Financial Markets

As global markets increase in complexity, the time-honored tradition of learning by doing becomes a risky strategy. Everyone in today's international marketplace investors and corporate end-users, brokers, traders, and commercial and investment bankers must not only know the products and the markets they trade, but they must also understand the economics that drive demand and the mathematics that explain it. And as new markets open in Europe, Latin America and Asia, they must understand all of this from a complex global perspective.

If you have experience in the markets, you will gain a new perspective on your current specialty. For example, if you currently working in equities, the program will not only improve your knowledge of cash and derivative equity products, but will also broaden your perspective to include the interest rate, currency and commodity markets. Students who attended the program while they worked have found new positions within their firms and in other areas of the industry as a result of the new skills and knowledge they acquired in the Financial Markets program.

Prerequisites
Accepted students are required to take a diagnostic math exam prior to enrolling. The material covered in the exam is explained in the Diagnostic Math Exam Review Material. Depending on your score, you may be required to take FM 490 Math for Financial Markets and/or FM 491 Statistics for Financial Markets. Additionally, students pursuing the Financial Engineering & Programming concentration may be required to take FM 492 Intro to C++ for Financial Markets as a prerequisite.

Program Requirements
In order to earn a degree in Financial Markets, you will need to successfully complete 14 courses (16 if you choose Financial Engineering).You will typically complete the six core courses (shown below) first, then take the more advanced courses required by you concentration. For details on these courses, please review our  course descriptions.

Core Courses:

Concentration Requirements
To gain a competitive advantage in the market place, you are strongly encouraged to pursue at least one concentration. The MS in Financial Markets program offers three concentrations: