Does a MFE degree make you a smarter/better investor?

  • Thread starter Thread starter VienD
  • Start date Start date
V

VienD

Joined
11/6/09
Messages
10
Points
11
I know that MFE programs teach you a lot that help you put together computational programs to predict the stock/option price, etc. I was just wondering if going for an MFE degree woule make you a better investor? Have you considered being an independent investor (Using the knowledge that you acquired from the program) instead of working for corporates? What do you guys think?
Thanks
 
I think that it can make you a better trader. The thing is, IMO that most of the people that go to MFE program are risk averse and would prefer to work for corporates ans secure a steady income instead of investing their money.
 
It really depends what kind of investing you're interested in. If your interest is more along the lines of algorithmic trading, then an MFE definitely gives you a useful foundation.

However, if you are more interested in buy-and-hold / best-of-breed investing, then MFE stills will not help you as directly as an MBA probably would.

As a retail investor, though, it is not easy to beat the market with MFE wizardry. Not to say there aren't those of us trying...
 
Maybe 10 years down the road after you make enough money. Right now, people are just trying to get a job, pay back those student loans. It's easier to play with house money than with own money.
 
It will make you a smarter trader. You need not do an MFE to become a smart investor.
 
At the very least, it won't make you worse! But in all honesty, derivatives usually come in NPAs of at minimum, a 100 share contract for a basic call or put. So if you're talking about a $100 stock like IBM, that's a minimum $10,000 on one leg of a transaction.

Who has that kind of money sitting around when they just graduate their MFE I have no idea.

That said, if you work for a fund, then you can just invest your bonus with them and thereby eat your own cooking, so to speak. So if you're part of a team that's running proprietary models, in a way, the MFE sort of does make you a better investor/trader.
 
Thanks everyone! I came up with this thought because I thought that since some of the FE grads might end up earning a lot of money and eventually want to invest it and hence, such degree will provide the skill needed to help them become a better/smarter investor ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom