Reseberättelse – EM Lyon 2014-2015
The School
EMLYON Business School is considered one of the top business schools in France, as well as
outside France. It offers you an international atmosphere, with students from different nationalities
and ethnicities, such as, Canada China, Japan, Mexico, US, Spain, etc. In terms of teaching, the
professors have significant previous working experience. The classes are quite intensive and you
need to be prepared to spend hours in the school as well as at home working. Usually the classes
are from 9 to 17 o´clock every day and there are few group assignments. Therefore, apart from
giving the necessary theoretical information, they also offer practical information to be prepared
to the real world. Also, the school is continuously giving conferences and speeches from wellknown companies. There are lots of internship offers, specially using the internal school system.
Lyon
Lyon is a beautiful city, considered the second largest in France. Also, it is well situated, just 2
hours away using the TGV (High Speed Train) from Paris, Geneva, etc. The French language is
not a requirement, but I strongly suggest to try to learn it to be able to understand their culture and
fell more home. All in all, it is a safe city, well organized and with good public transportation.
Courses
The Master in Specialized Quantitative Finance at EMLYON Business School is quite intensive.
It requires previous mathematical knowledge, more than the courses in Lund University. Indeed,
most of the students in the program are Mathematician and Engineers. You will spend many hours
in school to attend the mandatory courses as well as at home working on your own. It consists of
30 ECTS but you can choose extra courses which are not mandatory but really interesting.
Stochastic processes – Professor Francois Quittard-Pinon and head of the Program. It is one of
the most complicated courses and it is given almost during the whole semester. Highly
mathematical. The notes during the course cover the exam, as well as few more exercises.
Life insurance – Quite easy course, which is given just over one week. The exam is open book.
VBA-Matlab-C++ - Not necessary previous knowledge in Programming to be able to pass this
course. They give the course from the beginning, so you are easily able to follow. Most of the
course is based on VBA, since it is one of the most important tool used in banking. It is a multiple
choice exam.
Options theory – Intensive course, which is given by a professor with previous banking
experience as a trader and with a Phd in Mathematics. The course covers many aspects related
with derivatives, starting from the basic to more complicated pricing models. There is just one
assignment. The notes are uploaded at the platform of the school and they cover all the exam.
Time series analysis – This course is not too complicated and it is quite similar to the Econometric
course we have in the first year in the Master in Finance at Lund University. It is an open book
exam.
Fixed income – I found this course really interesting, which is related with bond pricing. There
are few exercises to be done, but really useful to practice for the exam. It is a closed book exam.
Portfolio management – This course is given by Mr. Quittard Pinon during the last part of the
semester. It is related with the Mean Variance theory, CAPM and optimization problems. It is a
closed book exam.
Risk measures – A course to understand how to measure the risk using the VaR, Expected
Shortfall, etc. It is a closed book exam.
Pension funds – A course similar to the life insurance, which is not too complicated. Open book
exam.
Interest rate risk management – Advanced course of Fixed Income, which covers more
mathematical and advanced pricing models. It is a closed book exam.
Model implementation – The course is quite advanced in mathematics and programing. There is
not an exam but a couple of assignments.
Commodities – Optional course but highly recommended. I attended to few lessons and I found
really interesting the way the teacher gives the classes and the application in the Computers.
Model risk – A course which covers the risk area including VaR, ES, Basel, Solvency, etc. It is a
closed book exam.
Housing
In my case I live in the residence of the campus, Le Galion. It was really convenient since I was
leaving just in front of the school and considering that the classes are almost every day from 9 to
17 I found it really comfortable. The residence is consisted of different corridors and it depends in
which program you are. In my case since the Master in Quantitative Finance just consists of 20
students, I was in the Luxury Brand Management corridor. It was nice, especially considering that
we have a lady who was cleaning the room once a week as well as the kitchen. The rent was 470
euros. However, one inconvenient to leave here is that it is 20 min away from the center. Although
there are good public transports (every 15 min line 3), it can be complicate if you want to go out
at night.
Free French course
The school offers you free French course during the whole semester in the campus. It is really
useful and you will learn a lot, since you will practice what you learnt with your fellow students
and outside the campus. You will have the opportunity to choose your level and almost every 2
weeks you will take exams to see your progress. In my case, it was every Monday after the classes,
from 17 to 18.30. Do not miss this opportunity to get closer to their culture.
Thought and recommendations
I strongly recommend to take part in this exchange program. The Master in Specialized
Quantitative Finance will give you advanced mathematical and practical skills to work in an
excellent banking corporation. The school is well known internationally so you will have greater
chances to get your desire job. I am more than sure that you will love Lyon, specially Vieux Lyon
and Bellecour. Do not forget to register for the Free French course so as to be able to learn or
improve a beautiful language as French is. I will be more than welcome to answer all your
questions. You can reach me in the following way:
ainhoalandavallejo@gmail.com
Ainhoa Landa Vallejo, HT/VT 14-15