Finance and math

[Anonymous No.3142846]

Do you think math is a powerfull tool in finance? I would love to study in math, but I dont want to be a teacher and I want to make money...

[Anonymous No.3142867]

Yes, but you have to take it to at least the masters level before anyone cares. Physics is perhaps even more applicable.

[Anonymous No.3142918]

Actuarial Science= WIN

[Anonymous No.3142934]

math a powerful tool in finance? are you fucking kidding me? finance is applied math.

[Anonymous No.3143152]

I'm finishing my master's in financial engineering in one of the top schools in Europe. Let me tell you that I regret every day that I've not taken math in my bachelor and chose economics. The best path for a quant is to do either math or physics in his bachelor and switch to finance afterwards.
Pic is one of the series in my course

[Anonymous No.3143166]

Hmm. Is math a powerful tool in finance? What is your alternative for a tool in finance? A law degree so your political pals bail you out when you screw up (it's been working so far)?

[Anonymous No.3143272]

Go and take maths
Do modules in stats
Earn millions in whichever career you pick - insurance actuarials, crashing world stock markets, twisting figures in PR...

Meanwhile, we in biology will find new and exiting sequences to write the letters C,G,A and T in...*facepalm*

[Anonymous No.3143285]

>>3143152

If you don't mind me asking, how far into math did you get in undergrad? I'm in sort of the same situation as you are.

[Anonymous No.3143291]

being an actuary makes money, uses math agree. minor in business

[Anonymous No.3143308]

>>3142918
Actuarial maths is easy moodo. Try quant analysis.

[Anonymous No.3143309]

Quant quant everywhere.

Finished Mathematics for econobros last week, I hope I can keep up, I hate economists that are just economists, they make the rest of us look bad.

Math fuck yeah, my teacher of quant 3 showed how he made 1 million.

[Anonymous No.3143322]

>>3143272
You!
Stop bitching and cure aging so I can live forever!

[Anonymous No.3143348]

Do a math degree for undergrad (it isn't too hard), and then get into grad school for Applied math (or Financial mathematics if a program that specific is available). Expect to spend lots of time working on stochastic modeling, so if you can get an intro to stochastic models class as undergrad definitely take it..

[Anonymous No.3143448]

hey, what does /sci/ thinks about learning psychology, sociology and Statistics for market research, and then actuarial Science for business analysis.

[Anonymous No.3143463]

Paul Wilmott actually thinks that quants are hyped up. I would take some econ courses too, it may help you to understand a bit more what you're dealing with.

[Anonymous No.3143645]

>>3143285
I finished high school with 6/6 In maths so I knew basic calculus, integration and derivation and that's about it. In college I've been introduced to statistics and that's about it. I started my masters at a really casual level. You don't need advanced abstract algebra analysis to pass, but you will be waaaaaay ahead of the curve if you don't struggle with maths and can allocate time to understanding statistics instead of a derivative. Which is why taking maths as a bachelor is the way to go.
Otherwise, I hope you're at ease with programming, in particular MatLab or R because if you are, then you're good to go.
Pic related from another course

[Anonymous No.3143653]

>>3143463
I can only speak for myself, but having worked for a quant fund run by 2 geniouses, I have to say it's one of the most interesting jobs in the world. You are allowed all your creativity to bloom, you use maths to derive exciting strategies which will pay if you're good and smart, you have the adrenaline rush for handling that much money.. Maybe it's just me but the excitement never leaves me.. Sad that my internship comes to an end

[Anonymous No.3143659]

>>3143653
hey what kind of instruments did you (or the company) handled? and what kind of mathematics were you using?.

[Anonymous No.3143668]

>>3143152
>>3143645

Holy shit, I was this close to studying quantitative finance at NYU Stern (this was before I realized I was retarded in math), last second switched to medicine.

THANK FUCKING GOD

I would've failed so fast.

[Anonymous No.3143680]

>>3142846

>math
>finance

>finance is math

>mfw

[Anonymous No.3143697]

>>3143659
Since it was an internship and these kinds of funds work on secrecy alone, I was only focused on a particular subject (robust volatility analysis) which relied more on advanced statistics than maths. I know that they make use of every tool available in maths (they're both PhD in Theoretical and Mechanical Physics, which is hardcore). I know one of their core strategies is based on correlation modelling. Their usual day goes like this:
1) Start their computer, which generates the stocks to buy and sell for a small period of time (they make 3000 transactions per day so they hold a stock for like 15 minutes) and executes the actions automatically through a complex chain of command (about 7 entities are involved, like brokers and stock agents)
2) They drink coffee while discussing possible strategies and latest articles to get inspiration
3) One is a pure academic so he's more into research while the other is a McGyver type of guy who just goes with some strokes of genious
4) They end the day either by going skying (Swissfag here) or whatever they want by 4 o'clock.

Seriously I'm so jelly of this job :(

[Anonymous No.3145257]

>>3143697
I'm assuming you're in doing a quantitative finance program at the ETH in Zurich?
Do they assume that you know stochastic calculus and measure theoretic probability or are those topics part of the curriculum. I still have a year last as undergrad, I'm wondering if I should sacrifice my GPA to be familiar with those topics. But if you do them in your masters anyways, I'll just wait. I'm interested in a quantitative finance or mathematical finance program but in the US.

Any tips would be very appreciated :)

[Anonymous No.3145491]

>>3143697
>Échec definitif

I lol'd. Are your grades that terrible?

[Anonymous No.3145548]

>>3143152
Statsfag here. I just finished masters work in December, and my program was in the business school, so I developed an interest in finance. Thanks to a combination of finance, economics, and statistics, your slide there doesn't look too bad. I'm seriously interested.

I've toyed around with the idea of going back for a finance Ph.D., but I imagine I would not be hire material because I likely would go to some state university and not an Ivy.

[Anonymous No.3146342]

>>3145257
No, there are 2 programs of Finance available in west Switzerland, either EPFL in Numerical Finance or Unil in Financial Engineering. I chose the latter because I didn't know about the former :)
In my master there are only a few courses, like Derivatives 2 and Financial Engineering, which require stocal. At the EPFL, the master is more math/programming tuned, you need a background in maths, engineering or physics to attend (so I, graduating in economics, would've been refused). I chose to attend a probability and stochastic processes course for credits that was designed for actuarial but you can take more corporate finance stuff if you want to avoid them.
>>3145491
Actually my mean is 4.0 which is just the passing grade (and I'm not the only one). This shit is hardcore and there are like 2 people who have more than 5 out of maximum grade which is 6. Only one illuminati kid has like 5.8/6 and he's an animal. I got handed back a 3.9 and I had to see again my exams and find a fucking 0.1 point somewhere, which I did. Luckiest day of my life :)
>>3145548
I must pass for someone who's trying to hype my faculty and I apologize if it's the case but there are courses here that are SO FUCKING HARD that's just demoralizing, so I can't compare the american curriculum with the swiss one. Our best students get the chance to study abroad if they want one semester and ALL come back with excellent grades because they have multiple choice exams, take home exams, exercises that are sure to be included in the exam and so on, making it easy for them. As for the P.H.D. nothing in particular stands out, you have good grades, you can apply and if you got better grades than the one after you, you're taken.

[Anonymous No.3146360]

>>3143697
do these computers do anything actually useful, or do they just create inflation and fuck over everyone else in the marketplace?

[Anonymous No.3146445]

Highschool fag here. On September I'll be starting uni (i'm from europe) and, between other options, I'm interested in the financial world. So, should I go for a 4 year degree in Math or a 5 year double degree in Math-Physics? (I really like both of them and I know I'll need to take a Master later etc)

[Anonymous No.3146541]

>>3146360

please do not post until you figure out what inflation is and how computers cannot create inflation

fucktard

[Anonymous No.3146556]

I'm actually studying math/finance at Virginia Tech in the US.

I talked to a bunch of people who are going to be traders at various banks (Citi, GS, MS, etc) and they all said math is more and more in demand even if you're not going to be a quant.

Its somewhat essential to be able to understand the strategies and various other models used for trading, especially at more quantitative desks.

