ICMA Centre

ICMA Centre The ICMA Centre at Henley Business School offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education for financial markets.

Climate change is pushing some risks towards the limits of affordable insurance. The challenge is not only to preserve i...
22/09/2026

Climate change is pushing some risks towards the limits of affordable insurance. The challenge is not only to preserve insurability, but to design cover that works.

On 3 November, the ICMA Centre and the Met Office will host the Climate and Finance Conference 2026: Insurance for Climate Risk: Indemnity, Parametric and Hybrid Solutions.

With a keynote from Professor Enrico Biffis (Imperial Business School), the conference will bring together expertise in climate science, catastrophe-risk modelling, insurance design, law and policy.

Professor Simone Varotto said: “Climate risk is changing both what can be insured and how insurance should be designed. We will examine where indemnity, parametric and hybrid solutions can provide credible protection—and where adaptation or public support remains essential.”

📅 Tue 3 November 2026, 9.30am - 6.00pm
📍 ICMA Centre, Whiteknights Campus (in person and online)
🆓 Free, register by 21 October
🔗 https://hly.ac/4iMYVe9

A month ago, southern England had already lost more than 20,000 hectares to wildfires this summer, in what became the UK...
07/09/2026

A month ago, southern England had already lost more than 20,000 hectares to wildfires this summer, in what became the UK's fifth heatwave of the year.

Across the Channel, the bill for Europe's fires stood at £2.5 billion, and rising.

Speaking to Energy Live News recently, Professor Simone Simone Varotto was clear about what the UK needs to change to avoid a similar fate: "Priorities should include national wildfire-risk mapping, better management of heathland and forests, restrictions during extreme-risk periods, resilient infrastructure and tighter planning controls near combustible landscapes."

Prevention beats firefighting - the question is whether we act before we need to.

Read the full story here: https://hly.ac/4iKmzYw

He was excommunicated, hunted by the Church, stripped of royal protection - who was John Ball, and why did he terrify th...
23/07/2026

He was excommunicated, hunted by the Church, stripped of royal protection - who was John Ball, and why did he terrify the establishment so much?

The People of 1381 project - led by The ICMA Centre's Professor Adrian Bell alongside Professor Andrew Prescott (University of Glasgow), Helen Killick (University of Reading) and Professor Jason Sadler (University of Southampton) - has been digging into the records, and their findings about this key historic figure challenges a lot of previous assumptions.

John Ball was long written off by historians as a lone troublemaker on the fringes of Britain’s historic revolt. Yet records show he had gathered loyal followers eleven years before the revolt, and spent over a decade building a following and preaching across the country. Denounced by two Archbishops of Canterbury and excommunicated multiple times, the new findings show him as an organised, popular figure that threatened the establishment.

Read the full findings here: https://hly.ac/3TdIZXC

06/07/2026

Meet Professor Simone Varotto, who traded a career in banking for one shaping future finance leaders. Before Henley, he spent almost four years at the Bank of England researching banking regulation - experience that now underpins what he teaches: credit risk and risk management.

Ask him what's reshaping his field, and he doesn't hesitate: AI and geopolitical tension. AI especially, he says, is unlocking productivity gains that are substantial and fast, thanks to tools that are increasingly easy to use.

That's why he pushes students to pair AI fluency with the ability to question and interpret information: "I'm encouraging our students to use AI tools, but at the same time I'm encouraging critical thinking."

The students who thrive on our Finance Masters programmes are the curious ones - and what Simone wants for them is exactly what Henley offers: intellectual challenge alongside genuine support for their professional growth.

To find out more, visit: https://hly.ac/4p3aPl0

Before banks, nuns lent money: how convents helped power medieval Vienna's economy"Convent administrators tracked paymen...
19/06/2026

Before banks, nuns lent money: how convents helped power medieval Vienna's economy

"Convent administrators tracked payments, negotiated contracts and cultivated reputations for reliability. In a world where trust underpinned financial exchange, nuns became known as dependable creditors." - Dr Anna Molnár

Most people assume modern finance invented itself. It didn't.
Anna's research, published in The Conversation UK, traces how medieval convents became serious financial institutions in 15th century Vienna - long before formal banking existed.

When Vienna's Jewish community was expelled in 1420, a major source of credit vanished overnight. Convents stepped in. They had quietly accumulated capital through dowries and donations, lending systematically to households, artisans and institutions alike.

Women had always participated in these credit markets. But participation shifted from individual to institutional - collective structures amplifying what individuals couldn't do alone.

The lesson still holds. Healthy financial systems need trust, adaptability and diverse participants.

