TORONTO, October 21, 2002 -- A new graduate-level finance program has been launched at the University of Toronto designed to equip students with the tools and skills required for successful careers in corporate finance and investments. With its first cohort of 13 students, who started in September 2002, the Master of Financial Economics Program is a small-enrolment, collaborative program of the University's Department of Economics and the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management. Graduates of the Program will receive a professional degree called the Master of Financial Economics (MFE).

The 16-month, non-thesis program is delivered over three terms. Students complete 12 courses and a four-month summer internship between terms two and three. Offered on a full-time basis only, the MFE Program is designed to equip students with strong analytical economics and finance skills together with an understanding of how financial markets operate. Students in the Program can pursue careers in portfolio analysis, security valuation, risk management, corporate financing, mergers and acquisitions, and international finance.

"The course of study requires high-level quantitative and analytical skills" says Greg Jump, co-director of the Program and professor of Economics. "The Program is aimed primarily at students who have recently completed undergraduate degrees in Economics."

"We welcome applications from these students and from others who have recently completed B.A., B.Sc. or B.Com. degrees, provided they have completed the requisite courses in economics, mathematics and statistics," says co-director and professor of Economics and Finance Varouj Aivazian.

Graduates of the MFE's pilot program, which ran between 1999 and 2001, were eagerly hired by employers ranging from banks to private consulting firms, at starting salaries significantly above those offered to new MA's in Economics.

Peter Pauly, Associate Dean, Research and Academic Resources and professor of Business Economics at the Rotman School of Management, says graduates of this program will be able to enter the workplace and provide an immediate positive contribution. "MFE graduates will be trained to understand the implications of international market integration and the fundamentals associated with the valuation of securities in a market increasingly dominated by technology-based firms. They will have the analytical and quantitative skills required to meet the challenges faced in a rapidly changing marketplace."

Recently ranking among the world's leading business schools by the Wall Street Journal and Business Week, the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management offers leading-edge research and degree programs.

The highly-regarded Department of Economics at the University of Toronto offers research in all fields of economics and a wide range of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

For further information, please contact:

Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
105 St. George Street
Toronto, ON M5S 3E6
Voice: (416) 946-3818
Fax: (416) 978-1373
E-mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca