金融工程概要
金融工程英文为Financial Engineering or FE in short。金融工程进二十年在美国发展迅速,虽然近几年有滑落趋势,但市场仍然极为广泛。各大院校推出不同名称的金融工程,如计算金融 (computational finance),金融数学(Mathematics of Finance, financial Mathematics),金融硕士(master in Finance),计量金融(quantitative Finance),数学金融(mathematical Finance),金融中的数学(Mathematics in Finance),等等。其实,不同称谓下,内容大同小异。
从大的方面讲,FE包含三个主要方面:数学(包括概率统计随机过程),计算机,和核心金融。下面从每一方面在展开来。
数 学主要有数学分析、实分析、微分方程、数值计算、概率、统计、随机过程。当然,每个学科都只是其中极小一部分被用到。所以,当你熟悉这些内容之后,就会发 现,并不那么可怕。这个方面的集大成者,是随机微积分(Stochastic Calculus)。如果随机微积分掌握好了,那数学方面就基本上过关了。
计 算机包含两个方向,一是应用程序开发,另一是算法设计。应用程序又分两个子方向,写程序和使用相关软件和软件包。算法包括部分传统的算法内容和个别人工智 能、模式识别内容,但最主要的是运用算法原理来设计和实现FE里的数学模型。常用的软件和语言包括微软的Excel/VBA, C++, SAS, R, MatLab, Java,但几乎熟练其中一种,能完成作业和课程项目即可。
金融方面则在基本的金融市场和简单定价基础上,主要需要的有:经济计量学(Econometrics),金融衍生品(Financial Derivatives),投资组合管理(Portfolio Management),和投资风险管理。
当 然,不同的FE Program会有不同的侧重点,如技术分析、程式化交易(algorithmic tradeing), 高频交易(high frequency trading),风险管理,甚至数据淘金(data mining)等。从下面的这些FE Program细则中,你将了解到它们的共同和不同之处。
最后,附一个由QuantNet给出的2013-2014的FE Program排名,跟我所了解的没有明显的冲突:
RANK | UNIVERSITY | PROGRAM | TUITION |
---|---|---|---|
1
100
|
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA |
Computational Finance More Info |
$77,100 |
2
99
|
Columbia University New York, NY |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$56,808 |
2
99
|
Princeton University Princeton, NJ |
Master in Finance More Info |
$84,140 |
4
98
|
Baruch College, City University of New York New York, NY |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$35,040 $24,315 |
4
98
|
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$58,895 |
6
97
|
New York University New York, NY |
Mathematics in Finance More Info |
$62,000 |
7
92
|
Columbia University New York, NY |
Mathematics of Finance More Info |
$54,720 |
8
90
|
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA |
Master of Finance More Info |
$74,900 |
9
88
|
Cornell University Ithaca, NY |
MEng, FE concentration More Info |
$69,000 |
10
82
|
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA |
Quantitative and Computational Finance More Info |
$54,144 $20,772 |
10
82
|
University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$55,600 |
12
79
|
Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ |
Mathematical Finance More Info |
$47,250 $28,539 |
12
79
|
University of Toronto Toronto, Canada |
Mathematical Finance More Info |
CAD 42,000 |
14
78
|
Boston University Boston, MA |
Mathematical Finance More Info |
$65,955 |
14
78
|
University of Chicago Chicago, IL |
Financial Mathematics More Info |
$51,012 |
16
75
|
NYU-Poly Brooklyn, NY |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$44,979 |
16
75
|
Rutgers University Newark, NJ |
Quantitative Finance More Info |
$58,317 $35,445 |
18
74
|
Fordham University New York, NY |
Quantitative Finance More Info |
$50,875 |
19
73
|
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD |
Financial Mathematics More Info |
$60,000 |
20
70
|
University of Illinois Urbana, IL |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$51,000 $25,500 |
20
70
|
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$63,184 $33,671 |
20
70
|
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN |
Financial Mathematics More Info |
$40,470 $32,870 |
20
70
|
University of Washington Seattle, WA |
Computational Finance & Risk Management More Info |
$37,800 |
20
70
|
Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA |
Financial Engineering More Info |
$64,896 |
25
62
|
Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL |
Mathematical Finance More Info |
$49,104 |