TY Financial Literacy Programme Returns for 2025

Friday, 17 January 2025

TY Financial Literacy Programme Returns for 2025

Despite the snowy start to the new school term, the Irish Funds Financial Literacy Programme was back in action, reaching five schools over the past two weeks. In 2025, we are excited to expand the programme to fourteen additional schools, building on the success of the seven schools that completed the programme last term. As always, a huge thank you to our sponsor Deloitte for their continued support.

Schools

  • Catholic University School, Dublin: Michael D'Arcy from Principal Global Investors (Ireland) delivered a fantastic session. The students were particularly engaged with Michael's in-depth insights into how pensions work as well as the perks and benefits of working in this dynamic industry.

  • Woodbrook College, Wicklow: Rachel Basquel from Deloitte led an engaging session where students set up their Financial Times portfolios. They are excited to track the performance of their portfolios in the coming weeks. A highlight was Rachel's synopsis of working in audit and her extensive experience in the funds industry.

  • Castletroy College, Limerick:  This week, students visited the Northern Trust offices in Limerick with Mark Flynn. The visit showcased the growing regional footprint of the funds and asset management industry in Ireland. The students discovered first-hand what it's like to work in an office environment and thoroughly enjoyed the day out.

  • Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny: Karl Dullea and Mairead Buckley from State Street delivered an excellent first session and began building and investing in their Financial Times portfolios. Students showed a strong interest in law and accountancy and look forward to learning more about these roles in the funds industry over the coming weeks.

  • Kinsale Community School, Cork: Grace O'Mahony from Deloitte led a great session, introducing students to the exciting opportunities the funds industry offers. Students are looking forward to exploring financial strategies to improve their investment portfolios in future sessions.

  • Loreto Clonmel, Tipperary: Due to snowy conditions, the final session with Alan Cuddihy from Deloitte will be completed in the coming weeks.

Regionalisation

The programme's reach across various schools in Ireland reflects the distribution of employment by location and indicates the increased regional spread of economic activity in the industry. The industry's credentials as a nationally distributed employment generator are evident from the nearly 9,000 employees based outside of Dublin. Almost half of the counties in the Republic of Ireland now have at least one office location within the industry.

Feedback

We are continuously seeking feedback from both students and industry leads to learn about the positives and improve the programme session by session. Students have shared comments such as "I really enjoyed taking part" and "The speaker was excellent." Industry leads have noted "the engagement of the students is very enjoyable" and recognised the fantastic work being done to promote our industry "It is an unknown area that contributes so much to the Irish economy and will need younger generations to join it."

Thank you

A note of thanks to our fantastic industry volunteers and to programme coordinator Eibhlin Johnston and Irish Funds team, Natasha Haugh, Paula Morley, Claudia Moran, Conor McGuinness and Sophie Walsh.

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