Financial Applications
Hi,
Just out of curiosity, what types of applications do Java Developers create for investment banks, the financial industry, credit area, etc...? I'm going to have my B.S. in Computer Science completed by May 2008, and I'm already getting offers from companies looking for "Java Developers" offering between $90,000.00 - $120,000.00 Per/Year. The companies that are looking for programmers, and are offering this type of pay and other large bonuses, are in the financial industry, so I'm curious to know what types of applications and projects these developers work on.
Since I'm completing my degree in just over a year, I'm in the process of putting together a portfolio, and it would probably help if I can show I'm capable of developing applications for these types of companies. So in my spare time, I would like to develop one or more of these types of applications the showcase my skillset to these types of companies.
Since this is the biggest site on the internet for Java Developers, I'm sure there are several people who work in this industry, or atleast who have knowledge of the projects/applications they work on.
Thanks!
Message was edited by:
JavaTech21
That's right. Because of the strong inclination towards masochism in the programmer's personality many are drawn to financial applications, especially banking,
Said a Java programmer flat on the planking:
Get your asses into banking.
It's an exciting niche.
Don't do as they wish,
and you get a Jolly Good spanking!
So adding a pair of handcuffs and a nice whip to your portfolio is definately what I would recommend.
I've been in a very exciting project for a Bank. It was an asset allocation application.In a nutshell:
create and manage a portfolio of assets using monte carlo methods for future prediction, regression analysis, Capital Asset Pricing Model...a lot of econometrics applied to financial planning all made in J2EE (Webshere with SQL Server).
If you want to play around in this area I suggest the folowing
1-Learn CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model)
2-Create an application where a user can insert some money and than go to a database get a lot of past data of the assets, make some analysis and create a optimal portfolio (minimum risk and maximum rentability)
You must be very comfortable with mathematics, some economical/econometric models and, of course, Java
best regards,
Manuel Leiria
> I've been in a very exciting project for a Bank. It
> was an asset allocation application.In a nutshell:
> create and manage a portfolio of assets using monte
> carlo methods for future prediction, regression
> analysis, Capital Asset Pricing Model...a lot of
> econometrics applied to financial planning all made
> in J2EE (Webshere with SQL Server).
> If you want to play around in this area I suggest the
> folowing
> 1-Learn CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model)
> 2-Create an application where a user can insert some
> money and than go to a database get a lot of past
> data of the assets, make some analysis and create a
> optimal portfolio (minimum risk and maximum
> rentability)
Very interesting. Do you think there's room for more general software of this kind? I mean some shrink-wrapped Monte Carlo program people could use to managage a portfolio with visualization of the data.
embla, No, and if you tried it you'd be excommunicated, bankrupted, shot, flogged, drawn, quartered, and buried in an unmarked grave.
Asset management is the declared purview of the big banks, and they are serious about protecting it.
They do pay well though... just forget the shrink wrap.
keith.
> can show I'm capable
> of developing applications for these types of
> companies. So in my spare time, I would like to
> develop one or more of these types of applications
> the showcase my skillset to these types of companies.
With a BS in CS you don't have to prove that you can program.
I think you instead should concentrate on statistics & probability. The introductory courses offered in a normal CS program won't do. Look for intermediate courses covering stochastic processes and bayesan networks and such.
I think you should also take some applied courses like statistical methods in finance and portfolio theory etcetera.
Another important area is visualization I think. There's so much financial data produced that has to densed down, characterized and presented.
It's much easier to get this grounding now when you're in university than it is later on the job. It's much better to get a strong financial/computer profile in your exam than diverting your energies on some programs you write at the side.
> embla, No, and if you tried it you'd be
> excommunicated, bankrupted, shot, flogged, drawn,
> quartered, and buried in an unmarked grave.
>
> Asset management is the declared purview of the big
> banks, and they are serious about protecting it.
>
> They do pay well though... just forget the shrink
> wrap.
Sure you get paid as a hired hand but it doesn't take you anywhere.
When I said shrink wrapped think of it as a framework and a toolbox. The banks want their models to be secret and they still will be. It's like wordprocessors. They help you process words any way you want them but they're no threat to any secret documents you produce.
embla, Yeah, now you're thinking... as long as it's not shrink wrapped, and it's got the words "new and improved" on the label you'll go well... and don't forget to sell them all "exclusive rights" (to this version). keith.
But Seriously... the big money in banks is still handled mostly with COBOL (remember that gents) programs, running on VMS and unix... coz they're there, they're stable, and they work.
The big money for "projects" is definitely in the presentation layer. MIS & warehousing have had more money thrown at them than the moon landing, for which IMHO they have deliver exactly squat.
The general MO is "make it so complicated that the management don't understand it, then you get an infinite budget because the management can't ever be see to not understand it... therefore it must be made to work, irregardless of the cost".... I offer Iraq, and Australian Cutom's failed export shipping control system as two prime case studies of modern KPI management at work.
Message was edited by: corlettk - typo's
To the OP. The forum is a little slow on weekends and many posters make strange replies -:) Bump your thread on monday morning and I'm sure you get more replies.
>$90,000.00 - $120,000.00 Per/YearEUR5,800 - EUR7,700 / month straight out of school? Wtf? I'm lucky if I can get half of that when I graduate...=)
