Python bootcamp: learning to code
Pr. Dominic O’Kane leads the Python Bootcamp within EDHEC’s MSc in Financial Engineering. Creator of a Python library called FinancePy and EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute Research Director tells us all about this course.
What can you tell us about your field of research?
My previous research has in the past been mostly focused on the area of financial derivatives and associated regulation. However more recently, I have been working on climate change-related issues. My focus has been looking at the impact of climate news on the prices of securities issued by companies as a function of their CO2 emissions. I am now focussing on supply chain issues - seeking to quantify the CO2 emissions generated by companies and sectors as a result of their business activities.
Before teaching, you had some work experience as a quantitative researcher and analyst, do you bring this experience to the classroom?
I spent 12 years working in US investment banks in the City of London. Yes, this experience is very relevant as it means that I can explain what is important to students if they wish to succeed in the world of investment banking. I can combine theory and practice.
You won the EDHEC teaching prize. What is teaching philosophy?
I try to make what I teach as relevant as possible to what students will do in their jobs after they leave EDHEC. So when I discuss theoretical concepts, I also seek to explain why these are important and how they are used in practice. When teaching I especially like to use a whiteboard to explain concepts, which are sometimes very mathematical. This is much more engaging than showing PowerPoint slides.
You have published a book entitled Modelling Single-name and Multi-name Credit derivatives. Can you sum it up for us?
I played a minor role in the development of the credit derivatives market between 1998 and 2006. I wrote this book in order to set out and explain all of the valuation and risk modelling developments that had occurred over that period, which were not widely understood. It was aimed at practitioners in the industry and at academics seeking to understand the modelling issues.
What do you expect your students to master after completion of the Python Bootcamp?
Python has become the dominant programming language in the world of finance and being able to master it enables students to be more productive and to solve more problems. My goal for this course is to take a student with no Python knowledge and at the end to have them be able to write a python program to solve a given problem using a good coding style.
Why is it essential to master Python in Finance? Especially in Financial Engineering?
Python is a nice simple language that has become dominant thanks to many very powerful third-party libraries that can easily be added to your code. This has made it the language of choice for machine learning and data analysis. It is widely used in finance for a broad range of tasks. I have also written a Python library called FinancePy that I introduce to the students. This gives them the tools needed to price a broad range of financial securities.
What do you expect your students to learn and have mastered on completion of your courses?
I expect them to have developed a good understanding of financial securities, and especially derivatives so that it will help them become more successful in their jobs if that is on a trading floor or in an investment fund.
