperation with the industry opens a golden opportunity for investigating methods and criteria for success in the finance industry. It has enjoyed considerable success and increased efforts within research will fuel further development.
Through research and in cooperation with the industry in the region, we want to develop solid academic knowledge and practice to bolster financial competence, she says.
Mikkelsen appreciates the support from the industry and is happy to see that it opens new opportunities for UiS. We want to build competence from the bottom up, but we need resources. Since they are now available from the industry, we can now give full steam ahead, she says.
Preservation of values
Sveinung Hestnes, CIO at Sparebank 1, SR-Bank, draws parallels to the pioneering days of Stavanger as the petroleum capital of Norway.
Today the finance industry is where the petroleum industry was in the 1970s. This industry has great potential. When the oil has been pumped out of the North Sea and converted into cash it has become another raw material which must be husbanded. The key to it all is competence which can contribute to maintaining the prosperity that has been created in this region, Hestnes says.
During the last few years Sandnes Sparebank has grown in size and complexity and is now the 6th largest bank in Norway measured in management capital. The director of capital markets at Sandnes Sparebank, Jone Idsøe, says that this position poses demands on the employees' skills and competence, particularly within financing, risk management, investor and industrial counseling.
The reason why we support the new study programs in applied finance is that they will strengthen the industry and competence in the region over time and give the bank better opportunities for creating jobs for qualified applicants. Today we have to advertise jobs outside the region, something we have experienced in connection with the establishment of SSB Securities, a wholly-owned subsidiary company offering services within alternative investments and Corporate Finance, Idsøe says.
Director of services, Pål A. Dahlberg at HitecVision private Equity has currently trouble finding qualified people to vacant jobs.
Competence acquired abroad
We experience difficulties in recruiting qualified personnel to the industry in Stavanger. The people we employ today have been almost exclusively educated abroad, particularly in Australia and USA. This venture together with UiS is an attempt to be useful where the shoe pinches. We will contribute to putting Stavanger on the map as a finance center, Dahlberg says.
He sees advantages in working together with academics at UiS and hopes for mutual gain when they can observe the industry at close range.
Morten Warland, CEO at GE Money Bank, praises the other partners. I salute Skagen Fondene and Sparebank 1 SR-Bank. I doubt whether this venture could have been realized without their active participation. UiS has also impressed us, says Warland. He thinks the university has demonstrated a good mixture of commitment, entrepreneurial spirit and solid academic substance.
With the risk of stepping on somebody's toes I declare that few academic departments in Norway can make a better show. We have a long tradition of, and good experience from, recruiting from the UiS. We hire special competence internationally from the General Electric conglomerate. That gives us several advantages, but the benefit of developing this competence locally is obvious. This venture accordingly coincides with our own ambition as a bank, but not least with that of the Stavanger region. If we, as a company and a region, want to grow and develop, this is a one of the most important means we can make use of, Warland believes.
Text; Thomas Bore Olsen
Photo: Håkon Vold
