ARPM Quant Marathon

[AvizSiv]

Hello Friends
Hope you all well.

Have anyone joined ARPM Quant Marathon.

Please share your experiences.

What is the value of this course in front of the Employers...

Would appreciate guidance.

Thanks.

 

[throll]

a corporate version is offered for free to quants in our bank (tier 1 American). I'll let you know in a few months..

 

[AvizSiv]

How long is that version?

6 months?

 

[throll]

it doesn't say exactly but 7 modules display 5/8 weeks each.

 

[AvizSiv]

That is awesome
Looks like the Tier 1 bank is covering all the costs.

Which tells me.. they see value in this ARPM Quant Marathon..

Unfortunately painful for me to pay by myself :'(
It's costly.... Sigh...

But I do see value in it...

Hope globally it's accepted too...and not just in USA...

 

[D_P]

Hi guys, I took the ARPM Quant Marathon in 2019, lasting one year and I can share with you my personal experience. First of all, I can confirm that it is really worth it. The fundamental aspect to take into consideration is that it provides you a complete framework (a real toolbox) which allows you to gain a deep knowledge of each quantitative finance subject covered (Data Science, Financial Engineering, Risk Management, Portfolio Management, etc.), putting all the theory into practice. Indeed, the following are just some of the learning sources available pursuing the Quant Marathon: you could join online (live) classroom discussing with lectureres and other students, you could watch the video lectures, you could do the weekly homework (which will be graded), you will have access to the forum where you can post (and reply to) any question, you will have full access to the ARPM Lab. Focusing on the last point (ARPM Lab) it consists of thousands of pages of theory properly organized, accompanied by practical case studies and data animations, but most important thing is that everything is reproducible through the code (Python in particular) easily accessible and deeply documented (pseudocode and comments line by line with references to the theory section). You could also create your own Python scripts. All these sources are coherent, consistent and linked among each other. This is to say that from a personal point of view you will gain a very distinct competitive hedge in terms of knowledge (and you could demonstrate it during the interviews and most important during your daily job). In addition I can tell you that in the last few years the ARPM has become more and more known and spread (I also noticed this from my network of contacts on LinkedIn). The possibility to write in your CV you had Attilio Meucci (well known both by academic people and practitioners) as lecturer is an additional competitive edge (and this will increase the probability your cv will enter in the short list of the interviewers). Finally, I want to stress the fact that this is a real master-level quantitative finance course and not only a certificate.

 

[Brian Ong]

Hi guys,

I'm currently enrolled in the ARPM Quant Marathon (2020-2021 programme) and thought I'd comment on this.

In terms of experience, I am enjoying the course thoroughly. The course consists of weekly pre-recorded lectures and readings which you are expected to complete before a live check-in on Thursdays that lasts for about an hour. Each week, there is homework assigned as well as scoring for participating in discussions on an internal forum which you share with the lecturers and other students. You get graded each week on how much of each aspect you complete. The material is broad, and I would say that you definitely need to put in the hours to maximize what you get out of the course.

In terms of content, the Lab is choc full of readings which extend beyond the weekly requisite – so for the interested participant, there’s always more to learn and understand. There is also plenty of Python code which is generally split between functions and worked examples – this is my favourite part of the Lab as I was able to learn to code in Python through the course and the weekly homework assignments.

For potential employers, those that do recognize it definitely value the breadth of content and the dedication required to complete it.

I paid for this course on my own and don’t regret it at all. I’m going to continuing signing up for access to the lab after I finish the Marathon as the content is continually improved and updated.

I hope this helps!

 

[AvizSiv]

