‘I chose SKEMA for the academic excellence of its teaching in finance’: PGE student Paul-Alexandre Réaud

​Paul-Alexandre, can you tell us more about your background?

For two years, I followed the courses of the preparatory class for the Grandes Ecoles at Lycée du Parc in Lyon. I hesitated for a long time between an engineering school and a business school, but I finally decided to join SKEMA and its , given my taste for market and corporate finance. Three areas attract me: mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital.

Why did you decide to join SKEMA Business School?

I decided to join SKEMA because I was drawn to the field of finance from a very young age and is a guarantee of academic excellence. Mobility on SKEMA's international campuses was part of the arguments largely in its favour. I was also seduced by the presence of artificial intelligence in the lessons. 

I am passionate about AI, and I program algorithms for trading. Finally, I also took into consideration the student associations aspect offered by the school. Since my first year, I have been the president of the SKEMA Finance association on the Sophia Antipolis campus, which brings together around thirty students. We recently organised a trading contest on three SKEMA campuses!

What are your professional experiences so far?

I got the opportunity to do an internship in the field of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at Collaboration Capital, a digital investment bank, located in Marseille. I was in charge of M&A affairs in this bank, which uses systems coupled with artificial intelligence. This four-month internship was very formative; after a week, I was already in front of customers. I then had the chance to discover inspiring profiles.