With Canary Wharf visible from its Mile End campus, Queen Mary, University of London is one of the only UK universities giving its economics students the chance to use the same technology as City traders.
The School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary provides students with Bloomberg, Reuters, Interactive Brokers Trading Workstations and one of the most advanced trading platforms, the FXCM FX Trading Station. These give students access to the latest technology and financial software used in the banking and financial industry.
In designated computer labs, students also have access to a full range of economic and financial data, through providers such as Datastream, Macrobond and the WRDS platform.
The virtual trading floor at QM’s Mile End campus has proven a huge draw for students looking to gain practical experience in the world of financial markets, with applications for 2012 entry rising significantly. Applications for postgraduate study within the School of Economics and Finance were 17 per cent higher for both home and international students than the previous year. Applications for undergraduate study rose by four per cent for home and EU students and 23 per cent for those overseas.
The 2012 National Student Survey results in September confirmed students’ overall satisfaction with their learning experience within the School. Some 83 per cent of final year students rated the overall quality of their course as either good or very good, placing the School higher than those at SOAS, University College London, Royal Holloway and LSE.
Patrick Boyle is a former trader at Nomura Holdings Inc and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc who recently launched Palomar Fund management, a £50m hedge fund. He is a Visiting Professor at QM, lecturing on Financial Derivatives and Portfolio Management. He comments: “Jobs in London’s financial sector are highly sought after, and the experience that Queen Mary’s virtual trading room provides will make its students so much more employable. Students get practical training and experience alongside insight from both ‘real world’ City traders and leading research economists.”
While most students trade with virtual money, Queen Mary’s Postgraduate Student Investment Club (QUMMIF) has been given the opportunity to make a profit through its Growth Fund.
Supported by the School of Economics and Finance, the Investment Club currently has £20,000 of assets under management. Any profits accumulated by the end of the year are either reinvested into the fund or put forward to fund additional events for club members.
The QUMMIF Investment Fund provides all interested MSc students - both novice and experienced members - with the tools, teachings and advice necessary to learn about analysing asset classes, sectors and markets. MSc student and QUIMMIF President Tomasz Mlynowski suggests that QUMMIF “thrives in Queen Mary's multicultural student environment” and makes the most of the university's home between the Square Mile and Canary Wharf, getting involved with multiple corporate events over the year that provide students with great networking opportunities.
With the College based so close to London’s financial district, students at QM also benefit from their proximity to top-level City workers, who regularly lecture on campus or in their workplace.
Professor George Kapetanios, Head of the School of Economics and Finance adds: “The School has close links with some of the most recognisable names in Finance and Economics, from the Bank of England to Goldman Sachs, HM Treasury and Nomura, and modules are often taught outside the classroom near the workplace of City professionals.
“Our international staff and students, our cutting-edge IT resources and extracurricular activities such as QUMMIF, all contribute toward making the School of Economics and Finance one of the UK’s leading economics and finance Schools.”
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