Hi guys, I took the ARPM Quant Marathon in 2019, lasting one year and I can share with you my personal experience. First of all, I can confirm that it is really worth it. The fundamental aspect to take into consideration is that it provides you a complete framework (a real toolbox) which allows you to gain a deep knowledge of each quantitative finance subject covered (Data Science, Financial Engineering, Risk Management, Portfolio Management, etc.), putting all the theory into practice. Indeed, the following are just some of the learning sources available pursuing the Quant Marathon: you could join online (live) classroom discussing with lectureres and other students, you could watch the video lectures, you could do the weekly homework (which will be graded), you will have access to the forum where you can post (and reply to) any question, you will have full access to the ARPM Lab. Focusing on the last point (ARPM Lab) it consists of thousands of pages of theory properly organized, accompanied by practical case studies and data animations, but most important thing is that everything is reproducible through the code (Python in particular) easily accessible and deeply documented (pseudocode and comments line by line with references to the theory section). You could also create your own Python scripts. All these sources are coherent, consistent and linked among each other. This is to say that from a personal point of view you will gain a very distinct competitive hedge in terms of knowledge (and you could demonstrate it during the interviews and most important during your daily job). In addition I can tell you that in the last few years the ARPM has become more and more known and spread (I also noticed this from my network of contacts on LinkedIn). The possibility to write in your CV you had Attilio Meucci (well known both by academic people and practitioners) as lecturer is an additional competitive edge (and this will increase the probability your cv will enter in the short list of the interviewers). Finally, I want to stress the fact that this is a real master-level quantitative finance course and not only a certificate.

Can you share your LinkedIn profile link...
The way you wrote looks like you are part of the team ??

Hi guys,

I'm currently enrolled in the ARPM Quant Marathon (2020-2021 programme) and thought I'd comment on this.

In terms of experience, I am enjoying the course thoroughly. The course consists of weekly pre-recorded lectures and readings which you are expected to complete before a live check-in on Thursdays that lasts for about an hour. Each week, there is homework assigned as well as scoring for participating in discussions on an internal forum which you share with the lecturers and other students. You get graded each week on how much of each aspect you complete. The material is broad, and I would say that you definitely need to put in the hours to maximize what you get out of the course.

In terms of content, the Lab is choc full of readings which extend beyond the weekly requisite – so for the interested participant, there’s always more to learn and understand. There is also plenty of Python code which is generally split between functions and worked examples – this is my favourite part of the Lab as I was able to learn to code in Python through the course and the weekly homework assignments.

For potential employers, those that do recognize it definitely value the breadth of content and the dedication required to complete it.

I paid for this course on my own and don’t regret it at all. I’m going to continuing signing up for access to the lab after I finish the Marathon as the content is continually improved and updated.

I hope this helps!

Kindly share your LinkedIn profile..

 

[D_P]

Can you share your LinkedIn profile link...
The way you wrote looks like you are part of the team ??

Kindly share your LinkedIn profile..

Hi, sure: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniele-pennesi/
I can confirm I am not part of the ARPM Team, I just shared my experience and since more than one people asked me on LinkedIn my experience, now I can redirect them to this forum

 

[GToul]

Hi guys, I took the ARPM Quant Marathon in 2019, lasting one year and I can share with you my personal experience. First of all, I can confirm that it is really worth it. The fundamental aspect to take into consideration is that it provides you a complete framework (a real toolbox) which allows you to gain a deep knowledge of each quantitative finance subject covered (Data Science, Financial Engineering, Risk Management, Portfolio Management, etc.), putting all the theory into practice. Indeed, the following are just some of the learning sources available pursuing the Quant Marathon: you could join online (live) classroom discussing with lectureres and other students, you could watch the video lectures, you could do the weekly homework (which will be graded), you will have access to the forum where you can post (and reply to) any question, you will have full access to the ARPM Lab. Focusing on the last point (ARPM Lab) it consists of thousands of pages of theory properly organized, accompanied by practical case studies and data animations, but most important thing is that everything is reproducible through the code (Python in particular) easily accessible and deeply documented (pseudocode and comments line by line with references to the theory section). You could also create your own Python scripts. All these sources are coherent, consistent and linked among each other. This is to say that from a personal point of view you will gain a very distinct competitive hedge in terms of knowledge (and you could demonstrate it during the interviews and most important during your daily job). In addition I can tell you that in the last few years the ARPM has become more and more known and spread (I also noticed this from my network of contacts on LinkedIn). The possibility to write in your CV you had Attilio Meucci (well known both by academic people and practitioners) as lecturer is an additional competitive edge (and this will increase the probability your cv will enter in the short list of the interviewers). Finally, I want to stress the fact that this is a real master-level quantitative finance course and not only a certificate.

