Hey guys
So I’m in my last year of my BSc in Banking & Finance and need to start soon with my Bachelor thesis. My main issue is that I have no idea what the topic/question should be. Maybe you have some ideas?
I work as a private client advisor, so I was thinking about doing something in the direction of mortgages/loans in Switzerland. Or maybe something about FIRE or early retirement in general?
Switzerland as a haven for high fees banking and investing solutions? How the Swiss frank affects investing outcomes for Swiss investors? The role of a private clients’ advisor regarding low cost index funds? There’s probably a topic that can be made out of the recent CS and UBS story too.
Looking forward to potentially learn about your results. Keep heart and have fun!
Effects of divorce asset splits on investors’ investment decision, portfolio allocation and retirement income?
“The future of a private client advisor and the development of robot advisors”
Does a private client advisor have a future ? what is his added value vs a robot ? can he win the competition against the robot advisors ? are they covering different segments ? etc etc
Yeah, financial roboadvisors could be an interesting topic. It is not clear to me, though, in this case, what is it that you have to deliver: you have to do something or do a scientific analysis of a certain problem?
Cost analysis of brokerage fees: Switzerland vs. Europe vs US? I think you can write it from the top of your head.
Yes, what is the type of work you have to deliver?
Maybe some analysis regarding stainability in investing (nachhaltige ETFs etc).
Thanks for the replies so far.
The type of work is very open. It can be purely academic or also in context of my company I’m working for. I’ve actually already done a business consulting project this year. Close to 50 pages of content, so it was already kind of a Bachelor thesis (or Bachelor light). The title was “Traditionelle Anlageberatung, ein Auslaufmodell?” which went exactly in the directions of some of your ideas.
The more I think about it, the more it makes sense for me to do something about FIRE. Comparing the retirement system of USA and Switzerland, write about the problems of the 1st/2nd pillar, delving into the FIRE movement in the USA and then further looking into early retirement in general in Switzerland. I could do a quantitative poll with 200-300 people and analyse if early retirement is a goal, what they are already doing to achieve that and what the main motivations are to achieve in in the first place. Might me interesting to see some demographic differences.
I’d love to see something trying to explain the high costs for investing in Switzerland (TER, brokerage fees, esp for mainstream banks).
And whether this is going down (and what would drive it).
Or something like a comparison of stock vs real estate ownership for retirement planning and the impact of gov policies (eg pillar2 withdrawal for real estate purchase, or amortization limits).
I’d focus on something that either interests you personally or helps you get ahead in the career game.
The first is something only you’ll know, the latter - to boil it down to the essentials of the game - is whatever helps your employer get, retain, and sell to, UHNWI clients. As far as I’ve heard, they’re also a lot more fun to work with than your avg retail client.
Not really relevant in my situation. Nobody in my company is going to read a Bachelor thesis and it won‘t really have any impact on career either. Only thing that matters is the degree in the end.
What are the profiles of your jury ?
What could be the average age of the jury ?
I think choosing a topic that resonate with them could be strategic.
I am not sure FIRE topic will be at the taste of 50-60 y.o. Teachers.
Then I think you have even more reason to do what interests you. From personal experience I can say that it is a lot easier to write a thesis if you’re interested in the topic
Trust me on this - if you manage to write about the right topic and talk with the right people about it you’ll open doors you wouldn’t know existed otherwise.
Hear the voice of reason: what is actually your goal of writing this thesis? To have it done and get your degree? Or to explore in depth a certain topic that interest you?
You can also plainly ask your supervisor if this work, with a proper introduction and conclusion, can qualify as your bachelor thesis. Or at least build on top of it. From my, rather qualified for it, point of view, that could be sufficient.
Both actually. That‘s why I had the idea with FIRE. The whole topic would be very interesting for me. But I also just want to get it done by not making a PhD out of it.
I‘m not allowed to reuse my existing work. Also I wrote a lot on it, so it‘s not that interesting to build up on it. I want something fresh and new 
Have you read “the millionaire next door”? Is anything being done similar to that in CH?
That could be an interesting topic both personally and professionally to understand drivers of wealth creation and preservation
You should absolutely think in terms of a subject that motivates and fascinates you deeply, or else have real interested and proactive support from your company in your Bachelor’s subject.
In terms of subjects to study, I think the choice is vast:
Nationalization of systemic banks. Risks and challenges for the Swiss financial place.
The bank’s future business relationship model and its position as a trusted third party. Perspective in the context of smart contact and direct third-party lending.
Financial education and its impact on personal wealth management. The cost of a lack of financial education throughout an adult’s working life. Cost and opportunity studies.
Etc.
Note that the idea of the thesis comes before the title .
He didn’t answer if he does that for just the title or something more.
If you just need the title, go with something you like.
I’d do it on “Investment gains of $50k into $100m in 2 years by innovative low-risk investment strategy” 
I was talking about the thesis ideas I gave above rather than the title of the degree itself. Sorry for the confusion 
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