Math for finance...

[Theo]

Hey guys,

Been noticing a lot of posts on math lately and wanted to ask how important a strong background in math is for certain financial careers? Let's just say IB, Money management, Trading/sales for now.


I might have some follow-up questions based on responses.

Thanks for the help and enjoy the weekend!

 

[statusseeker]

I think that Accounting is most important in the early stages - I entered finance with 0 Accounting background and got delayed because of it. Later on, math and sales skills are important to get to the upper crust. Have all three mastered and you should be in good shape.

 

[abacus]

Theo: Visit different b-schools MBA websites, which can tell you what level of math is needed for I-banking jobs that you listed.

 

[darkstar]

For standard money management, IB, and sales, you'll probably need a couple statistics courses and a finance course that covers the basics of financial math. Of course, there will be subsets within these areas that will require more math. Most top MBA programs don't really require a whole lot of math, and plenty of MBA grads go into IB, research, sales, money management, etc. However, being numerically minded is a huge asset in a lot of cases, but most finance jobs don't require upper level math courses.

On the other hand, if you're working in fixed income or derivatives, you'll need a much stronger math background.

 

[Theo]

Thanks everyone...

I am very good in accounting and fine in stats. But math that we actually learn fairly young such as algebra gives me trouble as times and to be honest I never had experience in calculus.

In my university we have two levels of "Math for business" courses, so that should benefit me some. Plus a higher level statistics course. Along with financial management and 4 other finance related courses of my choice.
Other than that, I have done much higher on average in tests where a person reads you sets of numbers and you repeat them. I also seem to remember a lot of random numbers I come across. Perhaps I am just pulling strings here though, haha.

Overall, from the jist of the responses, I get the sense that it is not as essential as I figured. I was concerned because when people ask what I am majoring in, once I state finance, they usually ask about my background in math.

Abacus- I have looked at Columbia's and NYU's respected MBA sites, and while they give everything I could want to know about the courses they have, typical semester plans, schedules, etc I cannot really find required math background upon entry. But no worries about that.


I am thankful for the help.