Merrill Lynch Wealth Management on Wednesday launched its annual global investing programme for the next generation of Ultra High Net Worth clients (UHNW) from Europe, the Middle East and Africa region.

The five-day programme, which has run in EMEA since 2007, is being held at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Financial Centre in London and will include a day focusing on effective charitable giving.

The programme will welcome 50 participants, aged between 18 and 24 years, from countries including the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Israel and the Middle East.

The participating students will be divided into teams, each with a specific charitable issue to research, said a statement from Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

Each team will visit a small charity to see how it operates day-to-day. The aim is to give participants a broader understanding of philanthropy, from how to approach charitable giving to how charities operate on the ground and the process of fund raising, it stated.

At the end of the week, the teams each pitch on behalf of their charity to compete for a financial donation from Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, the statement added.

During the programme, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management professionals will give presentations on different asset types, discretionary asset management, wealth structuring and alternative investments. 

New to the 2011 programme is a Myers Briggs personality profiling session. This helps students identify strength areas in problem solving and decision making, build awareness of their communication skills and gain insight of their own management and leadership styles.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management also runs similar programmes in Singapore and Hong Kong.

This invitation only programme helps participants to understand the processes and disciplines of successful investing, making them better informed about managing their wealth in the future.

David Jervis, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management EMEA, said, 'Our clients see great value in equipping the next generation of their families with the ability to safe guard and grow their wealth.'

'The programme is specifically designed to give relevant knowledge and responsibility to those who will need it most,' Jervis pointed out.

'The success of the programme highlights the value our clients attach to developing the financial knowledge of their sons and daughters so they are equipped to take responsibility for managing and safeguarding the wealth that will be passed to them,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service