Finance Magnates recently spoke with Gus Farrow, FXStreet’s Product Developer and Course Leader, as well as the architect behind the company’s course offering at the University of Essex Online – the course is the result of an ambitious two-year initiative by Mr. Farrow, who hand picked the university for FXStreet’s flagship program.
According to Mr. Farrow, “This was a big two-year commitment, and sometimes relied on some trial and error and research, and we were extremely happy to partner with the University of Essex. We feel the University of Essex Online presents the ideal ecosystem for our course to thrive.”
More specifically, FXStreet has teamed up with the University of Essex Online to offer a Financial Trading Analysis (FTA) program, which also features a Masters-level introduction to finance. The program caters to both novices and professionals who utilize an interest in Risk Management and a wide range of trading.
“One great thing about working with the University of Essex Online is they already had a masters and MBA program which students can progress onto. When our students graduate with their postgraduate certification, it can count towards a MBA concurrently, which is a huge draw for prospective individuals,” added Mr. Farrow.
Indeed, the program touches on a multitude of different asset classes, including foreign exchange (FX), commodities, equities and money markets. Speaking about the program’s genesis, Mr. Farrow noted, “I think one of thoughts behind this program was that education is in a bubble now, as it’s difficult to take a year of work to study with no guarantee of a job at the end. Thus, we wanted to create a situation to compartmentalize a Masters that individuals can study in their own time while keeping their own job. They can study for a period of only four months and proceed to further courses.”
We wanted to create a situation to compart-mentalize a Masters that individuals can study in their own time.
Mr. Farrow relied on the framework of the curriculum from his tenure at FXStreet, having been at the forefront of financial markets for the past several years. Subsequently, the program has already cultured a robust interest in the UK and has secured a number of individuals.
“Presently, the courses are running to have between 10-20 people enrolled, however we are still only midway through the process and as our marketing gets more sophisticated the message will be more finely tuned and so we can tailor it to what people are looking for. We have the option to adjust course based on feedback and everything is a learning process and what works and what doesn't work.”
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The course will feature a number of leading professionals and industry mavens from the financial services industry, all of whom will be acting instructors for the program at the University of Essex.
“We are learning from traders and fund managers and this is an approach we have taken in this course. Moreover, we have a number of leading professionals who are heading the courses, which will allow our students to have a truly expert perspective.”
We are learning from traders and fund managers and this is an approach we have taken in this course.
Speaking to the flexibility and versatility of the course itself, Mr. Farrow stated, “We have a rolling contract at the moment and are exploring how this can work. We can see how the demand is and how we can provide it for students in hopes of finding an equilibrium. We have also contemplated a move to B2B as well and have already spoken with a lot of financial entities and trading firms who have a lot of staff in regulated environments.”
With such a premium on education and technical training, the program has definitely garnered substantiated interest in the UK. Ultimately, “There is a gap in terms of education, which justified thinking about the creation a product based on market compliance and Regulation . We segmented the cost of the MBA to price the course accordingly, and it offers students a truly comprehensive learning experience,” Mr. Farrow added.
Prospective students and individuals interested in more information on the program can access the following link.
