EDHEC teams up with Coursera to launch MOOCs in machine learning techniques for financial-sector professionals

EDHEC-Risk Institute, EDHEC Business School’s financial research hub, has teamed up with Coursera, a world leader in online training, to offer a new specialization in machine-learning techniques for financial professionals from September 2019. The online learning platform has 40 million registered users to date.

Data science is revolutionizing the asset-management industry, but financial professionals trained in machine learning are rare and very much sought after. To lead the transformational charge these technological advancements will bring, financial-sector specialists need to be more than just aware of them. That's why EDHEC-Risk Institute, recognized globally for its financial sector research, is launching a new digital programme, entitled « Investment Management with Python¹ and Machine Learning ».

“We expect that the use of machine learning techniques, and their application to big new data sets, will profoundly impact all dimensions of the investment management process, including security selection, portfolio construction as well as risk management practices”, says Lionel Martellini, EDHEC-Risk Institute Director;

Four MOOCs + 4‒6 months = strong skills

This is a specialization ‒ a series of four massive open online courses, or MOOCs ‒ consisting of the following modules

- Introduction to portfolio construction and analysis with Python

- Advanced portfolio construction and analysis with Python

- Python Machine Learning for Investment Management

- Python Machine Learning for Investment Management with Alternative Datasets

While the courses can be taken independently, participants receive a Certificate of Specialization for completing all four.

This highly innovative programme was designed by Professor Lionel Martellini, Director of EDHEC-Risk Institute, in collaboration with Professor John Mulvey of Princeton University, as well as asset-management experts and EDHEC research associates.

The programme, which lasts four to six months, will give online learners a solid foundation in data science and the methods of calculation used in the investment sector, with a focus on the latest advances in portfolio management.

At the end of four courses, participants will have the tools they need to design and implement effective investment strategies, having deepened their knowledge of the theoretical concepts and studied numerous practical case studies based on real-world situations.

1. Python is the programming language used most in the fields of big data and machine learning.