SKEMA Finance

Overview

Skema Finance is SKEMA Business School’s finance association. It helps students deepen their financial market knowledge through training sessions, conferences, and investment competitions.

Founded in 2008, SKEMA Finance is a finance association focused on both market finance and corporate finance. Stock market competitions, investment club, podcast, visits to major financial centers, This association is a means of awakening to the major financial themes of our time, through collaboration between all our members and our partners. In 2021, the 3 associations in France are merging to create a homogeneous national association and to adopt a global website. 
The result of the merger of the finance associations of the Lille and Sophia campuses, it is now also present on the Paris and Raleigh campuses. The association's objective is to popularise corporate and market finance. Throughout the year, passionate members get together to work on a number of projects such as the Trading Contest, visits to trading rooms, and professional conferences to get a real immersion in the financial sector. 
The most inexperienced will find it a way to learn more about finance, and the more experienced a perfect way to put their knowledge to good use.

Impact

As the leading finance society, SKEMA Finance and especially SKEMA Finance Paris work to make the sector more accessible and representative. Its “Women in Finance” branch hosts events dedicated to equal opportunities, female empowerment and visibility in financial careers. Its work is closely aligned with the SDGs, particularly SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth).

Keys events

Lille

• The SKEMA Financial Forum is a must-attend event organised by SKEMA Finance, bringing together finance professionals and students to discuss the major challenges and prospects facing the sector. For its third edition, to be held on 4 April 2025, the forum will feature experts from key areas such as Market Risk, M&A and Trading. 

Through enriching discussions and exchanges with industry specialists, this event offers a unique opportunity to understand current trends and develop your professional network. A must-attend event for all finance enthusiasts! 

• The association also offers visits to major financial centres such as Frankfurt, where members had the opportunity to discover the European Central Bank and visit the trading floor of the German stock exchange, the DAX 40.
• The association regularly organises conferences, inviting professionals from the finance sector to share their career paths and experiences. Whether you're interested in market finance, corporate finance or green finance, there's something for everyone! It also writes market summaries and financial articles, available on LinkedIn, to enable students to follow economic news and deepen their knowledge.
• SKEMA Lille students actively participate in two major competitions organised by SKEMA Finance Sophia and Paris: the Trading Contest and the M&A Contest.
• The Trading Contest is an intense market finance challenge, where participants have one month to maximise their profits by simulating investments on the financial markets. This competition, which brings together students from the three French campuses, is a unique opportunity for Lille students to put their trading skills into practice and measure themselves against other participants in a competitive and stimulating environment.
• The M&A Contest, meanwhile, is dedicated to corporate finance. It brings together students from SKEMA and other leading French business schools around a practical merger and acquisition case study. The aim is to analyse the feasibility of a strategic transaction between two companies and to propose a reasoned recommendation.

Thanks to these competitions, SKEMA Lille students have the opportunity to hone their technical skills, exchange ideas with industry experts and tackle real-world challenges in the world of finance. It's a great opportunity to learn, perform and, why not, win! 

Sophia

• Trading Contest: A trading competition where students test their strategies on financial markets in real conditions.
• Finance Conferences: Meetings with finance professionals to discuss market trends and career opportunities.

Paris

• As finance today goes far beyond the traditional realms of M&A and private equity, "Talks with Experts" by SKEMA Finance Paris offers a series of conferences featuring high-level speakers who embody an innovative, sustainable, and forward-thinking vision of the financial world. Each episode dives into a key topic—often overlooked, but essential to understanding the transformations shaping the industry.

EPISODE 1 – NADIA GOUNÉ 🌎 : To kick off the series, we welcomed Nadia Gouné, an expert in sustainable finance, for a discussion on the ongoing transformation in the investment world. From the growing importance of ESG criteria to impact investing and new regulatory requirements, the conversation shed light on how financial performance can go hand in hand with environmental and social impact. A clear and ambitious perspective on the future of asset management.

EPISODE 2 – FRANÇOIS BERGÈRE 💵: Former Director of the French Public-Private Partnership Task Force (MAPPP), François Bergère gave us an inside look at the French model for infrastructure financing. From the logic of PPPs to the financial engineering behind major public projects, this episode highlighted a lesser-known yet strategic aspect of finance—one that shapes territories and informs long-term public policy.

EPISODE 3 – AFTE 💰📈 : For the third episode, we had the privilege of hosting seven members of the French Association of Corporate Treasurers (AFTE). Through a series of complementary insights, they shared their expertise on today’s key treasury challenges: market volatility, foreign exchange risk management, digital transformation, and the evolving strategic role of the corporate treasurer. A rich collective masterclass filled with real-world takeaways.

In addition to the Talks with Experts series, we also organize several hands-on, career-oriented events:

• On-site visit – InfraVia Capital Partners
  A behind-the-scenes experience at one of Europe’s leading infrastructure funds. Students engaged in in-depth discussions about long-term investment strategies, deal structuring, and the growing importance of sustainable infrastructure in institutional portfolios.
• Study trip to Germany – WHU & Frankfurt
  A multi-day learning expedition combining academic and professional exposure. Highlights included a visit to WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, finance-focused talks with local professionals, and meetings with major financial institutions in Frankfurt, Europe’s financial hub.
• Treasury Innovation Day – On-site event
  A full day dedicated to innovation in corporate treasury, co-organized with industry professionals. Through workshops, keynotes, and digital tool demonstrations, participants explored how technology is reshaping the day-to-day operations and strategic positioning of finance departments.