Quant Guide 2020: KU Leuven

Leuven, Belgium

 

While KU Leuven’s Master of Science in Actuarial and Financial Engineering is a two-year course, taught in English, there is a matching programme available for Dutch speakers. Course director is Katrien Antonio. Teaching duties for the master’s are shared between KU Leuven’s faculty of economics and business and its maths department.

Content includes instruction in financial mathematics and engineering, risk management and data analytics plus coursework on regulation topics. Computational classes in R, Python and Matlab accompany coursework and students have the option of taking internships as part of their electives. Alternatives to interning include a research project at Leuven’s LRisk research centre and a summer school programme. Degree candidates are also able to travel abroad for one semester in their second year as part of an academic exchange programme.

In the past year, some modules have expanded to include online elements; web lectures are now offered in loss models and foundations of quantitative risk management, says Antonio. Developments to the academic offerings include a new series of lectures given by industry speakers, updated course content and a heightened emphasis on computational elements and in-demand programming languages.

The faculty features a range of industry practitioners. Instructors include actuarial science professor Jan Dhaene, a board member of risk consultancy Reacfin; financial engineering professor Wim Schoutens, a founder of fintech RiskConcile and an independent adviser to the European Commission; and assistant professor Kristien Smedts, a board member of Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority.

View this institution’s entry in the 2019 guide

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