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BSc Financial Mathematics

More Information about the Course

student with financial times Just as civil engineering deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the environment, such as buildings and roads, financial mathematics is concerned with the design, construction and maintenance of financial products. These products, such as derivatives, are now at the heart of all finance.

After the 1987 stock market crash, investment banks started recruiting physicists and engineers to work as financial mathematicians. At the moment, in the current financial turmoil, banks are desperate to employ properly trained financial mathematicians rather than economists or engineers. This is demonstrated by the fact that the main employers of financial mathematicians are offering our 2009 graduates starting salaries in the region of £38,000 and most of our 2009 graduates have already secured jobs with successful banks!

The increasing complexity of financial products means that investment banks are looking for graduates with a solid grounding in mathematics and statistics, which this course offers, rather than a theoretical understanding of finance and economics. Alongside probability, the course offers students the chance to study mathematical modelling and finance.


Read a recent article about us in 'The Herald'.

What Financial Mathematicians Do

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  • They manage financial risk and design new financial products
  • They are experts in deciding which assets to choose to fit the investment needs of their clients
  • They do this by analysing the past and modelling the future
  • They apply financial mathematics, probability, statistics, economics, and finance to solve problems in banking and investment

A feel for the work of financial mathematicians can be gained from the following websites:

London Stock Exchange
Eurex
Liffe
Chicago Board Options Exchange

Career Prospects

Although investment banking is the main destination of financial mathematicians, the skills developed on the course are desirable to all business and there are many research opportunities.  To get an idea of the types of jobs currently available to (experienced) financial mathematicians, you can follow the following links:  Asset Management, Capital Markets, Credit, Debt / Fixed Income, Derivatives, Equities, FX & Money Markets, Hedge Funds, Quantitative Analytics, Risk Management