Ph D in Finance Versus Ph d in Mathematical/Computational Finance!

[parajulibharat]

Hey guys,

From you guys' perspective (bang for the buck and all), which one is better?

[hungvuong]

I think it depends on your background and interests.

[parajulibharat]

I have undergrad in information systems and MBA in finance. Both of those Ph Ds require heavy math (mathematical finance require even more). But, payout seems to much more for mathematical finance.

[apropos]

In terms of PhD programs, very few institutions offer a PhD degree in mathematical finance. Usually you have to enroll in their Math or Statistics PhD programs as long as there are actually faculty members working in computational finance, and that's a big hassle unless you're very math inclined (you need to take math GRE, compete with all other math students for admissions, take math prelims, take rigorous courses in measure and probability and numerical PDEs, etc). At some schools the coursework and research within economics and finance PhD programs may overlap with mathematical finance to some extent but not always.

Mathematical finance people focus more on questions of mathematical nature while financial economists usually study questions with economic content. My understanding is that financial economists generally try to answer questions like WHAT determines the prices and allocation of assets in the economy, while computational finance people study mathematical methods to price various derivative assets. Another closely related field is financial econometrics, which seeks to come up with methods to estimate various parameters used in asset pricing and mathematical finance models, and this one is usually pursued though PhD in economics or finance programs. So, it really depends on your interests and goals. I wouldn't worry about the bang/buck ratio as much because the size of the bang can be reasonably big in each one of these fields.

Another possibility, if all you care is about getting a good industry job at minimum time and effort cost, is to just pursue a masters degree in financial engineering and such at a top program.

[shootermcgavin7]

In addition to apropos's post; another closely related field to "Computational Finance" is Risk Management

[parajulibharat]

Thank you guys for great insight. As apropo suggest, financial engineering might help you to land a better job quickly but it does not provide an option if you want to take it easy later on on 70 hr/week job and be a faculty.


How much of the quant jobs are available to finance ph ds versus mathematical fiance ph ds? Of course mathematical finance ph ds might be better positioned for quant jobs, but as a trade off (as apropos's post they also require additional hard work if you are not a math person from the beginning), do finance ph ds are better positioned over all for a good job at wall street?

[chartreuse]

both are fine for Wall St - do what you want to do ! The money will come in accordingly!

[reactor]

In Finance, more mathematical = more marketable (for me).