I can't thank you enough for this extremely detailed opinion of yours. I am a huge fan of Meucci's and I personally think that ARPM is paving the way for online QF courses/certificates/master's. I believe he is very popular in the finance community and in particular in the buy-side; however, it seems like the Quant Marathon ( and not the Quant Bootcamp which is particularly popular among quants ) has not yet gained the significant popularity it deserves compared to other (IMO) much lower quality programmes. As myself too am working full time (in Risk) I've personally researched all (in my working knowledge) of the available alternatives, I have come to the conclusion that ARPM is the silver lining of a solution. However, as I (unfortunately) don't come from a STEM background I had to (and still am) refresh and improve certain areas in Math required for such programmes. And although there is a section in ARPM's website which outlines (more or less) what should a potential candidate for the programme know, in terms of math, I had a feeling that the course was much more mathematically rigorous than one would expect. I got that feeling from skimming through Meucci's amazing book "Risk and Asset Allocation" - which I believe it's also used as material in the course. Nevertheless, this week I was very pleasantly surprised to notice that the ARPM team added 3 more modules in their curriculum all of them essentially building upon the required Math and Probs in order for someone to be able to follow the programme more efficiently. That said, having prior knowledge of Calculus I & II (depending on the content maybe III too), LinAlg and Probability would be ideal; but the fact that they added more than 100hrs of lectures on these QF building blocks just shows how keen and clever they are. God willing, I am totally going to enroll in September and would be grateful if more people could give their feedback in Quantnet!

PS: I am not part of the ARPM team either!

 

[MuradNayal]

Hello

I wrote about my personal experience with ARPM on Quora recently. Thought I'd share here as well

Is the ARPM Quant Marathon, led by Attilio Meucci, worth it?

Murad Nayal's answer: From first hand experience, ARPM Quant Marathon is a very unique learning experience, even in an age of ever expanding options for on-line training and courses. Really a work of vision and passion, rather than a conventional subject-based on-line course from a professional p...

qr.ae

 

[Cathrine Jacobsen]

I have participated in the first two courses of the Marathon; Data Science for Finance and Financial Engineering. The reading material organized in the lab is self-contained and very accessible with cross references that makes it easy to navigate around, so you don’t need any old books for support. The downside (if you don’t buy unlimited access to the lab) is that after finishing the course, you won’t have access anymore so if you don’t have photographic memory, take good notes. There is an extensive code library with code underlying examples, figures and exercises which I found extremely helpful since I also used the courses for getting started programming in Python. Every week there is homework which is reviewed and graded if submitted. I found that the level of these exercises varied a lot – some weeks I had to spend a lot of time while other weeks the questions were at a level much lower than the material taught. I definitely found it worthwhile to participate but be aware that it is quite time consuming because the material covered is rather extensive, especially for the Data Science course. I also followed the math and Python refresher, but in my opinion that was at a much lower level than the actual courses.

 

[eborke]

Hi, I completed the ARPM marathon in 2019/2020. Is it worth it and does it make you a better professional? Certainly. Now it depends what you’re after. In my case, I came from a more Q quant/sell side background and was looking to deepen my knowledge in the P quant/ buy side space (details). ARPM provided a truly integrated curriculum across all part of the quantitative investment process (data science, financial engineering, risk management, portfolio management). Can’t find the exact quote but it goes something along: “as rigorous as scholars and as applied as practitioners”. The breath of coverage and depth of insight provided could only have been accomplished by someone well versed in both fields like Attilio. Some university teachers are focused on their research field whereas Attilio aims to teach you everything he knows about how the industry works and most advanced applications of academia to investment. In such a specialized discipline as quant finance I find experts are the norm, but the integrated approach can set you apart as a candidate. Furthermore, the courses include thorough theory combined with the ARPM lab including fully coded applications and data visualization tools like data simulations which make complex concept easier to assimilate. To present abstract concepts in comprehensible and innovative ways are highly sought-after skills on the workspace. Finally, flipped classrooms forces you to come prepared to discuss, in a team setting among interesting international candidates from various backgrounds, towards a sensible and concise answer presented to the overall group taking turns as leader. I strongly recommend it but be advised its intense and challenging!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/etiennebourque/

 

[Manuel Polley]

Hi everyone,

I signed up for ARPM Quant Marathon program in fall 2020 and I can share my experience.

