Discover the unique stories of the bright minds driving our company's success, contributing to our company culture and shaping the future of finance. Find out more about what sets them apart and drives them ahead.
#WeAreBME: Meet Our Bright Minds
Interviews
- Enrique
- Maria
- Maria del Carmen
- Jesús
Enrique is the Director of Instituto BME in Spain. In his free time, he plays rugby and coaches the under-14 category of his club. Find out how his job and his hobby complement each other.
Instituto BME is a small company within the group where nine people work. We manage the courses, teach the classes, and carry out the commercial and financial activities. Every year, we have more than 6,500 students and manage around 200 courses, along with 4,000 hours of training. We have long-duration courses such as master’s degrees and short-duration specialization courses. Right now, for example, we simultaneously have 5 master’s degree courses (three editions of Artificial Intelligence and two of Financial Markets) while already preparing the summer courses and those that begin in the second half of the year. Additionally, we are recording new Braindex courses, constantly improving the platform and incorporating more staff. Each day is different, we have to be organized and versatile. Everyone has to do everything. Here at Instituto BME we don’t get bored!
Is there anything more important than education? We have the most important job in the world, and it is one with a great deal of responsibility. I have been dedicated to training for more than 20 years and it is a very rewarding activity. From time to time a student comes up to me and tells me: “I did my master’s degree many years ago, it was the best decision. You changed my life.” In these moments, they make it all worthwhile.
Yes, I play rugby, although now at a slower pace as I am in the over-40 category, but I’ll keep playing as long as I can. I have been playing since I was nine years old, and I had to stop playing professionally when I was 26 years old. I say “professional level” because you train and dedicate as much time to it as a professional. But at the same time it is not professional because you can’t make a living as a rugby player in Spain. There comes a time when you must choose a field in which you can earn a living for the rest of your life. I was lucky to be part of a great generation of players and I accomplished great things. We won the Division of Honor League, two King’s Cups, one Iberian Cup, and I also played at a European Cup and two U20 World Championships with Spain. So, I can’t complain, in sports I’ve had a short but intense “professional” life. Now I enjoy a lot playing on the veterans team, especially the third half, where traditionally the home team invites the rival team to eat and drink.
Yes, I currently coach the under-14 category of my club. In 2013, I took my five-year-old son to the club and the club’s management asked me to help. I’ve been coaching now for nine years. Generally, rugby clubs in Spain don’t have a big budget, so all of us working there are volunteers. But teaching the young players the values of rugby and seeing them grow and team up is very rewarding. I have been coaching throughout the categories while my son was playing. At some point I will have to leave him though.
The values that I have learned from sports are teamwork, discipline, commitment, and respect. They are fundamental in any organization. A team only works if everyone pushes themselves as much as they can. Each and everyone is necessary. It takes just as much respect for teammates as it takes commitment to the job.
SIX is a great company with many opportunities. We are operating in a fast-changing business where you have to be able to adapt quickly. My advice would be to keep a positive attitude and to be proactive. These are qualities that any manager recognizes. Also, try to be versatile. Continuing education is very important too as it helps you adapt to new challenges and projects. And don’t forget to learn from colleagues – SIX is a company with great people from whom you can learn a lot.
Teamwork, efficiency, and honesty.
María Calvo, a person, a woman, a wife, the mother of three kids, a daughter, a sister, and a Deputy Head Lawyer in the Legal Department in Spain at BME, where she has been working for almost 18 years.
Challenging and exciting. As a member of the legal team, continually adapting to the constantly changing regulatory and legal landscape is key in delivering our legal advice and cementing our position as the best business partner. As a deputy, I view my responsibilities as an opportunity to support the team in any aspect where I can contribute to fostering a better working environment, creating opportunities for professional growth and development, and facilitating daily legal tasks.
The most important wisdom learned (or rather, my core belief) is that we are human beings above all, immense in significance and dignity, and equal even though each of us holds different roles or positions. We need to practice self-awareness of our virtues and weaknesses in the ongoing search for the best version of ourselves as people. We are not just professionals in a working environment. We all have our own personal dreams, interests, goals, families, hobbies, and skills. We all need to achieve our purpose and to attain fulfillment both professionally and personally. Respect, consideration, gratitude, generosity, and empathy are needed. A work-life balance is essential as well.
Our company offers a good set of helpful measures such as the possibility to cut back working hours, employment flexibility, and a strong commitment with a culture rooted in values such as “Ownership", "Trust", "Customer Focus" and "Collaboration". However, when your responsibilities and your professional commitment increase, how you attain a sustainable work-life balance depends very much on your personal limits, priorities, and organization. Combining all of your different roles in a satisfactory way sometimes becomes almost a heroic undertaking. I pay homage to all those people, particularly women, who have succeeded in this challenge.
