MONA School of Business and Management (MSBM) will be incorporating global stock trading as part of its course of study over the next few weeks following the launch of the institution’s Finance Lab on Monday.

The school officially launched the Caribbean’s first University Finance Lab which is aimed at bridging the gap between what students are taught in schools and complex financial data they are expected to interpret upon entering their respective work fields.

Executive director of MSBM, Professor Densil Williams told the Jamaica Observer that the university has already invested $22 million in the state-of-the-art-facility which allows access to securities trading from the top 50 global exchange virtual platforms — through its partnership with Bloomberg, and the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

“Basically what we have done is gain access to major stock markets across the world and the Bloomberg terminal which is a data warehouse that is used to look at things like bonds, stocks and commodities and all other data related to trading on the capital market,” Williams told an audience of financial leaders, academics and students during the launch at the MSBM North Courtyard, University of the West Indies.

“The lab is one of many initiatives used by MSBM to fulfil key strategic objectives of producing employable graduates; and to make the organisation an even greater contender in its international markets,” he noted.

While the primary focus is on facilitating effective business education of MSBM students, the programme is being extended to unenrolled individuals through a series of short courses and is being developed as a method of recouping a portion of the initial investment, according to Williams.

University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Finance lab is a global virtual trading branded site that allows for live data feed from the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The Lab is expected to host roughly 30 students for each training session. While the project was financed by the university, Bloomberg has assisted the institution with a special education deal of three additional licences with each purchase.

Bloomberg currently provides over 325,000 subscribers with stock market information, including volatility, global benchmarks, credit indices, trading platform, probability of default, major indices and major market indices.

“It processes 60 billion pieces of information from the market each day. It even offers a feature that lets you track ships carrying commodities, a bit of information that can be invaluable to a trader,” chief finance officer and deputy group managing director of the National Commercial Bank, Dennis Cohen told the audience during his special remarks on the launch of the lab.

“Bloomberg puts Jamaica and NCB on the international capital markets. It provides a showcase for our bonds, equities, corporate and our research,” he reasoned. “The technology is all about being analytical, it helps to create that mindset shift and students exposed to this tool will be exposed to the best in class financial market data analytics tools and techniques.”

General manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Marlene Street-Forrest expressed gratitude for the initiative while noting that the virtual platform will assist the company in reaching its target audience.

She described the launch of the Finance Lab as a win-win situation for students, the JSE and the entire Jamaica.