[Anonymous No.3146573]

>>3146445
Any advice?

[Anonymous No.3146602]

Wow, there's a lot of future quantbros on /sci/. I've decided on finance early on and I'm double majoring math/econ with a minor in cs and most of my electives in math, unfortunately my GPA and school aren't that great so I'm not so sure of my chances to get into a top program.

Just keep in mind, OP, that if your interests are really in math and you go into finance, you're pretty much a sellout.

[Anonymous No.3146610]

>>3146445

It depends what you want to do.

Saying that you want to major in math or physics is easy in high school, but they are difficult ass majors.

I know everyone here has a 130 iq, but if you're not .0001% of the population, its not that easy.

Do what you like and think you will succeed at. Typically people who want to do finance and make money are not going to be interested enough in math or physics to do well because they get real tough in the upper level courses. You have to have a genuine interest in math and physics in order to do well.


So with that being said, if you want to be a quant you will have to go for a phd. Quants typically do not make above 400K per year, and thats only if you are the fucking top dog. Maybe you could go and start your own fund, but that typically doesn't happen. Your work will be extremely specific and you won't really have an extremely large amount of outside knowledge of different trading strategies.

Or you could just get a Bachelors in Math or physics and become a trader, and slowly work your way to making more and more money. Then either join a hedge fund or proprietary shop, work there for a bit and start your own fund or retire or something.

[m1ckey !dkJI/P7Y32 No.3146621]

>>3146573
It depends on what you job you want in the financial world. As others have noted in this thread, quantitative finance is quite math-heavy, requiring a great deal of stochastic calculus. Knowledge of statistics and programming is also required if you're looking to become a quant. In that case, it may be advantageous if you majored in Math or Physics for your undergrad. Finance and Economics is fine, but may not adequately prepare you for the higher-level math that awaits you.

[Anonymous No.3146633]

>>3146621
>>3146610
Thanks for the input

[Anonymous No.3146638]

>>3146573
I mean, adding Physics isn't going to help you with finance, but if you're European it's not gonna cost you anything and if you're interested you might as well, and it does involve a lot of applications of math so it's not totally useless like history or something, but I don't know anything about European curricula so I can't really say if it's a bad idea.

[m1ckey !dkJI/P7Y32 No.3146645]

>>3146573
And another thing: majoring in Finance and/or Economics gives you greater knowledge of the financial markets and its workings - quants tend to have highly specialized knowledge. So yeah, if you're looking to work in an IB, prop firm, PE firm, etc. major in these subjects instead.

[Anonymous No.3146657]

>>3146541

yeah, because speculative trading cannot affect price level.

fucktard.

Although to be fair, we may be talking about different kinds of computer.

[Anonymous No.3146697]

>>3146645
Econ as a degree to work in trading is probably one of the most usless ones.

Econometrics is probably the only useful course out of all of econ for trading.

Micro/Macro theory is completely fucking pointless unless you want to be an Econ teacher teaching the same bullshit.

Finance too is pretty bullshit, but I'm majoring in it just because I'm already two years in and if trading doesn't pan out I can go work Corporate finance, although I would hate my lfie

[Anonymous No.3146755]

>>3146697
Corporate economists are a valid and real career, and while its not gonna help you with the math understanding economics is decently useful for coming up with financial models, at least as much as undergrad finance is.

[Anonymous No.3146781]

>Ph.D. in Mathematics
>any job I want
>$300k starting

Seriously. One of my math professors teaches only part time (as a hobby). He has his real job working for an insurance company. I'd guess he makes about $500k a year. Real big shot.

[Anonymous No.3146801]

>>3146781
>He has his real job working
>working
>big shot

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Anonymous No.3146912]

>>3143152
>mfw you're bitching about a four paged paper on Gaussian models.

[Anonymous No.3146991]

ITT: 75+ hour work weeks

You only live once, /sci/, enjoy it.

[Anonymous No.3147353]

>>3146912
I'm sorry to inform you that you're quite wrong on the amount of pages you require to solve these series

[Anonymous No.3149889]

[Anonymous No.3149911]

>>3149889

Oh, u.