The class deals with both tough theory and how to bring the theory to use for a company’s investment and risk management activities.

The math and the models in the course close the gap between the purely theoretical approach of the mathematical academics (which is sometimes a bit rigid and far from reality) and the application-oriented approach chosen by some economists (that is sometimes a bit sloppy). The course combines the best of both of worlds.

The central subject of the Quant Marathon is a framework that gives you guidance through all quant activities (the enumeration is not complete): Identify suitable risk drivers, choose a suitable mathematical model to describe the joint distribution of the risk drivers, estimate the model with historical data, project the risk drivers to your investment horizon, evaluate possible portfolios, construct and execute an optimal trading strategy.

Here is one remark on the depth of the mathematical formalism. If you don’t have the mathematical skills of a graduated mathematician, schedule a bit more time to penetrate the material. The math is really on master level.

Personally, I really enjoy the program and I would sign up again.

Final remark: I also don’t work for the ARPM.

 

[GToul]

Hi everyone,

I signed up for ARPM Quant Marathon program in fall 2020 and I can share my experience.

The class deals with both tough theory and how to bring the theory to use for a company’s investment and risk management activities.

The math and the models in the course close the gap between the purely theoretical approach of the mathematical academics (which is sometimes a bit rigid and far from reality) and the application-oriented approach chosen by some economists (that is sometimes a bit sloppy). The course combines the best of both of worlds.

The central subject of the Quant Marathon is a framework that gives you guidance through all quant activities (the enumeration is not complete): Identify suitable risk drivers, choose a suitable mathematical model to describe the joint distribution of the risk drivers, estimate the model with historical data, project the risk drivers to your investment horizon, evaluate possible portfolios, construct and execute an optimal trading strategy.

Here is one remark on the depth of the mathematical formalism. If you don’t have the mathematical skills of a graduated mathematician, schedule a bit more time to penetrate the material. The math is really on master level.

Personally, I really enjoy the course and I would sign up again.

Final remark: I also don’t work for the ARPM.

Thank you for sharing the above. May I ask what your background is? It seems that a lot of a people who've taken the course are not mathematicians. When you mention "mathematical skills" do you refer to the problem solving skills of a graduate mathematician or rather the knowledge of the underlying mathematical subjects required for the course (Linear Algebra, Calculus, Probability)?

 

[Figo Lau]

Hi guys,

I signed up for ARPM Marathon programme in Sept 2020 and I regard it as a highly valuable learning experience.

The course week designs are well-balanced with extensive quantitative techniques. The first part focuses on data science for different financial instruments. The new version puts extra weights on data science on finance. The second part concentrates on financial engineering, risk management and portfolio management at aggregate levels. A big plus is the machine learning applications on finance, up to date. I feel the examples and case studies are particularly supportive to understand the modelling. The course structure provides concise and clear visions about quantitative techniques on financial markets.

A new course week starts every Monday, the online classroom begins on Thursday, on Sunday the homework will be handed in and graded by the tutors. Homework is divided into theoretical part and empirical part. I enjoyed the online class sessions very much, some puzzling problems are solved easily during the discussion sessions meanwhile the tutors are well-informed and down to earth.

Many classmates are industry practitioners, their opinions and views expand visions. A variety of codes for Python application are ready, one of the top features for constant practices.

The email reminding system really reminds you of the intensity of this programme, time management is crucial, make sure you don’t skip any course week. My background is economics. The understanding of econometrics is certainly helpful, but it took me time and effort to catch up with postgraduate level mathematics and statistics. With disciplines, you will feel rewarded with ARPM Lab. I hope these comments are helpful.

 

[Tolac]

Hello Friends
Hope you all well.

Have anyone joined ARPM Quant Marathon.

Please share your experiences.

What is the value of this course in front of the Employers...

Would appreciate guidance.

Thanks.

I took the ARPM Quant Marathon program last year and I can tell that it was totally worth it. It was a wild (and tough) ride but enjoyed it.

The thing I liked the most was the large amount of topics covered in the Lab (where you have all the study materials). Every aspect was detailed and well explained and I really appreciated that every course was filled with examples and code snippets to test (mainly on Python); this comes handy if you are keen on coding and learn better by examples than reading theory.

