Fairfield University offers Certificate in Financial Mathematics

Fairfield University offers Certificate in Financial Mathematics

To help financial managers understand the quantitative aspects of today's increasingly complex financial markets, Fairfield University is now offering a Certificate in Financial Mathematics program. The four-course program provides an effective and efficient way for mathematically trained professionals, as well as professionals with a finance background and proficiency in math, to acquire additional quantitative and analytical skills important to advancing careers in investment banking, hedge funds, and financial markets.

The new certificate program is being offered through the College of Arts and Science's Master of Science in Mathematics program. The certificate program classes can also be used toward the MS in mathematics, for students who choose to matriculate in that program.

Essentially, the program provides an understanding of many of the mathematical models that are used in finance. The models are often housed in computer software, and practitioners simply plug in the numbers, said Benjamin Fine, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and director of the program.  The problem is that if you don't understand how the models actually work, you can make errors and assumptions that make them invalid, Dr. Fine said.

"Somebody has to understand the models," Dr. Fine said. "It's a very hot topic. Companies are looking for people who can handle these models."

The certificate program consists of four courses. Classical Financial Mathematics will cover the basic math, ideas and theory in classical financial investments.

It will include the basic formulas for compound interest and effective yields, infinite series and exponential functions, annuities and perpetuities, amortization and sinking funds, time value of money and bond and stock discounts.

Applied Mathematics 1 and 2 is a two-course sequence in applied mathematics.

Topics will include: mathematical modeling, ordinary differential equations and their solutions, linear differential equations, series methods, transform methods – Laplace transforms, partial differential equations, boundary value problems, Fourier series and Fourier analysis, and some concepts of probability series.

The last course, Mathematics of Financial Derivatives, will cover the theory of financial derivatives, including an explanation of option pricing theory and investments, the idea of financial derivatives, stochastic differential equations, and the Black-Scholes model.

"It's a very good way to either brush up on your skills or fill in the gaps in your background in a short period of time," said Alan Anderson, Ph.D., adjunct professor of mathematics and one of the program instructors. One aspect of his course will be an introduction to the programming language Visual Basic for Applications, which is often used in financial software.

Bill Pertusi, a risk manager at a Fairfield county investment management company, is halfway through the University's M.S. in Mathematics program, and has recently added three of the financial mathematics courses to his schedule.

"I've been in the financial markets for nearly 20 years and I find that there's still a fair amount of theoretical research that I'd like to understand on a deeper level," Pertusi said.

Applicants to the program should have an undergraduate degree in math, physics or a related field or a finance degree with a math minor. The program director can also recommend preliminary courses for students to take if they would like to pursue the certificate but lack the necessary background.

"Fairfield's new certificate program offers a timely bridge to the financial professional who seeks a guided tour of financial mathematics, or to the mathematician who seeks to gravitate toward mathematics that relates to finance," said Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., dean, College of Arts and Sciences and professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. "For both camps, the certificate can be a bridge toward our M.S. in Mathematics.  Underlying any such path, we will feature the superb, caring instruction that is a hallmark of Fairfield's Jesuit education."

The certificate program is $1,100 per course and about $4,500 total with fees. For more information on the program, or to register, e-mail gradadmis@mail.fairfield.edu , visit www.fairfield.edu or call (203) 254-4184.

Posted On: 10-19-2005 10:10 AM

Volume: 38 Number: 25