Photo: C++ language is a mandatory course for financial technology students Interviewee's photo (the same below)

"Computer major + financial industry practice" background of the teacher in the business school of computer C + + + language programming class, technology hardcore courses opened the 2021 class of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, the first class of new students of master's degree in finance and technology. The first lesson of the 2021 Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This class will be a key starting point for these outstanding students from top universities at home and abroad to gain a foothold in the financial industry in the future.

The computer class in the business school not only talks about computer skills, every kind of program in the financial practice of front-end, back-end applications are listed, students not only to be able to program, but also to know how to use this technical language for financial scenarios to build a real tool. 3 years ago, "Finance - Financial Technology" (MF- FinTech) direction in the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Master of Finance program officially landed enrollment, with the development of big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence and other new technologies, science and technology is with the traditional financial industry to integrate with each other, reshaping the industry, and this professional talent training is precisely aimed at the future of the puffing financial.

Cultivating Composite talents across fields

"The development of domestic financial technology is rapidly changing, but there are very few talents who understand both finance and technology." According to Li Xianglin, Co-Academic Director of the Master of Finance program at Goggin, financial technology talents are by no means IT personnel in financial institutions, and only those who can truly understand finance and technology at a deep level can organically combine the two and bring about new operational modes and business approaches. In the development of China's financial technology, the independent wind control and pricing system is the key technology, just like the "chip technology", and it is very necessary to bring breakthroughs and innovations by cross-discipline composite talents.

Photo: Li Xianglin

Take BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset management groups, as an example, its core competency is the development of the Aladdin system, which is recognized by its peers around the world. However, many domestic financial institutions have failed to develop a Chinese version of the large-scale asset management Aladdin system. Large domestic financial institutions, including large state-owned banks and major securities firms, currently purchase and use foreign products for their derivatives pricing and risk control systems. Developing a pricing system on your own requires more than just technically proficient IT, it requires people who understand both the technology and the financial business, and who master advanced analytics to lead the charge.

Modeling is a tool, and technology is a tool. Just as financial analysis requires mathematical models, the future development of finance is also inseparable from science and technology. The financial science and technology direction of the Master of Science in Finance program was created at the beginning of the program to outline a very clear design thinking and development vision: "I hope that through the two years of study in the financial science and technology program of the Goldman Sachs, we can fully grasp the knowledge of finance, statistics and machine learning, and computer skills and applications, and grow up to be China's most needed financial science and technology future leading talents. "

Hardcore Courses to Enhance Competitiveness

The Goggin FinTech program hopes that the hardcore courses will not only teach students the cutting-edge practical skills they will need after graduation, but also help them build the underlying capabilities to "teach people to fish" and help them develop in the long term. The curriculum is centered on three main areas The curriculum is centered around three main areas: finance, statistics and machine learning, and computer skills and applications, and the design of the course system has been repeatedly polished from the framework to the details, with a great deal of thought and dedication from professors and teachers at Goggin.

C++ programming became the first course in Computer Skills and Applications. "C++ is a relatively difficult programming language, but once you have mastered C++ you will have a deeper understanding of goal-oriented programming, and it will be easier to learn any other language." Li Xianglin explained that students who want to go far in the future need real core competencies. "In the future, if students want to implement their own machine learning algorithms, to build model libraries within their companies, or to build high-frequency trading systems, C++ will be extremely helpful to them." The second course in Computer Skills and Applications is Databases, which not only teaches traditional SQL-based knowledge of traditional databases, but also encompasses new non-SQL-based knowledge of databases.

Li Xianglin, who has accumulated a wealth of experience in both academia and industry, y understands that the construction of a discipline requires a certain degree of foresight and stability. At the beginning of the course design, he fully communicated with domestic and foreign financial institutions and financial technology companies, and repeatedly discussed to ensure that the project curriculum can truly teach students the most needed skills and knowledge of the cutting-edge market, but also to ensure that the rapid development of the market will not be eliminated soon. In the process, he found that the framework of big data platform and the cloud platform, which is more popular in the market now, are the skills that are needed in practice, so he set up an important course in computer skills and applications: big data and cloud computing platform. The project also fully leveraged the resources of Jiaotong University and invited a team of cryptography experts from the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering at Shanghai Jiaotong University, Prof. Gu Dawu, to teach this course to the students.

Over the past few years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and their application in finance have been increasingly emphasized by the industry. The HFST program has specially set up three machine learning courses to teach this field. Li Xianglin explained the intention of such a design, "I hope that after graduation, students can still have a competitive advantage in the field of machine learning in comparison with students majoring in statistics and computer science."

First graduates become "meat and potatoes"

The first 24 financial technology graduates in 2021, after two years of college systematic professional courses and industry internships, the precipitation and training, the employment rate of 100%, an average of each person to get three jobs. The average annual salary was 472,000 RMB, with a median of 445,000 RMB. 21 FinTech students' final employers were mainly head institutions in various fields, such as Morgan Stanley, CICC and other head brokerage firms, hedge funds such as JiuKun Investments and Chongyang Investments, as well as the Internet giant Tencent.

For the future, Li Xianglin is full of confidence: "This promising fertile land in China allows us to recruit the best students. Leaning on Jiaotong University and giving full play to the strengths of the entire institution will certainly enable us to create a world-class master's program in financial technology and lead the global financial development with Chinese-style innovation."