Another interesting aspect was the Q&A forum where students helped each other and shared their thoughts; this was really useful in my experience because the personnel inside ARPM provided clarifications and answers to the most technical doubts I had.

Since I took the Quant Marathon program, I have noticed that they have broadened their offer giving more flexibility to the students in terms of courses to follow. At that time we had four courses to follow but now there are seven.

In terms of how the program is structured, most of the material revolves around the concept of the “Checklist”: a simple set of steps from data management and handling to financial engineering/modelling to portfolio risk/return management. It helped my a lot to have a guideline to follow gluing together all the material in the Lab.

This is by far the most complete program I ever took and I totally recommend it.

 

[Scarpetta]

Hello Friends
Hope you all well.

Have anyone joined ARPM Quant Marathon.

Please share your experiences.

What is the value of this course in front of the Employers...

Would appreciate guidance.

Thanks.

From my experience, I can tell the ARPM Quant Marathon is totally worth it and I definitely benefited from the program, which I attended in 2018.

The program is built on the “Checklist”, which is the basis theory around which all the extensive program is coherently structured. The learning experience is very detail-oriented and based either on rigorous mathematical and statistical theory and practical applications through lines of codes, which are one of the things I value the most.

Practical assignments are scheduled and graded every week. It is a great moment to put in full practice the theoretical concepts that you learn as you progress with the Marathon. Everything is well documented from theory to pseudo-code. The way the program courses are implemented gave me a unique and solid framework on data science, risk management and portfolio management with lots of practical implementations to learn from.

I also refined my coding skills, either in Python and Matlab, in numerous ways from writing pseudo-code to full implementation.

Attilio Meucci is an absolute terrific instructor and he is able to transfer his passion and vision of his work through his lectures.

The program is complete and definitely brings value to your quantitative finance skills.

 

[katriak]

Hi,

I did the Marathon in 2018. I believe I was in the first or one of the first cohorts to finish the Marathon. There were some minor technical and organizational glitches, nothing serious.

The program was nicely structured with live instructors. There was some possibility for (on-line) networking with other students and of course access to the lecturers for discussing the topics and homeworks.

The program was demanding, with a lot of sessions and homeworks. You must keep this in mind, especially if you have a full-time job.

The exercises were done in Matlab/Python. I used the Marathon also as an introduction to Python. A small negative experience here: there was an introductory Python course and the lecturer was hard to understand. That was an exception - although most of the lecturers were non-native speakers, I usually had no problem understanding them.

I guess in principle you could learn most of the stuff by yourself going over Attiio’s book (Risk and Asset Management). You would miss some of the more modern parts (machine learning etc), access to the code and lecturers. Also, it pushes you to stay at it – I don’t think I would be able to bring myself to go over the stuff in this intensity.

The Marathon fees were paid by the company I work at. For me it was also possible to do the sessions/homeworks partly at the office (all the lectures were live, but maybe this changed meanwhile).

I would argue that the value for the employer is that you get access to code/best practice and the community and also to the ARMP Lab (at least for some time) where you can quickly find answers to quant problems.

JK.

Ps. I was offered some months of free access to the ARPM Lab for writing this review.
Pps. also posting this on quora

 

[LudoZ]

Hello Friends
Hope you all well.

Have anyone joined ARPM Quant Marathon.

Please share your experiences.

What is the value of this course in front of the Employers...

Would appreciate guidance.

Thanks.

I work in a large fund in a quant role. I would personally hire someone who was completed the ARPM quant marathon over someone who has completed the CFA. To me CFA signals that someone is hard working. However the ARPM Quant Marathon signals much more in depth technical skills. It would definitely stand out in any case to me in a CV, and would make me more willing to interview someone who went through the whole program.

I would likely view the quant marathon more as a complement more than a substitute to a technical degree in financial mathematics. In other words, I think the quant marathon is helpful to go in detail into some topics. The lab is very complete and full of different types of material. The courses ae very broad in terms of covering different topics. However, I think it would still be useful to have a masters in finance in addition to having completed the quant marathon.

So overall, if your main goal is having a more attractive profile for employers, I would say, yes, go for it! But of course, the main reason I would recommend enrolling in the program is that the material is very interesting, and well delivered.