The growing influence of computer-powered quantitative, or quant investors and high-frequency traders have wreaked havoc on financial markets and rendered obsolete old-fashioned analysis and common sense. Various quant strategies now manage at least $1.5 trillion, and only about 10 percent of US equity trading is done by traditional investors.
As the quant world swells, there is a vast talent gap, which business schools have raced to fill with specialist master’s programs. The career outcomes for graduates of such quant programs are especially bright, as demand for these roles far outstrips supply, particularly in the investment world.
Quant methods are essentially mathematical tools used in the analysis of data, including the artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms that are increasingly being deployed by investors in financial markets. The business school programs aim to equip students with a broad array of analytical, technical and programming skills to help students analyze financial data.
That is an increasingly prized skillset, with students going on to work for top finance companies such as investment banks UBS and Citi. Alumni are commanding salaries of $120,000 a year at hedge funds. These are the top 10 courses to help you get ahead in this lucrative field.
The Master of Financial Engineering Program is offered at Berkeley Haas School of Business in California. It prepares students to launch a career in finance, data science, or technology. The course is ranks first in the world among financial engineering programs by the TFE Times. An impressive 98 percent of the class typically receives full-time job offers within three months of graduation.
View School ProfileThe MSc Quantitative Methods for Risk Management is offered by the London School of Economics and Political Science. The course covers the probabilistic, statistical, and computational methods that students need in order to quantify risk arising from economic, financial, and insurance applications. The LSE is one of the world’s most respected universities.
View School ProfileThe University of Oxford, one of the top academic institutions worldwide, offers the MSc in Mathematical and Computational Finance program. It provides skills to formulate mathematical problems for the financial industry. The core courses cover deep learning, fixed income, stochastic control and quantitative risk management.
View School ProfileJudge Business School at the University of Cambridge puts on a wider Master of Finance course that includes quantitative methods. There are, for example, financial modelling workshops included as part of the program. These skills can help students to thrive in a wide variety of careers in the financial services sector.
View School ProfileThe Master’s program in Quantitative Economics and Finance is offered at University of St Gallen in Switzerland. The course offers an education in economics, econometrics and quantitative methods with a heavy emphasis on finance. The career outlook for graduates of this program is bright, with many going on to work in the areas of banking, finance, consulting and insurance.
View School ProfileThe Master’s in Quantitative Methods and Modeling is run by Zicklin School of Business in New York. It equips students with the skillset to take large volumes of data and transform it into insights that can improve decision-making in the financial sector and beyond. Companies that employ graduates of this program include Citibank, Google and Microsoft.
View School ProfileBayes Business School (formerly Cass) in London puts on the Quantitative Finance Masters. On this course, students study asset pricing, risk management and gain an introduction to key financial securities such as equities, fixed income and derivates. They also learn about econometrics, stochastics and numerical methods. That’s on top of learning programming languages like Python and different estimation techniques including GMM.
View School ProfileThe UK’s Alliance Manchester Business School offers the MSc in Quantitative Finance. On this course, students will learn how to design new financial products. There is an international and multicultural perspective, which prepares students for global careers. There is also a focus on current issues within global finance, ensuring the learning is up to date.
View School ProfileThe MSc in quantitative finance at Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business helps students to gain the skills needed to work in the financial industry, across pricing and hedging, risk analytics and management, as well as quantitative trading and investment.
View School ProfileThe MSc in Quantitative Finance at Lancaster University Management School in the UK is designed for students with no finance or economics background but who wish to pursue a career in banking or finance. Large investment banks such as HSBC and Barclays are among the top recruiters of graduates from this course.
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