Hi Guys, While many of you have already started your June, 2010 prep, I consider myself a dormant CFA at this point, just passed level III this june & now trying to break into something a little more exciting, (am an institutional consultant right now) So now heres my plan to become a quant… 1) Read, Learn and Practice all the 8 texts from the CQF website 2) Become proficient in C++ & VB 3) And then hope for the best does anyone wanna join me in going through the 8 texts including the Maths primer? would be very interested in working together preferably in the Baltimore / DC / Virginia area And please dont ask me why I did the CFA if I really was interested in Quantitative Finance…coz then ure setting ureself up for the cliche…“peer pressure”
Hey cfa_b’more. Do you have a link to the CQF curriculum? Can you get the texts without taking the program? If so, I’d like to take a look at the material.
Not positive, but I think the quant space is dominated by PhD types. Not sure how easy it is to break into.
Hey Mcleod, how’ve you been? heres the link… http://www.cqf.com/content/course-materials Cardshark, ure absolutely right about the PhDs dominating this space, which is why getting in as a C++ developer seems a feasible option so you can work closely with traders for a few years & then leverage this experience, along with your Masters, CFA & Technical Bachelors My primary motivation for becoming a quant aside from the focus on Mathematics is that this space is dominated by engineers & people from scientific disciplines (like myself) so I’ll get to work with similar personalities, (nothing against business majors, its just a personal thing)
The Wilmott books are excellent. But why not just get a PhD then? You’ll be surrounded by people like yourself there as well, and it will make for a much easier entry, plus you get to be a real Dr!
Interesting idea! I want to recommend some other books that came out that might not be part of the curriculum. For C++, read introductory texts then get Mark Joshi’s book C++ Design Patterns and Derivatives Pricing, it’s great and should cover everything you need to know in interviews. You might also want to get Dan Stefanica’s new books, including A Primer for the Mathematics of Financial Engineering, and solution manual. http://www.amazon.com/Primer-Mathematics-Financial-Engineering/dp/0979757606 from what I’ve read, Dan Stefanica is coming out with more primers related to financial engineering. http://www.fepress.org/ see mark joshi’s site, he has advice for wannabe quants http://www.markjoshi.com/
DoubleDip…Thanks a bunch for all this great info Do you also have an opinion on the CTSD program? http://www.i4mt.org/ed/hffett.htm Although it looks to be a cost effective substitute for the CQF…the program seems to have failed to sustain a critical mass of certificate holders & is struggling to survive, any inputs are invaluable Also…Kellogg School of Business seems to have a few more focussed certificate programs in this discipline, DoubleDip are you presently working as a quant? either way if you’re interested in exchanging email ids ill be very interested in working together, McLeod81…do let me know if you’re interested in this goal aswell, I can sure use some inspiration from the focus you had all through the CFA campaign, adavydov, PhD is a safe yet an untimely option for a very mediocre looking 28 yr old single guy like me, at some point (hopefully soon enough) id like to secure my dream job so I can live a remotely normal life…PhD would grossly delay those plans by a good 5 years (or longer if you plan to have a good dissertation) id rather push harder for 3 yrs in the industry and reach the same destination i hope…
Hi cfa_bmore, yes let’s exchange email IDs. I would be glad to help in any way. I don’t know anything about the CTSD program.
cfa_b’more Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Guys, > While many of you have already started your June, > 2010 prep, I consider myself a dormant CFA at this > point, just passed level III this june & now > trying to break into something a little more > exciting, (am an institutional consultant right > now) > > So now heres my plan to become a quant… > > 1) Read, Learn and Practice all the 8 texts from > the CQF website > 2) Become proficient in C++ & VB > 3) And then hope for the best > > does anyone wanna join me in going through the 8 > texts including the Maths primer? would be very > interested in working together preferably in the > Baltimore / DC / Virginia area > > And please dont ask me why I did the CFA if I > really was interested in Quantitative Finance…coz > then ure setting ureself up for the > cliche…“peer pressure” I live in the DC area and was considering doing this as well, but would not start the primer until June 10. Still not sold on shelling out the $17K or however much it costs to get a “certification” in quantitiative finance, it might make more sense to get a MFE or simply purchase the books from the website and learn on your own.
I havent seen any who were able to read books and get to quant. you might be just right-just go and get MFE instead of shelling for CQF
I second (third? fourth?) the suggestion to just get an MFE unless you are geographically constrained.
I agree with much of what has been said. I work with a lot of quants, but am not a exactly a “quant” myself (yet)…so most of my comments here are second hand from quants I know with industry experience. I am starting an MFE in Fall 2010 and have been using a variety of resources to prep. I would say that the CQF Maths Primer is a great high level overview of all the basic math you need to enter an MFE. From what I can tell, you could probably just make sure you have a good understanding of this material and call it good…if you don’t mind putting in a little extra work during the program itself. The Stefanica book recommended above covers almost all of the same material, but is more rigorous (and slightly more theoretical) than the CQF primer. Depending on what MFE you enter, if you decide to go that route, some of the Stefinaca book may be overkill…but if you have the extra time, it would be well spent learning the material in that text. From there I would go to the 2 part Shreve text on Stochastic Calc for Finance. Volume 2 is taught in the first semester of most MFE programs, but if you don’t come from a math background getting through volume 1 (discrete) and as much of volume 2 (continuous) as you can would pay dividends. In terms of programming, the phd quants I know say that C++ is an absolute must, you wont be able to get an interview without it…I wouldn’t waste your time with VB. If you ever did need to use it, you can pick it up on the fly. Your time would be better spent polishing your C++ skills or getting familiar with MatLab.
@Spartan: where at?
PS I don’t know if any of you have looked at the Haas MFE student profiles but they are ridiculous, this one is my favorite: Yude Chen graduated in the top 5% of his undergraduate class at the University of Rochester, NY, with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Applied Mathematics. He was then honored with a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and pursued a Master’s degree at Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to joining the MFE program, he worked as a Thermal Engineer in a hardware product design team at Sun Microsystems for two years. He received Sun’s Innovation Award in 2008 for the design of SunBlade 6048, a high performance computer. The Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas, Austin used SunBlade 6048 to create “Ranger,” the most powerful supercomputing system in the world for open science research. Yude enjoys playing basketball and badminton in his spare time. Link for more: http://mfe.haas.berkeley.edu/current/index.html
adavydov7: Pl elaborate what you meant “Haas MFE student profiles but they are ridiculous”. sucks?? or awesome?? My guess, wish I am wrong, 2010 is shaping up to be bad for MFE enrollment. With 10% unemployment, finance being the centre of the economic turmoil, how many want to shell out $50+ grand and go to school (at CMU, it is $90+ grand). I am debating joining MFE; any thoughts/comments from others.
@kash: I don’t see how “He received Sun’s Innovation Award in 2008 for the design of SunBlade 6048, a high performance computer. The Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas, Austin used SunBlade 6048 to create “Ranger,” the most powerful supercomputing system in the world” could mean anything but AWESOME!?
Hi, Someone has mentioned that MF is not a good idea cause of its overlap with CAF curriculum I full agree with that but problem with MFE is that good ones are mostly based out of USA…and if I’m not wrong its might cost me double of what it costs in UK… within UK…I might try for MF from LBS or MFE from SAID ( Oxford)…even LSE has one MF… any comments on usefulness of above mentioned 3 courses
adavydov7: I am an engg and I giggled at reading that on haas. Word twisting, in the midst of recession. Alchemist: with my level I visibility, I can tell you CFA and MFE are 2 separate streams that would take you in different directions. I heard LSE is ridiculously expensive than SAID (unless you are living/working around that area)
@kash: so he didn’t design the SunBlade or do you not think that those kids’ resumes are awesome?
it sounds like they are giving more credit than what he probably contributed to that product. how that particular piece of hardware is used at UT Austin is whole different story and doesnt require one whole line of description. some of the comments seemed like attributing credit to one guy (though they were done in team work and probably in multiple teams). from this kid’s background it sounds like he contributed to heat/power aspects of the design (or am I underestimating that a mechanical engineer can contribute to hardware micro architecture). Look at that pompous statement on RA from one of the NSF grants