2016-2018 Undergraduate and Graduate Bulletin (without addenda) 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2016-2018 Undergraduate and Graduate Bulletin (without addenda) [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Financial Engineering, Risk Track, M.S.


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The Risk track presents a comprehensive approach to managing risk in the context of globalized markets, financial compliance, multi-dimensional regulatory environments and industry convergence across the financial spectrum. This specialization will prepare you for a challenging career in risk finance, insurance, credit risk and derivatives or financial risk management.

Challenges faced by practitioners of risk include:

  1. Managing financial, extreme and cyber risks in an era of uncertainty and global markets in turmoil and out of equilibrium.
  2. Developing financial products that are robust and anti-fragile to value risks and allow thesafe transfer and the securitization of risks to better access financial liquidity and financialrisk exchanges.  Both, optional financial products such as credit derivatives and financial insurance products are introduced, priced and managed to prevent financial losses and to hedge trading bets.
  3. Corporate Finance Risk Management, embedded in financial risk management of banksand other industrial and financial institutions.
  4. Financial regulation to better comprehend the complexity and complying to multiple regulation agencies as well as global regulation currently at the forefront of financial authorities.
  5. Financial Analytics to better measure risks, price and manage trading risks in an environment where stealth trading, high frequency trading, uncertainty and multi-agents finance prevail.  In such an environment a greater appreciation of out-of- equilibrium (incomplete) finance, statistical tools, big-data finance and financial technology to track, assess and control become essential tools to engineer financial risk management.
  6. Market Risk Analytics in banks, investment management firms and hedge funds.
  7. Operational Risk Management to implement the company’s operational risk framework.
  8. Quantitative Model Risk and model validation including the implementation process, reviewing model standards, assessing risk mitigation policies and monitoring risk events.

The job opportunities open to graduates in the Risk Finance Track are expanding and may include jobs in Credit Risk, Derivatives and Management in Loan Firms and Banks, Insurance and their use of financial Instruments, Regulation, within Agencies with responsibilities over Financial Institutions (such as the Treasury-The OCC, The SEC, etc.  As well as Compliance Management, in particular in the Banking sector, in Hedge Funds and in numerous Regulated Institutions, Investment and Hedge funds and Corporate Financial Risk Management.

Required to Complete the Financial Engineering MS program


  • 5 core courses, each 3 credits totaling 15 credits
  • Track-required courses totaling 7.5 credits
  • 1 required applied lab worth 1.5 credits
  • 6 credits of electives
  • 1 capstone experience of 3 credits
  • Capstone assessment (0 credits)
  • Bloomberg Certification (0 credits)

Total # of credits: 33

7.5 credits are required from the following


Students may choose from the courses below to fill the electives requirement in addition to the options in the Recommended Electives section.

Lab Requirement


Students must choose one lab from the following:

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