Choosing Imperial's MSc Risk Management & Financial Engineering

Rounak Mahakul, MSc Risk Management & Financial Engineering student shares why he chose to study this programme at Imperial College Business School. In this blog, he shares how he is navigating opportunities and networks at the Business School, as well as preparing himself for a future career in finance. 

Discovering MSc Risk Management & Financial Engineering

I chose to study MSc Risk Management & Financial Engineering at Imperial College Business School due to its highly quantitative nature in finance, specialising in risk management accredited to the PRMIA program. The reputation of being among the top quantitative finance programmes in the UK, coupled with its high ranking on Quant.net, greatly influenced my decision to pursue this programme. I found a particular interest in core modules such as Financial Statistics, Stochastic Calculus, Risk Management and Valuation, Structured Credit and Equity Products, and Investment and Portfolio Management. Additionally, the flexibility to choose your elective modules makes it an excellent opportunity to shape your career trajectory in finance according to your preferences.
 

Building a Strong Foundation

MSc Risk Management & Financial Engineering is a challenging and intensive one-year programme. The best part of the programme is that, irrespective of the background, all students have to go through foundation modules to build their base from 0 to 1 even before the start of the programme. The programme includes highly resourceful professors and amazing Teaching Assistants who provide summary notes and important resources, help clarify any doubts, and are also highly responsive on email.
 

Exploring electives and real-world applications

I’m most looking forward to studying dynamic elective modules such as Private Equity and Venture Capital, International Finance, Structured Credit and Equity Products, and Credit Risk. The combination of core modules and electives gives me an opportunity to explore different dimensions of finance, delving deeper into the subjects with highly distinguished professors. Being a part of the Imperial Student Investment Fund, with £100,000 AUM, I am eager to implement the knowledge gained from the programmes modules into this fund with guidance from the professors.
 

Navigating opportunities and networks at the Business School

Imperial College Business School is one of the best universities in the UK, located close to the Royal Albert Hall, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Natural History Museum. Joining this elite school is by far the best decision of my life, providing a platform to showcase my knowledge and skillsets for implementation in the global competitive market across industries. The global reputation of the programme will assist me in standing out from the crowd in this ever-changing era of the business world. The clubs, societies, and a network of over 70,000 alumni have helped me develop a close network with like-minded people who strive for growth in their respective fields.

Imperial has a Student Staff Committee (SSC) which conducts meetings every term, allowing us to bring forward all student queries and module feedback through surveys to the staff. Imperial also provides a great platform to gain insights from industry professionals by arranging alumni connects and career fairs, which also help in connecting with top esteemed leaders in major investment banks and other financial institutions.

Imperial also holds various networking events to connect with other students across the finance suite. The intense and time-demanding nature of the programme alongside industry-immersive networking events at regular intervals, assists in understanding job markets better and strategising accordingly.
 

Preparing for a future in finance

With no initial background in finance, I had a strong foundation in maths, engineering, and quantitative skills, but my passion for finance led me to choose this programme. After enrolling in the programme, the course modules are curated in such an intensive manner that provides practical exposure to the theoretical concepts taught in the lectures, which are actually applied in the industry. Imperial has given me a solid foundational knowledge in finance, shaping my futuristic vision to start my own venture in the field of portfolio management and asset management services.

The Business School has not only assisted me in learning finance but has also provided a holistic perspective in the world of business by facilitating interactions with global leaders and incorporating coursework modules that utilise tools like R, Python, and Bloomberg.
 

Bridging finance and technology

The professors have a unique way of blending finance with technology in the class. This is one of the aspects that students in the class find extremely interesting. The course is taught from a very foundational level and later explained with a statistical tool like R in the classroom to showcase real actionable insights of the concepts explained on a broader scale. Being in such a quantitative programme, we are mostly trained to use tools like R and Python to better understand financial concepts such as Portfolio Management, Financial Statistics, and Financial Modelling. This integration of technology and finance makes the concepts more fascinating for students, helping them grasp real-world applications and learning outcomes.