CURRICULUM

Students in the program follow a curriculum offering sufficient flexibility in the choice of courses in finance and economics. They can focus on areas of particular relevance to their career objectives in Financial Economics.

Financial economics requires strong analytical and quantitative training. The MFE program combines the analytical core of the MA program in economics with a rigorous introduction to the areas of risk management, corporate finance, and security analysis through courses offered by the Rotman School of Management. A major strength of the program is that students are taught to use the underlying concepts of micro- and macro-economic theory to understand how financial markets operate. The program's combination of theoretical and applied courses provide a rich learning experience for students.

Project-oriented and cased-base courses at the Rotman School of Management promote an interactive approach for applying the concepts developed in the classroom to a wide range of real-world problems.

Students are required to take a total of 12 half-courses, as well as an intensive Mathematics, Statistics and Accounting review course. They are also required to complete a summer internship.

The MFE program begins in August, three weeks before regular classes start, with an intensive Mathematics, Statistics and Accounting Review. The Mathematics and Statistics review course is conducted by the Department of Economics. The Accounting Pre-Course is offered by the Rotman School.

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Following the Mathematics, Statistics and Accounting review course, students embark on a 16 month program of 12 courses and a summer internship. The core program consists of four courses from the Department of Economics and three courses from the Rotman School. The core courses in the Department of Economics are the same as those required for the MA degree in Economics plus the course, Financial Economics I. The core courses in the Rotman School are drawn from second-year MBA courses and provide students with training in key areas of finance. In addition, students choose five electives from either the Department of Economics or the Rotman School, subject to the condition that at least seven of their 12 courses must be taken from the Department of Economics. Students can choose from a long list of electives; graduate-level courses in Economics or second-year MBA-level (or higher) Finance related courses from the Rotman School are all acceptable (limited amount of space is available – Rotman courses are not guaranteed). Students that wish to take non-finance electives for their degree component must seek approval from the Director.

Summer Internship

During the summer term, which lasts from the beginning of May to the end of August, students are engaged in a summer internship. The summer internship program is managed by the Department of Economics.

Although the summer internship is a requirement of the MFE Program, the Department of Economics does not guarantee that a student will secure a summer internship. The MFE Coordinator makes every effort to ensure that individuals are placed in internships for the summer. However, students are expected to actively look for work and to regularly liaise with the MFE Coordinator about the status of their search for an internship.

Workshops, for purposes of resume and cover-letter writing as well as interview skills and job-search techniques will be offered during the year in order to facilitate student’s summer job search.

Information Sessions are offered throughout the year by various potential recruiters of MFE students.