Discuss In Forums || Updated Oct 2009

University of Reading - ICMA Centre - MSc Financial Engineering
Reading , United Kingdom
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The Summary:

The ICMA Centre’s financial engineering degree is highly respected by quantitative analysts and their employers. The credit crunch and subsequent events have emphasised the need to develop better pricing and better hedging models for all complex products. The practical and quantitative skills that you will develop on the ICMA Centre’s Financial Engineering MSc will equip you to meet this challenge.

Our compulsory modules provide a firm grounding in probability theory, stochastic calculus, derivatives pricing, quantitative and numerical methods, structuring products, volatility analysis, and the modelling of credit, equity, foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives. We also provide a thorough training in C++ and other programming tools. Optional modules will allow you to focus on risk analysis, portfolio management, designing trading strategies or econometric analysis.

This newly structured degree aims to further enhance the strong reputation of its precursor – the MSc in Financial Engineering and Quantitative Analysis, that was established in 1999.

Course Structure:

Part 1 - Compulsory Modules:

• Securities, Futures and Options
• Quantitative Methods for Finance OR Financial Markets
• Derivatives Pricing
• Stochastic Calculus for Finance
• Mathematical and Numerical Methods
• Probability for Financial Engineering

Part 2 - Compulsory Modules:

• C++ for Financial Engineering
• Topics in Financial Engineering
• Equity and Foreign Exchange Derivatives Modelling
• Interest Rate Derivatives Modelling
• Credit Derivatives Modelling
• Essentials of Financial Engineering

Plus a choice of 40 credits from the optional modules below:

Part 2 - Optional Modules:

• Advanced Methods for Financial Research
• Bond Market Pricing and Trading Strategies
• Financial Econometrics
• Hedging
• Liquidity Risk
• Market Risk
• Portfolio Management
• Research Project
• Volatility Analysis

* Please note that at this time those modules with asterisks against them are not available

Global Derivatives View:

To be compiled.

Key Stats:

Acceptance Rate:
Annual Intake:
Application Deadline:
Average Age at Entry:
Average Years of Work Experience of Class:
Average Annual Compensation upon graduation:
Dissertation/Thesis: Yes
Duration of Program: 10 months
Entry Requirements:
--- Undergraduate Degree: Minimum 2:1 or the equivalent from an overseas institution.
--- Degree Discipline: Any, but applicants must have an existing level of numeracy.
GMAT: Average -
GPA: Average -
GRE: Average -
International Students:
Placement Rate:
Required Courses for Completion: 180 credits
Student-Teacher Ratio:
Tuition (2009-10): £15,750

Additional Information:

Notable faculty include Carol Alexander, William Ziemba