Staff

Patrick Augustin sets the record straight about Luxembourg

admin — Thu, 15 May 2025 18:40:29 +0000

Luxembourg is best known as a wealthy tax haven--if people know it at all. The tiny and wealthy country is a significant financial centre, but it also has the reputation of being a little dull. But Professor of Finance Patrick Augustin begs to differ. “Of course, it is not comparable to major metropolitan cities like London or New York, but for its size, I think the country punches above its weight in terms of cultural and social activities,” says Augustin, a Luxembourger.

Young investors often overestimate their risk tolerance

admin — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 15:14:58 +0000

ÿ��̽�� software engineering student David Vo began investing in markets when he was just 17 years. Now aged 20, he’s managing a portfolio worth tens of thousands of dollars. Like many in Gen Z, the Bachelor of Commerce student began investing in markets without any formal training. When starting out, one of the most common errors new investors make is overestimating their risk tolerance, ÿ��̽�� Desautels Associate Professor of Finance Benjamin Croituru told LaPresse.

Caisse de depot’s stake in UK nuclear project is a model to emulate

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 17:38:29 +0000

The Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec is taking a 20% stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, England. It is the UK’s first new nuclear power plant since the 1990s, and Professor Sebastien Betermier credits the government there with creating the favourable circumstances for private investors like the Caisse to take part in infrastructure development. “In this particular project, I believe the U.K.

Whether renting or buying, Canadians are exposed to risk

admin — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:41:02 +0000

Buying a home can help you build household wealth, but renting has fewer overall costs, which allows you to save more of the money you earn. While the conventional wisdom has been that buying is the better financial decision for most people, sky-high real estate costs change the equation. Stock markets have also performed well in recent decades, and investing the surplus left over from renting can pad your personal finances in a big way—if you actually do it.

Tariffs are remaking global supply chains in real time

admin — Wed, 28 May 2025 19:28:50 +0000

The imposition of tariffs on an ever changing array of products is disrupting global supply chains. Businesses are scrambling to reroute shipments to avoid the hefty fees they could incur as tariffs exceeding 100% are imposed, delayed, or removed entirely—all seemingly at whim. “In the short term, this will be almost like COVID 2.0,” said Saibal Ray, Professor of Operations Management at ÿ��̽�� Desautels.

Clarity is key when passing control of a family business to the next generation

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 18:27:40 +0000

Even the most successful family businesses often don’t withstand the march of time. Just because one generation had what the right skills and temperament to run a business doesn’t mean their grandchildren will. But the Vancouver-based chocolate maker Purdys Chocolate bucks the trend, with a third-generation leader poised to take the helm.

Desautels to launch new Master of Management of Finance program in Luxembourg

admin — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 18:40:45 +0000

ÿ��̽�� Desautels is partnering with the Chamber of Commerce of Luxembourg on a new Master of Management in Finance. The program will launch in 2026, and will have a blended format that combines online learning and in-person sessions on weekends or evenings. The new degree will be delivered over 20 or 24 months in Luxembourg, a major European financial centre.

Learn more

Minority business owners can benefit from guilt marketing

admin — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 17:46:07 +0000

A recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that white consumers with higher levels of ‘white guilt’ were more likely to buy from a Black-owned business than from a white-owned one—even if the Black-owned business was more expensive or had lower customer ratings. “The marketplace is becoming increasingly shaped by ideology and values,” says Siddhanth Mookerjee, an Assistant Professor at ÿ��̽�� Desautels and a co-author of the study.

Professor Warut Khern-am-nuai named to Chair in Economics and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 16:04:11 +0000

The Institut de valorisation des données (IVADO), with support from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, has created six new research chairs in artificial intelligence to advance knowledge and train the next generation of AI leaders.

Michael Scott’s office misadventures are a lesson in what not do to as a manager

admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 19:36:59 +0000

On The Office, Steve Carrell plays Michael Scott, a boss at a small paper and office supply wholesaler who is frequently delusional, insensitive and annoying—sometimes all at once. Still, there are lessons to be learned from the misadventures. “The Office captures the realities of business operations in an exaggerated yet familiar way,” said Kai Zhao (MBA’15) in an interview with Poets & Quants. “It serves as a reminder that leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s also about people, communication, and adapting to challenges--sometimes in the most unconventional ways.

Nearly half of most recent MBA cohort are Quebec residents - but the program retains its international outlook

admin — Fri, 02 May 2025 16:33:10 +0000

Desautels has one of the country’s top MBA programs, and its students come from all over the world. But nearly half of this year’s cohort are Quebec residents. “This allows us to offer an experience tailored to the Quebec market, all while keeping the program’s international perspective,” says Prof. Demetrios Vakratsas, the program’s academic director.

Leedana is bringing agriculture to the desert--and it got its start at Desautels

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:54:52 +0000

Egypt’s Nile River Valley has some of the most fertile land in the world. But most of the country is a barren desert where few plants can grow. Hassan Elrakhawy (BCom’24) wants to change that. The Egyptian-born entrepreneur founded Leedana, a startup that uses a technique called sandponics, which can reduce the amount of water needed to cultivate crops by up to 90%. The company already has farms in Egypt that grow cherry tomatoes, peppers, kale, lettuce and more. And other farms are under construction elsewhere.

Stephanie Shaw on leading global HR at Eldorado Gold

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 18:34:53 +0000

ÿ��̽�� MBA alumna Stephanie Shaw (MBA’10) is vice-president of human resources at Eldorado Gold, where she leads a global team supporting 5,000 employees. Based in Vancouver, Shaw is driving a new people strategy focused on inclusive leadership, employee experience and digital transformation.

Overuse of credit cards could be contributing to rise in bankruptcies in Quebec

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 17:07:08 +0000

More than 34,000 Quebec households filed for insolvency between June 2024 and May 2025. That’s an increase of almost 5% over the previous year. For Benjamin Croituru, that’s cause for concern. “Everybody makes mistakes financially,” says Croitoru, the academic director of ÿ��̽�� Personal Finance Essentials, a free online financial course. “People face a system that is kind of rigged against them. There’s a lot of marketing that encourages people to spend too much money, to borrow money the wrong way.

Kate Arthur shares insights into literacy in the age of AI in UNESCO keynote

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:36:14 +0000

What does it mean to literate in the age of artificial intelligence? According to Kate Arthur (EMBA 2021) , literacy is about more than knowing how to read or write, it’s about having the tools to understand the world around us and our active role in shaping it. Arthur’s own sense of literacy was upended when she was introduced to language of computing. Now an adviser at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute, Arthur has been exploring traditional, computing and AI literacies since the early 2000s.