“Financial experts have been trained in Zug for the past 20 years,” wrote the Zug Institute for Financial Services (IFZ) at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. It was founded in 1997 at the initiative of the Zug Chamber of Commerce and the Cantonal Department of Economic Development, which want to promote Zug as a centre of commerce and finance.
Around 90 people now work at IFZ and more than 3,000 people are educated each year through courses, seminars and conferences. Around one-third of all Bachelor’s and Master’s economic and business students at the university take advantage of IFZ’s offerings in the areas of finance and banking, controlling and accounting, as well as real estate. Closely linked to the business sector, the institute generates as part of its activities an annual external income of around CHF 9 million.
As such, IFZ is always looking forward. “We are continually expanding our range of courses and incorporating the latest trends and developments in the finance sector with practical studies and research projects,” said the institute’s founder and one of its two directors, Christoph Lengwiler. For example, IFZ is now going deeper in the topic of digitalisation and the fight against economic crimes.
