UTS Master of Quantitative Finance

[satanicscorpion]

Hello ,

I need some advice about Course Masters of Quantitive Finance offered in UTS as 3 years part time. Is the course good for people who want to change their careers from IT project management to Quant roles in IB, hedge funds?
I understand that IT project management work experiencewill never provide adequate mathematical or statistical background for this course.
However, I have completed Bachelor of Engineering majoring in Electronics and Telecommunications. It had significant maths related subjects will might help me in this course.
However, I have never worked in Quant role well for matter any type of financial services related role before.Therefore, I am not sure whether completing this course will help my career from IT project management to quant related role. I am mainly interested in financial engineering or futures/ Derivatives type of role. Thanks

[mj]

the degree will certainly make you more marketable in those areas. I wouldn't expect it to do enough to convert someone with your background into a full-blown quant, however.

[satanicscorpion]

Hello Mark,

Given that my experience in quant field is nil, what would be the best approach to kickstart my career here? Should I try and get some sort of entry level / junior position and then look at completing course such as MQF or would it be better to start my studies in this field and then after reaching at atleast a Graduate diploma level , start searching for a job in quant?

Thanks

[kinderchocolate]

You are fortunate that I read this post. I'm a QF student in UTS and I know some people very similar to your experience in the course. I also know very well about QF in Sydney. Every year, there would be a dozen of new students from non-strong mathematics background admitted into the program. When I say, non-strong, I mean about engineering level of mathematics, so it's not that bad neverthless it's nothing in QF. About half of those new students with weak mathematics skills will be self-eliminated in the first two courses. They are "self-eliminated" because they can't cope with the the first two courses, "Stochastic Calculus" and "Derivatives". They thought the QF course would be nothing more like plugging numbers into some long formulas, and when they find out that they are wrong, they are busted in the two courses. So, they had no choice but to quit the course. In my second year of study, the class shrinked to about half of the original size.

The course is really the only course for QF in Sydney. UNSW has a similar one, but it's all maths, not especially useful for financial modelling. You either choose UTS or nothing.

QF jobs are very and very and super competitive in Sydney, partly because a lots of talenets from overseas in an already very small market. You won't be able to get a decent quant job without a degree. Even if you had the master degree, you would still struggle to get an entry position, forget it if you don't even have one. Your best bet is work part-time and study the degree part-time, virtually all my classmates do this.

[satanicscorpion]

Thanks Kinderchocolate for the advice.
I went for Breakfast seminar on this course today morning at UTS. The co-ordinator did tell me that there are significant drop-outs ( 20 %) from the course. I think almost all of them may not have a strong fundamental background. So I think I will have to be careful in choosing this course. However, I have also been advised that Project Management Skills can be useful for some Quant Roles.I have also been told that not all students can gain entry to this course in spring session due to lack of availability of "introductory" subjects. I would most probably not be able to get in before autmmn session.

How many students have actually successfully scored position after completion of the course?

[junkbond]

I have a pretty different perspective to kinder-chocolate. I started the MQF course a couple of yrs ago at UTS and have a yr to go. Sure 20% may drop out. Maybe even 40% from my initial group. However, I'm pretty sure at least 20% of people drop out of Art History degrees. I'm also even more certain that it has nothing to do with the level of difficulty of the mathematics involved in Art History.

I came from an Engineering background, with only about a Distinction average, though having a good time was my top priority back then. The maths in MQF, although different, is about the same level of difficulty as my engineering degree. Same idea....learn it, study, put in some time thinking about it and it's really not that hard. I have a High Distinction average in MQF and 90%+ average and work full-time. I'm not a maths genius by any means, I'm just interested in the material. I found my Engineering degree a bit tougher to be honest.

I think the main reason for the high dropout rate is that people over-commit with masters degrees in general (whether it be science, business or arts). Most have a break between undergrad and masters and it's hard to get back into the lifestyle of study. Especially when most of us work full-time. It does take alot of revision of basic maths to get into the swing of things too... I had to go right back to reviewing simple calculus before starting MQF...it's amazing how much I forgot with a 4yr gap of no study.

If you're truly into it and want to give it a crack...all I can say is give it your best. It's really not that hard as long as you put effort in, just like any degree. The course really isn't that difficult compared to maths, physics and engineering degrees. If they accept you in it's because you have what it takes. Or they want some of your money

[pramitsilwal]

Hi all,

I am moving to Sydney for an IT role. But I am interested in pursuing a finance related role (not sure if I want to be a quant.) I came across the UTS programme in QF. Could you please post any links to job placement/salary stats after the program. Have both of you been able to secure a position after the program?

Cheers

[jimmyb]

Can you roughly break down what people are doing the course for? Ie what kind of jobs they are aiming for on graduation?

[junkbond]

Sorry I took so long to reply. I didn't receive an alert in my email.
I’d be lying if I said everyone goes onto a glamorous job though it does open the doors somewhat. The course gives you some insight and a starting point in financial instruments and you get to apply some practical skills (not enough in my opinion…a bit too much theory, not enough implementation).

Some people go onto roles in high frequency trading , hedge funds or banks (mostly as risk managers or analysts on the trading floor) which, depending on where you work, are much more exciting than they sound and there’s a lot of room for model implementation, creativity and research. Though the majority of my peers are still yet to get a position that they want (though haven’t graduated yet). Some have graduated and still have not sealed their dream job in finance. The industry has dried up a bit but there’s still opportunities. Just make sure you pick up skills on the side (like coding) as MQF Is definitely not enough in that respect. It will just get you an interview but not necessarily the job.

My post does sound a little negative though I am very happy I started it and am very satisfied with my job and enjoy the industry.

[cs1231]

Hi junkbond,
was wondering if you're willing to share your lecture notes from your course?
I only did basic finance courses and found them very lacking, but at the same time found it too expensive to go back to uni at this point in time.
it'd be much appreciated if you could send me the lecture notes for those courses - that is if you dont mind.
Thanks!