Do you have a problem with cows hari??

"some of these programs seem to be a cash cow for marginalized math departments worldwide."I doubt if maths depts make a cent. It's always the business schools. By the way, and I ask this here because I really wish to avoid opening a new thread, does anyone know of a regular maths dept that started a serious quant finance course and made a cent? I have this little theory that all such attempts to make a fast buck fail for lack of technically professional staff.

>Do you have problems with cows hari?Haricow?Exoticcow?Cashcow?Holycow?

I doubt if maths depts make a cent. It's always the business schools. By the way, and I ask this here because I really wish to avoid opening a new thread, does anyone know of a regular maths dept that started a serious quant finance course and made a cent? I have this little theory that all such attempts to make a fast buck fail for lack of technically professional staff. >>That's an interesting theory, and quite possibly true. However, I don't know whether the information is publicly available to verify it.

>Do you have problems with cows hari?Haricow?Exoticcow?Cashcow?Holycow? >>On the contrary, I would lean long the live cattle, feeder cattle spread at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Cheers,Hari

<< On the contrary, I would lean long the live cattle, feeder cattle spread at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. >>If you lean your positions on cows, you gonna have to sell your pickup truck soon or later. We should not forget how Tom Dittmer & REFCO Partners cornered the cattle markets. However, lean is good...

"I would lean long the live cattle, feeder cattle spread"In the live/feeder spread, who is long and who is short?

I guess the best way for non-quans to turn into quans is to do another undergrad in math. That's how you will learn the math from the basics and from the broader view. I believe is that pure mathematicians should be able to handle applied math (such as quan fin), but doing an MSc quan fin with a non-quan background will get you stucked if the quan fin market is bad and you may not be able to move into another quan field (e.g. operations research) like a pure mathematician can. I think (for non-quan) doing a MSc fin eng (or similar) solely to persuade a fin quan job is very risky. It is not the fin theory (or other school of theory) that counts, it's the math that counts (for every quan post). Its better to go for a PhD in empirical fin rather than MSc fin eng (of course the time horizon and outlook is very different) if you prefer the theories and does not have the math degree. If you have the math/stat/finance degree (inclusively), then you can do whatever you like.

"guess the best way for non-quans to turn into quans is to do another undergrad in math."I doubt your points. The Key thing should be a kind of maturity on math.Prof. Huang, Chi-fu's undergraduate degree is a BA in econmics from National Taiwan University and he got a MBA from U of Maryland. He learned math himself. He never did a BSc in math. But, he was a head of fixed income dept. of GS.eL,how to get a faculty postion from finance dept in Nothern America?Do they hird lots of mathematician or statistician

1 of all, I only have a 1 H BBA in Fin (with only discrete math/ calculus/ matrix algebra/ stat & prob courses) and I do not have a Math deg so I am not biased 2wards math deg because I have such background. I believe math is very important in fin because it is the trend, no matter is is physics being bring brought to fin or some other disciplines. Just look at the development of the role of math in economics. The development of math in fin is even more rigorous.Of course you can learn the math yourself and basically you can learn anything youself. One problem is whether you can really learn effectively and thoroughly. The other (main) problem is that no institution will grant you any recognition for your self study.It is true that some fin academics do not have math or quan degrees. But a BA (econ) doesn't mean he did little math courses. He may have a minor in math or even substantial math courses that more than satsfy a minor requirement. You would know until you see his transcript. The training one has is better reflected from the transcript than from the name of the deg. For non-quan, I mean one who hasn't done more than 10 math/stat courses. My observation (correct me if I'm wrong) is that the majority of prof in fin, especially ones that were hired within the last 10 years, have sci deg. Of course, there are always exceptions. There is one fin professor in Chinese Univeristy Hong Kong who has a BBA and MBA from SFU and a PhD from Maryland. However, eEven profs have to upgrade their math knowlegde from time to time to maintain their ability to comprehend publications done in heavy math.Maturity of math will affect the way you do the subject. But nowadays, there is a difficulty even to get into research programs because there is a huge influx of BSc and MSc into fin or oper man/res. Doing studies in these fields in more advanced level means doing it more and more quantitatively (because it is more scientific). So is it harder to understand the math or economic intuition? So if you are the grad adm commt, would you choose, say, a BSc (math) or a BA (econ) or BBA (fin) to do a research Master/PhD, others things being equal?I think a PhD in fin or stat or math is the basic requirement for the faculty position. Other requirements will be the amount and type of published research, teaching experience, connection with/ reference from one or more full professors, other academic track records, etc. I guess the matching will be very specific, you must have the background and research interest/ experience on topics that the faculty (you are applying) is lacking. If you have a PhD in stat or math, you can apply for the position in stat or math dept and fo research in fin (as applied math or applied stat). So the odds of getting a position will be higher/ but the odds of getting a good career may not be higher. If you have a Phd in fin, you probably cannot get the position in stat/ math dept.Things have changed. The math requirement in fin is more higher than that in the past.

i'm not sure a math undergrad degree is necessarily the most efficient way to learn the maths you need for finance. it isn't focused enough, and if you've done 1 undergrad already, who wants to spend 3 or 4 years (plus £x000) doing another?