Studying Financial Engineering but Don't Want to be a Trader
Hi,
I am honestly fascinated by the core disciplines of FE, in which mathematical models are used to understand finance. However, I know that many FE graduates move on to be more of a supporting role/coding in sales and trading or even risk management.
I previously worked in corporate banking in a BB as a summer analyst, but I was unsatisfied with the lack of numbers on the job. However, I also really like to interact with clients in the front office. Are there any careers that can utilize my knowledge in FE but on a front office (non-trading) role? I guess I am not too passionate about the zero-sum game of instant trading. If I were to get on an investment side it would be more value investing, like Asset Management.... I have been contemplating this for a long time. I really want to get a masters because I start working and due to my lack of experience, I won't be considering a MBA as well.
Do you guys know any others who went to Columbia FE for example and pursued a career that is neither risk management nor trading? Thank you so much.
You need to decide what it is you want to do. You cannot be a quant and have the client-facing exposure of IBD roles.
Also, what is your undergrad major? I'm not sure how you expect to break into quant roles without a quantitative major.
Thanks for you reply. I study BEng Mechanical Engineering with Business Finance at both University College London and London School of Economics.
I was thinking maybe equity capital markets roles would be a good fit for front office+quantitative modeling on products. Currently looking into ECM to understand the roles involved though.
I'm not very familiar with ECM but I was under the impression that they deal with IPOs?
If you're interested in ECM then I don't think quant roles are what you're looking for. In fact, from reading your post, it seems that you're misunderstanding what quant roles involve. If you have no interest in trading or risk management, and want a client-facing role, then quantitative roles are not what you're looking for.
Also, many top Financial Math/Financial engineering programs require high-level math classes and some CS experience. I'm not sure a Mechanical Engineer satisfies these requirements.
**I am a senior this year but since I'm graduating when I'm 20, I am considering to study a masters degree in Financial Engineering. Although I prefer Masters in Finance, most elite schools have finance programs that are mostly financial engineering...
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