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MFE Alumni Interview

Why did you choose the RMI’s MFE program?

After the global financial crisis, I was leading the system development for a bank’s economic capital computation under Basel requirements at that time. This project required someone with deep understanding in the fair value and pricing models of all bank’s financial and derivative products. In order to further enhance my knowledge in these areas, I started to do research online as well as getting advices from my seniors, NUS MFE Program was highly recommended.

Also, I graduated from NUS with a Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics and Applied Probability. For my postgraduate study, NUS had naturally become one of my preferred choice. Moreover, I decided to choose NUS MFE for its reputation, proximity to the financial district (which is important to a part-time student) and high teaching quality.

How did your experience at RMI’s MFE Program help you with your career?

The MFE program is designed to equip financial engineers with a well-rounded knowledge in finance, technology, and mathematics to resolve business/financial problems and to provide decision support to senior management. NUS MFE program is designed not just for the full-time student, but also for busy executives who can complete the program on a part-time basis.

Secondly, quite a number of the lecturers are senior practitioners in banking/financial industry who offered very insightful, and constructive advice. They often gave new suggestions and ideas, particularly on applying the academic knowledge into practice in banking/financial industry.

NUS MFE has not just provided me with a well-rounded knowledge, but also introduced me to some cutting-edge topics, e.g. Credit Value Adjustment (CVA) which was newly introduced a few years ago. I attended a few advanced seminars related to CVA organized by RMI which subsequently led to my final project related to CVA in derivative pricing. Learning about this topic also inspired me to have further discussions with my senior colleagues and we formed some ideas in CVA implementation framework from a practitioner’s perspective.

NUS MFE enabled me to tackle new challenges confidently and gave me the ability to self-learn new technology.

In your experience, what are some attributes of individuals who are most successful in financial engineering?

In my view, the successful individuals need to have a strong background in mathematics in order to have a deeper understanding of financial models. On top of that, it’s crucial for financial engineers to master some of the modern programming skills such as SQL, R and Python especially early in their career.

Also, they should possess skills such as logical and critical thinking, curiosity to explore new ideas, however also be prudent when examining the feasibility of these ideas. One should be proactive and take initiative to gain new knowledge or skills. Other soft skills such as teamwork, presentations and engagement skills with senior stakeholders and clients are also equally important.

What are some of the common challenges faced by professionals in the financial services industry and how can one best prepare oneself to manage these challenges?

As financial model and technologies can change rapidly, one should be adaptive, thinking out-of-the-box and able to grasp the fundamental principles quickly and able to apply the concept/idea in a new environment.

Financial engineers need to stay up-to-date with trends especially in financial and technology industry. Keeping up with latest news, attending seminars, asking questions and thinking ahead will greatly help to manage these challenges.

What is the most important career advice you can impart on fresh graduates of the MFE program?

My advice is that fresh graduates of the program should have the right attitude to learn, be observant and humble, and try to learn from their mentors and senior colleagues. One should not jump into conclusion without fully understanding the context. When facing any difficulties or issues, don’t give up easily, be perseverant and keep on trying. Lastly, improve your soft skills such as good teamwork, presentations and engagement skills with senior stakeholders and clients as I mentioned earlier.