Bocconi University in Milan has signed a three-year agreement with Deutsche Bank worth 1.5 million euros. The collaboration will see the creation of the Deutsche Bank Chair and the appointment of Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank CEO, to Bocconi’s International Advisory Council.

Deutsche Bank’s commitment to Bocconi will be seen in the following ways:

- support research, with the creation of the Deutsche Bank Chair in Quantitative Finance and Asset Pricing, which has been assigned to professor Carlo Favero;
- the appointment of Josef Ackermann, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank, to Bocconi’s International Advisory Council, which has the task of assisting Bocconi’s Board in defining the university’s internationalization strategy, and Flavio Valeri, CEO of Deutsche Bank Italia, to the advisory board of the Bocconi Partnership Foundation;
- aid to the most deserving students, with the creation of Deutsche Bank scholarships;
- the organization of seminars on economic and financial topics;

A classroom in the new Bocconi campus building will also be named after Deutsche Bank.

With this agreement Deutsche Bank joins a group of institutions (ENEL, ENI, Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondazione Cariplo and Telecom Italia) which, as strategic partners, work in close collaboration with Bocconi. The Deutsche Bank Chair is the seventh such chair to be created by Bocconi after those dedicated to Nomura, ENI, Banca Intesa, Banca Mediolanum, Aidaf and the Italian Philanthropy Society.

“We would like to thank Deutsche Bank which has decided to join us in this project and to share our commitment in following our mission and objectives,” said Mario Monti, President of Bocconi.

“We are very satisfied with this agreement,” said Flavio Valeri, “which underlines Deutsche Bank’s strong commitment towards Italy and its centres of excellence, such as Bocconi University. This partnership allows us to commit ourselves to the education sector coherently with what our group has been undertaking for many years around the world, fully aware that human resources are evermore the key factor for a successful business.”

“The commitment of Deutsche Bank will be realised through two fundamental assets for Bocconi: aid to the most deserving students (the university already allocates financial aid of over 22 million euros, up 10% in 2009 compared to 2008) and investment in research,” said Bruno Pavesi, Bocconi’s Chief Executive.

“Carlo Favero is director of the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research at Bocconi,” said Guido Tabellini, Rector of Bocconi, in outlining the programme of the new chair. “He has also been a consultant to the Italian Treasury, European Commission, World Bank and the ECB in areas such as monetary policy and financial markets.”