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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Financial Engineering and Risk Management by Columbia University

4.6
stars
239 ratings

About the Course

Introduction to Financial Engineering and Risk Management course belongs to the Financial Engineering and Risk Management Specialization and it provides a fundamental introduction to fixed income securities, derivatives and the respective pricing models. The first module gives an overview of the prerequisite concepts and rules in probability and optimization. This will prepare learners with the mathematical fundamentals for the course. The second module includes concepts around fixed income securities and their derivative instruments. We will introduce present value (PV) computation on fixed income securities in an arbitrage free setting, followed by a brief discussion on term structure of interest rates. In the third module, learners will engage with swaps and options, and price them using the 1-period Binomial Model. The final module focuses on option pricing in a multi-period setting, using the Binomial and the Black-Scholes Models. Subsequently, the multi-period Binomial Model will be illustrated using American Options, Futures, Forwards and assets with dividends....

Top reviews

YW

Feb 25, 2022

Really nice lectures and the lectures are easy to follow and lecture notes are very logically written with a lot of nice examples. Highly recommended for anyone who has solid math backgrounds.

MM

Jan 15, 2023

Great intro course. Lectures are easy to follow and quizzes are hard enough that you need to actually understand the underlying concepts.

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1 - 25 of 46 Reviews for Introduction to Financial Engineering and Risk Management

By Carina E

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Aug 25, 2021

The course starts with a prerequesite test which is highly theoretical with no practical use. The lectures are basically just reading & deducting some formulas, without explaining the concepts behind. The test is impossible to succeed based on the information given in the lectures, and even with some time spent on googling/youtubing supporting material, I personally found it hard to get to the answers.

By Lalit D

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Sep 19, 2021

This is a brilliant course. You need a really good understanding of probability theory, you can do measure theory if you want but not necessary since the instructors didn't follow sigma algebra since it deals with only discrete-time models. It's not an easy course in any way shape or form. I spent a whole week studying probability theory to pass week 1 which is on pre-requisites. I would recommend you to go through MIT 18.S096's Math lectures since they cover most of the math covered in good detail, like Martingales and basics of Stochastic Calculus.

The quizzes are really interesting and a bit hard to get answers. You have to churn through, search google, read relevant articles and then possibly you might get answers.

TL;DR: It's a really good course but you need to study diligently and should have a good understanding of Probability theory.

By Deleted A

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Sep 5, 2022

A lot of material is not explained or explored in depth. Moreover, the exercises have nothing to do with what was explained in the videos forcing you to search on the internet for further explanations.

By Yi W

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Feb 26, 2022

Really nice lectures and the lectures are easy to follow and lecture notes are very logically written with a lot of nice examples. Highly recommended for anyone who has solid math backgrounds.

By Alvaro B

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Sep 15, 2021

Great course, but the math at the beginning was never used. Probably better to introduce math on the go.

By Gonzalo G A E

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Jun 23, 2022

Not great.

Has a lot of notation inconcistencies (or omisions when explaining what the variables are) wich make following the material unnecessarily confusing.

By Robin

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Feb 4, 2023

The topic is interesting and the videos are very helpful. However, the lecture notes are not very well structured and not in line with the exercises. I had to use different lecture notes. I also would have prefered a programming approach to compute option prices instead of using excel sheets

By Ankur S

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Sep 18, 2022

Very theoritically explained the content, it could be better with more practical examples. It was just liking I am reading a book in audio mode. I had to enroll in few Udemy courses to understand the practicality of the concepts.

By Jan M

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Jan 23, 2022

Great course. The topics were introduced in a clear and concise way. Unlike many other courses, this one is very mathematical (in a good way). Definietely recommend for everyone who's interesed in Financian Engineering and Risk Management.

By penglm3

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Jul 21, 2022

the course is very fundamental and the quizzes are especially helpful. really spend some time

By R T

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Jul 24, 2023

The video and audio quality could be slightly better, and there are some very minor typos. Sometimes the lecturer writes off-screen. However the content and the assignments are challenging, I learnt a lot! Plus points for the teaching team being so active on the forum as of July 2023.

By Zachary

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Feb 13, 2022

It would be better if some important topics are much more detailed explained

By Marcin A K

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Mar 22, 2023

The course nicely covers the basic building blocks in financial engineering and risk management. While the mathematical formalism is a bit overwhelming at first, it indeed provides a sufficient theoretical background for derivation and application of the principle financial concepts. More specifically, on the theoretical side, the course covers: probability theory, linear algebra and optimization theory. It then utilizes that to present basics of: arbitrage pricing of cash-flows, swaps, forwards, futures, European and American option valuation.

By Qihan L

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Dec 11, 2021

Overall, it is a good course. But the notations of some symbols are different compared to the ones in math, such as standard deviation is the price but written in %. It would be great if there is always a clear definition of all the symbols in both courses PPT and quiz.

By Kulendra J

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Dec 26, 2021

This is a good stepping stone for anyone who want to move in to the financial engineering domain. If you are already in the domain, you would know most of these concepts and might be useful as a refresher.

By Mitch M

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Jan 16, 2023

Great intro course. Lectures are easy to follow and quizzes are hard enough that you need to actually understand the underlying concepts.

By Tommi R

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Oct 18, 2024

I have to review it positively, despite the fact that it is an introduction, it is still challenging and one can learn a lot from here

By Henrique M G

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Jul 1, 2022

Great course, covering lots of complex topics. Would appreciate some exercises to test the knowledge before the review and assignments

By Imadeldin

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Jul 13, 2024

what i really liked in the course, what ever your background is you must learn something from the models to pass the quiz

By Rasoul E

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Nov 9, 2023

the course is very functional and full of new insights and information. thanks to coursera and Colombia university.

By Mingzhi S

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Jun 13, 2023

Content delivery is very clear and consice. Homework is highly relevant to course content.

By Jomar J

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Nov 22, 2022

Relatively tough specially when you dont have the sufficient mathematical preparation.

By Aleksandr P

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Feb 9, 2024

It is a great course, but it requires a hard understanding of math, be prepared.

By Tanele P D

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Jan 10, 2022

The course is interestingly challenging, and tough at the same time.

By Joseph O

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Apr 24, 2023

Great course. I recommend it to every quant guy out there