On this website, you will find answers to the following questions:
Why should you study at the HSLU?
The CAS Trading and Capital Markets at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), delivered in collaboration with the Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug (IFZ), is a trading-focused executive education programme providing direct exposure to the operational realities of modern trading desks. The programme is ideally suited to specialist and leadership career paths in trading, market structures and risk management.
Parts of the programme are delivered on-site at leading Swiss financial institutions – including Basler Kantonalbank, Raiffeisen Switzerland and UBS – as well as in collaboration with industry bodies such as ACI Suisse. Representatives from Zürcher Kantonalbank are present at the IFZ headquarters in Rotkreuz for selected parts of the programme.
Participants learn from highly experienced desk heads, traders and infrastructure specialists, including speakers with executive-level responsibilities, and benefit from unique opportunities to network directly within Switzerland’s trading ecosystem.
The combination of solid academic foundations and hands-on market exposure positions the CAS among the most distinguished and market-focused programmes in Trading and Capital Markets.
What is the content of this continuing education programme?
The CAS Trading and Capital Markets provides comprehensive, practice-oriented knowledge about modern financial markets and trading environments. Participants gain an understanding of how global markets operate, how trading desks are structured, and how execution logic, risk control and collateral frameworks interact in professional daily practice - core competences of a modern capital markets education.
The programme covers all major asset classes, trading strategies, aspects of market structure, post-trade processes and the technological infrastructure enabling trading activities. In a dedicated module, Trading IT, data feeds, latency, system resilience and regulatory interfaces are the focus.
With teaching delivered at leading Swiss banks, participants gain realistic insights from front-, middle- and back-office perspectives. The programme concludes with an integrated capstone module in London, where acquired knowledge is applied in cross-asset case studies and market observations.
What kind of certificate will you get?
Upon successful completion of all six modules (including written exams and the capstone), participants obtain the Trading and Capital Markets Certificate of Advanced Studies Hochschule Luzern/FHZ.
What is the target group of this CAS programme?
This CAS is designed for professionals working in or around trading environments and financial markets who wish to deepen their understanding of trading and capital markets. Typical participants include:
- Traders and junior traders
- Professionals in middle office, risk management or treasury
- Relationship managers with market exposure
- IT and data specialists supporting trading systems
- Professionals in audit, banking, compliance, consulting or legal related to financial markets
- Private investors or family-office representatives seeking a structured, academically grounded understanding of market mechanisms
What are the goals of the Certificate of Advanced Studies?
By completing this CAS, participants will acquire a deep and practical understanding of modern capital markets and professional trading environments. Specifically, they will learn:
- How global markets are structured and operate
- How trading decisions are made
- How risk, collateral and infrastructure interact
- How transactions are executed across different asset classes
- How to analyse market risk and counterparty risk
- How trading IT and data flows work
- Which regulatory requirements apply in trading
The CAS builds technical, analytical and interdisciplinary skills needed for front-, middle- and back-office roles.
What are the admission criteria?
In order to be admitted to a CAS, DAS or MAS programme, prospective participants must have a tertiary degree from a university-level institution or a higher vocational education programme. Holders of a university-level degree must have two or more years of professional experience, while people with a higher vocational degree must have two or more years of professional experience in a field of activity relevant to the continuing education programme they wish to attend. The minimum age for participation is 26 years at the start of the programme. The language of instruction is English. For this reason, it is essential that your language skills be at a level that allows you to follow the classes, to read and understand the course material and to converse in English. If you have any questions concerning admission to the programme or other course-related issues, please get in touch with the head of programme - Ramon Garcia or Prof. Dr. Thomas Birrer.
Which speakers will join the programme as experts?
Selected Key Lecturers & Module Leaders
- Benjamin Anderegg, Head of Trading & Capital Markets, Raiffeisen Switzerland
- Fabien Brügger, Head of Execution, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise
- Michel Frei, Member of the Executive Board, Basler Kantonalbank
- Andreas Ita, Managing Partner, Orbit36 Risk Finance Solutions AG; formerly UBS
- Urs Lendermann, Professor of Banking Law and Financial Regulation, Deutsche Bundesbank University of Applied Sciences
- Mike Schaub, Head of IT Trading & Risk, Zürcher Kantonalbank
- Daniel Wyss, Head Corporate & Institutional FX Sales Switzerland, UBS; President of ACI Suisse
What is the structure of the programme?
