Seeking advice on fields such as math and stat modelling and quantitative finance

dexter

I'm beginning a master program in mathematical and statistical modelling after having a BSc in physics with a minor in math. I sort of fell into this masters since I wanted to keep studying math and this seemed like a more practical option which would eventuate in a job. Problem is I wasn't very smart about it and don't actually know where this could take me. I've heard a little bit about quant finance and there's a quant finance master program at the uni I'm studying at - I thought maybe it would be worth transferring into this program since it's more specified and possibly more interesting and might give me better job opportunities.

I'm trying to do my own research but I know very little about both these fields and I'm becoming anxious since I'm not sure where I'm heading exactly. Does anyone here have any experience or knowledge about either of these fields? Could I still end up in finance and econometrics if I stick with the math and stat modelling masters or do I really need the QF master? And if I get the QF master am I narrowing my opportunities since I'm becoming too specialized?

Thank you in advance for any advice or direction!

VeritasVR

I would trust a guy with a masters in QF over a guy with an MBA when it comes to pure finance. When it comes to specializing yourself out of a job, (as long as it's not a PhD) people will usually accept a similarly "best qualified" if the job doesn't explicitly state the requirement is QF. However, if the job does explicitly state the requirement is QF and you have a more broad masters, you're probably of luck.

That's my anecdote and I'm sticking to it.

Calixtus

I don't think the specialization is a problem, quite the opposite: Digging up a fucker who know statistics really well is a lot easier than someone who can say "Ornstein-Ühlenbeck" with a straight face, and in my experience - a month or two from finishing my masters degree, currently writing a thesis about pricing American options really fast - this translates well when it comes to getting paid.

Do you have more information on what the difference is between the two programmes? I'm guessing the quant will have more stochastic mathematics and numerical methods, both of which I personally think are Good Things to have because, well, its voodoo to a lot of people.

edit: While it's possible that the labour markets we operate in are very different, my personal belief is that basically all finance that occurs on the market is going to end up in the purview of engineers and/or people who know math and can code - and statistics is just applied stochastics anyway =P

dexter

Thanks for your replies, guys. Here are the course outlines:

Master of Quantitative Finance

Master of Mathematical and Statistical Modelling

VeritasVR

They look very similar. In fact, it appears they offer a lot of overlap courses that are just called different names. You would likely be able to get the same job with either program if the company's HR department is worth its salt. QF does appear to be more finance-focused with specific topics like Credit Risk and Interest Rate Modeling, whereas MSM seems to cover the same material, only on a more top-level approach like Stochastic Processes which covers a "very wide range of disciplines, from finance and economics, to physics and biology".

Honestly, they both sound like great choices for what you want to do considering the difference is so small. It's not like going from Science to Metallurgical Engineering, which skips like three layers of specialization.

Calixtus

I agree with VeritasVR, that looks like a very large overlap. The numerical methods course appears to be literally the same (and it I recognize the book they recommend for numerical solutions of PDEs straight up, and it is a good book!), and the mathematical modeling master appears to let you spend more time on stochastic mathematics.

How much room would you have to take individual courses from the QF master if you stick to what you've got? Fundamentals of Derivative Security Pricing looks interesting, the course literature features a book by Tomas Björk that I'm personally a big fan of and that comes highly recommended from every practicioner I've ever talked to. The course basically looks like an applied version of some of the stochastic courses in the modeling master, so there's a nice overlap on theory, but with a useful look to applications. Hell, just reading that book after taking a more general course on stochastic processes would be really useful, it'd juts be nice to get that on paper if possible.

schuss

The only thing to make sure you do is learn a few analytics programs, as well as try to get some experience presenting the data to non-mathy types. The current explosion of Business Intelligence, Analytics and Big Data make a masters like yours extremely valuable and applicable to almost any industry.

dexter

Thanks for all of the advice, everyone. Calixtus, from what I understand if I wanted to do the QF masters then I would need to spend extra time getting prereq's since I've never done any business or finance - my undergrad is in math and physics. So if I wanted to do QF then probably I should start on it as soon as possible.