Read Anna's full article, here: https://hly.ac/4uEElyB

Space Data For National Resilience - a London Climate Action Week WorkshopHow do we actually use satellite data to prote...
04/06/2026

Space Data For National Resilience - a London Climate Action Week Workshop

How do we actually use satellite data to protect the UK from the effects of climate change? That's the question this workshop is trying to answer.

This outcomes-focused workshop brings together experts from space agencies, academia, industry, policy and government - not to talk in theory, but to match real-world challenges with real satellite Earth Observation solutions.

📅 Thursday 25th June
🕰️ 12:30 - 4:30 PM
🏢 ICMA Centre, Whiteknights campus, Reading
💷 Free
🎟️ https://hly.ac/3Ql5tog

Professor Simone Varotto puts it well: "This event is a valuable opportunity to bring together academia, industry, policy and end users around one of the most pressing challenges we face: responding to climate change... participants will explore how satellite data and Earth observation can deliver practical solutions for environmental security and national resilience."

If you have a stake in UK resilience - or you're curious about where space technology meets climate action - this is worth your afternoon. Students, staff and external organisations are all welcome.

Women in Finance and Accounting Scholarship - Still time to enterWomen are still underrepresented in finance and accoun...
22/05/2026

Women in Finance and Accounting Scholarship - Still time to enter

Women are still underrepresented in finance and accounting, especially at the top and more senior positions. Scholarships like this one exist for a reason - and if you've secured a place on any MSc in Finance or Accounting at Henley, this one's worth knowing about.

Seven scholarships of £5,000 each are available for the 2026/27 intake. No lengthy application process - if you hold an offer by 31 May, you'll automatically be considered. We will contact you to apply for a scholarship. One thing to note: if you don't receive a scholarship initially, unclaimed funds get reallocated and eligible students are reconsidered automatically.

31 May deadline is non-negotiable, so factor that into your timeline.

Click the link for full details and eligibility criteria: https://hly.ac/4fvjvOk

Accounting and Business Society named PQ Magazine Student Body of the Year 2026What sets this win apart is the story beh...
21/05/2026

Accounting and Business Society named PQ Magazine Student Body of the Year 2026

What sets this win apart is the story behind it. Following the loss of student Piratheesh Karunakaran (PK) in 2022, the society created an annual charity football match in his memory - raising over £7,400 for Papyrus, a young person's su***de prevention charity - while also running placement talks, networking socials, sports tournaments and a PwC LLP UK Partner & Director Q&A at Henley. Shortlisted last year, this time they took home the award.

Deepti Vohra, Early Careers Leader at PwC UK, said: "We're proud to see our partner university recognised as Student Body of the Year - a well-deserved reflection of the talent, commitment and community of its students."

Four students - Nathan Dean, Connor Mills, Katie Richards and Jack Bartle - attended the ceremony at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London on 27 April to collect the award on behalf of the society.

The PQ Awards are now in their 23rd year and widely regarded as the "Oscars" of accountancy education.

Read the full announcement, here: https://hly.ac/4ukFXhB

19/05/2026

What happens to a company’s share price when a flood hits, a heatwave disrupts operations or insurance costs suddenly rise?
Climate change isn't just an environmental crisis - it's reshaping financial markets, stock prices and investment decisions right now. Transparency may be one of the most powerful tools companies have to navigate it.

"Physical climate risk disclosure reduces uncertainty about the risks of the company - and this is reflected positively on stock prices, particularly when there are extreme weather events." - Professor Simone Varotto

That's one of the key findings from our World of Work Institute's Leading Impact research series, in our spotlight on facing climate risk: finance, disclosure and resilience.

Drawing on four major studies, Professor Simone Varotto and Associate Professor Dr Alfonso Dufour examine how climate change is already reshaping financial markets - from mortgages and bonds to company valuations and stock prices - and where financial systems are most vulnerable.

The findings point to clearer reporting and better-informed policy as the keys to strengthening that resilience.

To read the full article, visit: https://hly.ac/3RkgNRK

How AI investment models could execute errors a million times fasterMost of us think about risk in terms of geopolitical...
13/05/2026

How AI investment models could execute errors a million times faster

Most of us think about risk in terms of geopolitical uncertainty or market volatility. But what about the risks sitting quietly inside the models themselves?

Professor Radu Tunaru has a warning that should make anyone in financial services stop and think. He told the Financial Times' Simoney Kyriakou on the latest FTAdviser episode of Margin Notes that AI and quantum computing mean we can execute things at extraordinary speed - but that cuts both ways.

"The regulators will not have the time to see it, digest it, and to react to it. So, this problem can become a huge issue in the next decade, depending on how AI is implemented."

He also challenges the sacred principle of diversification, saying it “often fails during times of crisis.”

Click the link to read the full article and find the podcast episode. https://hly.ac/4dm04oo

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Whiteknights Campus
Reading
RG66BA

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Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

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