The CAS consists of six modules:
Module 1 – Global Markets & Trading Desks
Participants gain an overview of the historical development of global trading activities as well as key market phases, success factors and structural changes in recent years. They explore the various disciplines within modern trading desks and understand why banks conduct specific trading activities and how these are embedded within the overall banking organisation. In addition, participants analyse the role of other market participants in global financial markets as well as typical trader profiles, their daily work, required skill sets and future career perspectives.
Module 2 – Asset Classes & Instruments
You will gain a solid understanding of the main product classes in the global financial markets. Covered topics include foreign exchange transactions (spot, forwards, swaps, NDFs), fixed-income instruments such as bonds and repos, equity markets including second-line stocks and ADRs, as well as derivative products such as futures, options, swaptions and credit default swaps. You will also analyse money-market instruments and yield curves, explore the mechanics of securities lending and short selling, and examine structured products and their role in capital markets.
Module 3 – Execution Logic & Market Structure
Participants deepen their understanding of trade execution and modern market structures. They study core execution logics such as smart order routing, VWAP and TWAP strategies, as well as passive and active execution approaches. Different trading venues – from exchanges and OTC markets to dark pools and systematic internalisers – are examined, together with common order types and the full trade lifecycle from execution to settlement. Participants gain a solid understanding of best execution principles, post-trade transparency and transaction cost analysis and are introduced to algorithmic trading and high-frequency environments.
Module 4 – Trading IT & Market Infrastructure
You will study the structure and organisation of modern trading desks, including ergonomic aspects, screen configurations and role-specific workflows. Topics include hybrid and decentralised trading models, core application ecosystems such as Bloomberg and Eikon, OMS/EMS platforms, as well as infrastructure fundamentals such as latency, market-data architectures and network connectivity. In addition, business-continuity concepts, resilience strategies, recovery objectives and redundancy models together with their cost-benefit implications are addressed.
Module 5 – Collateral & Risk Management, Regulatory Capital
Participants acquire a thorough understanding of the legal and operational framework of modern trading activities, in particular the ISDA Master Agreement, Credit Support Annexes and netting and close-out-netting mechanisms. They analyse different collateral types, margining logics and approaches to collateral optimisation and dispute resolution. Core risk categories, real-time monitoring and escalation procedures are covered, alongside quantitative risk metrics such as value at risk, stress testing and scenario analysis. Exposure management, limit utilisation and regulatory capital requirements under Basel III/IV are also discussed.
Module 6 – Capstone: Integrated Case Studies (London)
In the final capstone module, participants integrate and apply the content of Modules 1 to 5 in a holistic and practice-oriented setting. Using realistic case studies from international trading and capital markets environments, they analyse market structures, products, execution strategies, risk and collateral management as well as regulatory requirements. Through group projects, participants develop structured solutions and present their findings in final presentations to industry professionals.
The module takes place in London as an international financial centre and promotes direct interaction with market participants and institutions.
Modules 1 to 5 conclude with written exams; the capstone module requires active participation.
Where does the programme take place?
Teaching is primarily delivered in person, rather than online, at the Swiss locations of our partner banks, including Banque Cantonale Vaudoise in Lausanne, Basler Kantonalbank in Basel, Raiffeisen Switzerland in Zurich and UBS in Zurich, providing participants with direct exposure to real trading environments. The remainder of the programme takes place at the IFZ main campus in Rotkreuz, with representatives from Zürcher Kantonalbank present for selected parts of the programme.
Lucerne School of Business
Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ
Campus Zug-Rotkreuz, Suurstoffi 1
CH-6343 Rotkreuz
Phone: +41 41 757 67 67
Email: ifz@hslu.ch
Website: www.hslu.ch/ifz
The IFZ is easy to reach by public transport. We schedule our course hours around the train arrival and departure times. Trains operate all day between Zurich and Lucerne. It takes less than five minutes to walk from Rotkreuz train station to the IFZ. Find your train connections here.
What are the programme dates and times?
Teaching takes place over two full days and one half day per month (approximately 24 contact hours per module).
What is the duration of the continuing education programme?
The programme runs for seven to nine months.
When does the programme start?
The programme starts in June 2026. Registration closes on 31st May 2026.
How to apply?
Register now via the online registration portal.