There’s still a lot to be done, and all of us should be part of it. Raising awareness of the need to protect a work-life balance becomes imperative because motivated, personally fulfilled, and well-balanced people have proven to be the best professionals.
Take the job, join us. A job at SIX can offer you a solid horizon for growth and development. I nonetheless would also tell someone who is considering joining SIX that we need to be able to count on you and on what you can offer us as a team, your approach to solutions, your views, your energy, your enthusiasm, and your commitment. New joiners need to partake in the opportunities we offer, but we all need to learn from them and to benefit from their fresh contributions, and to then follow our common journey for growth together. This is a win-win arrangement!
Commitment, opportunities, and an exciting future!
In her spare time María del Carmen, Project Manager at BME, helps out at Casa Santa Teresa, a convent that supports elderly women with disabilities. Find out more about her long journey at BME and her motivation behind volunteering on a weekly basis.
After a few years in IT, I decided to switch to Internal Audit in 2016. Two years later, I went back to IT. At the time of the merger of SIX and BME, I had the opportunity to join a merger project. I was the first Spaniard on the project, and I served as a kind of bridge between the Swiss and the Spanish. Having worked at BME for so long, I know almost everyone. I am a very open person who likes to talk to people. This skill was very useful in establishing the link between Spain and Switzerland.Within the project I also worked for the culture workstream; we talked about the values of SIX and we encouraged teamwork.
Every Saturday afternoon I volunteer at Casa Santa Teresa, a convent that helps elderly women with disabilities. I started working there seven years ago, after my daughter’s school asked for support with the Social Work subject.
I support by preparing various accessible activities that we can enjoy together: We either go for a walk, do sports or even have sleepovers and go on weekend trips. The goal is for them to enjoy themselves in a safe space where they are supported and taken care of.
The main motivation is my desire to help people. I am a person with a lot of initiative and drive. When I started, I thought about what I needed to do, how to plan things, and how I was going to help them. The truth is, they have helped me more than I have helped them. They teach gratitude, patience, and teamwork. I feel very loved, they never ask for anything. They take what you give them without asking for anything in return. So, for me it’s a feeling of giving and receiving.
That same drive and initiative I apply to my job every day. The new perspective they give me helps with my personal and professional growth. Getting out of your comfort zone improves your ability to view challenges from different angles.
When you volunteer, you see that there are lives completely different from yours, making you realize the value of having a family, a job, and good health.
Above all, you realize that it’s about gratitude. You start to value everything you have and everything they have, because you realize that there are people who are very happy with very little.
SIX and BME have made one working day per year available to their employees for a volunteer assignment. I would recommend that every employee take part in such a volunteering day. Maybe other employees will find their way to volunteering in their free time.
Passionate, diverse, and global.
Jesús, Head of Domestic Settlement Services, is a person of many hobbies and has mastered the ability of applying everything he learns from his pastimes and volunteering into his day-to-day work life. Learn about his history at SIX and how his hobbies made him grow personally and professionally.
I started working at BME in Madrid, Spain, more than 18 years ago, back in February of 2006. During this time I had the opportunity to embrace new roles and challenges that enabled me to meet new people, gain insights on various topics and different points of view, and, of course, to grow personally and professionally.
Balancing global processes with local cultures isn’t easy. We need to find the right balance by working together, no matter where we are or what our roles are. Too much uniformity doesn’t work and neither does too little. Management has been doing a good job with this, and I hope we keep it up because it’s everyone’s responsibility.
In my meetings, I always encourage collaboration. While I can’t control everything, I can promote teamwork and ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. This way, we can respect cultural differences while still working towards common goals.
We all have vulnerabilities. In my case, it’s the belief that no one is different. In other words, I cannot accept the idea that someone’s life path is better than another’s simply due to their country, culture, race, belief, or religion.
Where I live, there is a center housing 1,500 foreigners, and I volunteer there to help them feel less alone or afraid. The language barrier is a significant challenge. I assist them with their communication needs, helping them to speak effectively in stores or when they need to ask for help.
The most rewarding aspect is seeing their effort and appreciation. It’s incredibly fulfilling to witness their progress and to know that my work helps them navigate social situations and overcome cultural barriers. The biggest challenge is addressing the diverse needs and backgrounds of each individual, but it’s also what makes this work so meaningful.
Volunteering has taught me to be more understanding and patient. Instead of getting frustrated when someone doesn’t understand, I see it as an opportunity to improve my communication skills and try again. This perspective is crucial because there are times when I might be the one who doesn’t understand something, and experiencing this firsthand has deepened my empathy.
Regarding how this contributes to the strategy of SIX, I believe that diversity should be more than just a word; it should be a way of being. The same goes for tolerance and loyalty. It’s essential that we work together, each bringing our unique contributions and striving for continuous improvement. Being constructively critical and humbly tolerant is key to our collective success.
Loyalty, tolerance, and hard work.

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