The Computing and Financial Management (CFM) program is excited to announce that it will be introducing three new courses as part of its core curriculum as of fall 2021. Students starting in the program in September next year will be the first official cohort to take these classes as part of their degree requirements.
CFM students take an equal combination of courses in math, computer science, as well as accounting and financial management to prepare them for careers in the growing Financial Technology (FinTech) industry. The new classes will offer a more integrated-approach to FinTech concepts, including asset pricing theories, trading, algorithms and strategies, and back-testing techniques.
The new courses will be offered exclusively to students enrolled in CFM and will allow current students to take these classes as electives, or non-required courses, towards their degree.
New CFM courses
| Course code | Course description |
|---|---|
| CFM 101 - Introduction to Financial Markets and Data Analytics |
This course introduces financial markets and institutions, commonly used financial big data, and data schema and visualization therein. It covers fundamental functions of financial institutions and their usage of large data, and basic financial data management techniques. The course will focus on buy side institutions and stock market data. |
| CFM 301 - Intermediate Financial Data Analytics |
This course covers financial data analytics in the areas of asset pricing, securities trading, and portfolio management. It covers data usage and application in basic testing of asset pricing theories, trading algorithms and strategies, back-testing techniques, and aspects of portfolio management associated with trading strategies. |
| CFM 401 - Topics in Financial Data Analytics |
This course introduces current topics in financial data analytics. |
The introduction of these courses is the culmination of two years of hard work from faculty, staff, current students, and alumni. In 2018, a CFM Curriculum Redesign Committee was formed by finance professors in the School of Acccounting and Finance at the University of Waterloo, with the support of professors from the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. They reviewed and assessed the curriculum of the CFM program and compared it to the growing expectations and needs of the FinTech industry. They sought feedback from their talented students and achieved alumni in determining the best and most relevant curriculum for future fintech careers.
Our newly-designed courses will expose our students to advanced data analytics and will give them more freedom to pursue their interests in computing and financial analysis. These courses are the first-of-their-kind in Canada and we are excited to offer these exclusively to CFM students starting in fall 2021.
CFM is the only program-of-its-kind in Canada to offer two majors in computer science and finance, preparing graduates for the growing field of fintech. FinTechs now represent the fastest growing companies in the world with a projected-industry valued at $4.7 trillion, according to Goldman Sachs in 2015 (Deloitte.com, 2020). As a fast growing industry looking to hire talented students, the new CFM courses will continue to provide students with a unique and profitable learning experience.
Applications for fall 2021 are now open.