Business Analytics (UCD), Quantitative Finance (UCD) or MSc in Finance in TCD??

dr_funkenstein

hey

ehh.. I never thought this thread would degenerate like this. I was geuninely looking for some opinions about various courses as I wasn't too sure. The ones I asked about I knew were all different. I guess I was trying to figure out which role I wanted to try. I didn't want this to turn into TCD bashing, as I was looking at their MSc too(!).

Things might have become a bit misconstrued. I said that I will go for the Analytics course because I liked that side of things. I wanted to apply maths/science/etc to real world problems, I guess without going too deep into financial knowledge. I hope no one took this as a slight on the TCD MSc in Finance, as I didn't mean it to be. Different strokes for different folks is all..

Time Magazine

Brian, is Mike Harrison confirmed for Data Analysis?

damnyanks

Mikel wrote: »

Yeah I know what CFA stands for. But that statement is just plain false.
The CFA is basically an undergraduate qualification.
'Want to be taken seriously' LOL

It has been around in the states for 30 - 40 years because iirc equity analysts and like were required to have it.
It's respected in the context of what it is, but it's value in Ireland or the UK is questionable.

It has become more popular here recently, not because of any inherent value, but because of the 'monkey see monkey do' attitude some people have.

If you are an engineer looking for a job in finance, it would have a value. If you are an equity analyst it would have a value (not for the curriculum, you should know that already, but for the name recognition if you want to change job).

The CFA has no difficult content, but has an enormous volume, which a lot of people underestimate. I believe the pass rate here is one of the lowest.

But if you walk into a job interview for any kind of analytical role (not equity analyst, that's not really analytical) and say you have the CFA they will shrug their shoulders and think 'So what?'

Getting employed in a bank or similar is about two things:
What can you do?
What can you learn to do quickly?

The CFA won't teach you to do anything.

The OP didn't just mention finance, but also problem solving and analysis.
Inherently practical things, the CFA is not practical.

Undergraduates are sold a lot of bunkum, and they are naive and inexperienced so they tend to fall for it.
If you really want to do a CFA either get a job and pay for it yourself or get your employer to pay for it. I think it's a few hundred dollars.

Don't cost yourself a years salary (say 30k) plus 12.5k (which is incredibly overpriced) to get the same qualification.

Say you get a job interview after your 'Msc'

'So tell me about the Msc you did'

'Oh, it's based on the CFA'

'So, you have the CFA?'

'No, but the course covers a lot of the same material'

What signal does that send to any potential employer?

Masters degrees in Finance are mostly useless, they are money spinners for universities, easy money.

If you want to learn, read a book

You are seriously misguided. The CFA is a highly regarded qualification. It's incredibly difficult to attain as you are ideally meant to work while sitting each 3 levels.

If you have all 3 levels you will have no problem finding an entry level role in a Investment management firm.

damnyanks

dr_funkenstein wrote: »

hey

ehh.. I never thought this thread would degenerate like this. I was geuninely looking for some opinions about various courses as I wasn't too sure. The ones I asked about I knew were all different. I guess I was trying to figure out which role I wanted to try. I didn't want this to turn into TCD bashing, as I was looking at their MSc too(!).

Things might have become a bit misconstrued. I said that I will go for the Analytics course because I liked that side of things. I wanted to apply maths/science/etc to real world problems, I guess without going too deep into financial knowledge. I hope no one took this as a slight on the TCD MSc in Finance, as I didn't mean it to be. Different strokes for different folks is all..

If you want to get involved in markets I would strongly suggest the quant finance course at smurfitt. It has strong industry relationships, is proven and is designed in such a way that you have time to get a job via the back door (Doing internships).

However the real question is will anyone be hiring. Thats all assuming you want to go work for a bank. As someone who was involved in a **** storm for the last 18 months I can easily say I would not want to go back to a market role until everything is "normal" again.

ixus

Why not look at a role like this (Assistant (Graduate) Trader):
http://www.sig.com/sig/search_openings.html

Maybe get in contact with them and see if they'd offer any advice. They recruit mainly quants.

ucdperson

People with interested in quants in business might find this recent Accenture survey interesting, it suggests that business want more analytics and more people skilled in analytics.

http://newsroom.accenture.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4777

Seasonal greetings to all.