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Quantitative Finance

Quantitative finance is a field that applies mathematical and statistical methods to analyze financial markets and instruments.

  • 27 articles
  • 35 videos
  • 4½ hours of reading

It involves developing models and algorithms to price derivatives, manage risk, and make investment decisions based on quantitative analysis of market data.

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3 articles · 35 min

  1. Standard Deviation in Finance: Volatility Explained

    Standard deviation measures the dispersion of investment returns, quantifying how much a stock or portfolio’s performance varies over time.

    11 min readLevel: FoundationsCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  2. Portfolio Diversification: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters

    Learn how portfolio diversification reduces risk, the diversification ratio formula, and practical strategies for building a well-diversified portfolio.

    10 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  3. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): Formula and Example

    The Capital Asset Pricing Model describes the relationship between systematic risk and expected return, providing a framework for pricing risky assets.

    14 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

Portfolio Analytics

8 parts · 1½ hours

  1. Beta in Finance: What It Is, How to Calculate It, and Why It Matters

    Beta is one of the most important risk metrics in finance. Whether you’re evaluating a single stock, building a diversified portfolio, or studying for the CFA…

    9 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  2. Sharpe Ratio: Formula, Interpretation, and Examples

    The Sharpe ratio measures risk-adjusted return per unit of total volatility, making it the most widely used performance metric in finance.

    11 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  3. Correlation vs Covariance in Finance: Key Differences

    Correlation and covariance quantify how two assets move relative to each other, forming the foundation of portfolio diversification and risk management.

    9 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  4. Efficient Frontier: Portfolio Optimization Explained

    Learn what the efficient frontier is, how Markowitz mean-variance optimization works, and how to identify optimal portfolios using the Capital Allocation Line.

    13 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorVideo

  5. Treynor Ratio: Formula, Interpretation, and Treynor vs Sharpe

    The Treynor ratio measures risk-adjusted portfolio performance by dividing excess return by beta, making it the standard metric for evaluating well-diversified…

    11 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  6. Jensen’s Alpha: Definition, Formula, and Example

    Jensen’s Alpha measures a portfolio’s risk-adjusted performance by comparing its actual return to the return predicted by the CAPM, isolating the portion…

    10 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

  7. Maximum Drawdown: What It Is, How to Calculate It, and Why It Matters

    Maximum drawdown measures the largest peak-to-trough percentage decline in a portfolio or investment before a new peak is established — the worst cumulative…

    11 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorVideo

  8. Monte Carlo Simulation in Finance: How It Works and Why It Matters

    Learn how Monte Carlo simulation generates probability distributions of portfolio outcomes for retirement planning, risk estimation, and scenario analysis.

    10 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorVideo

Statistics for Finance

10 parts · 1½ hours

  1. Descriptive Statistics: Central Tendency and Dispersion

    Learn how to use descriptive statistics in finance including arithmetic mean, geometric mean, median, variance, standard deviation, and coefficient…

    13 min readLevel: FoundationsCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  2. Skewness and Kurtosis: Understanding Fat Tails in Return Distributions

    Learn how skewness measures return asymmetry and kurtosis measures tail thickness. Understand why normal distribution assumptions can understate extreme event…

    8 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  3. Probability Distributions in Finance: Normal, Lognormal, Binomial, and Student’s t

    Learn which probability distributions describe financial variables, how to read PDFs and CDFs, and when each assumption fails.

    12 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel modelVideo

  4. Bayesian Updating in Finance: Revising Probabilities with New Evidence

    Learn how to use Bayesian updating to revise probability estimates when new evidence arrives, with practical finance examples including credit risk signal…

    8 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

  5. Central Limit Theorem and Sampling Distributions

    The Central Limit Theorem explains why sample averages become normally distributed as sample size grows, enabling confidence intervals and hypothesis tests…

    7 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

  6. Confidence Intervals: Statistical Estimation in Finance

    Learn how confidence intervals quantify estimation uncertainty for means, proportions, and financial statistics.

    9 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

  7. Hypothesis Testing in Finance: z-Tests, t-Tests, and p-Values

    Learn how to apply hypothesis testing to evaluate investment performance, test portfolio strategies, and interpret statistical significance in finance.

    11 min readLevel: Core

  8. Type I and Type II Errors, Statistical Power, and p-Hacking

    Every statistical test in finance carries the risk of two types of errors. A Type I error means acting on a signal that isn’t real — like hiring a manager…

    9 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

  9. Simulation Methods: Historical, Bootstrap, and Monte Carlo

    Compare historical simulation, bootstrap simulation, and Monte Carlo simulation methods in finance. Learn when to use each approach, their assumptions…

    11 min readLevel: Core

  10. Cholesky Decomposition for Correlated Asset Simulation

    Learn how Cholesky decomposition converts independent random draws into correlated simulation inputs for multi-asset Monte Carlo analysis.

    8 min readLevel: AdvancedCalculator

Interest Rate Models

4 parts · 37 min

  1. Vasicek Model: Mean-Reverting Interest Rates & Bond Pricing

    The Vasicek model is the foundational framework for stochastic interest rate modeling. Learn the mean-reverting SDE, bond pricing formulas, yield curve…

    12 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

  2. CIR Model: Square-Root Diffusion and Non-Negative Interest Rates

    The Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) model uses square-root diffusion to ensure interest rates stay non-negative. Learn the CIR SDE, Feller condition, and bond pricing…

    8 min readLevel: AdvancedCalculatorExcel model

  3. Hull-White Model: Calibration to the Yield Curve

    The Hull-White model extends Vasicek by adding a time-varying mean reversion level, enabling exact calibration to the initial term structure for interest rate…

    8 min readLevel: Advanced

  4. HJM Framework: Heath-Jarrow-Morton Forward Rate Modeling

    The Heath-Jarrow-Morton (HJM) framework models the entire forward rate curve directly, with drift determined by volatility through the no-arbitrage condition.

    9 min readLevel: Advanced

Value at Risk

2 parts · 25 min

  1. Value at Risk (VaR): Formula, Methods, and Examples From Financial Risk Management

    Value at Risk (VaR) measures the loss threshold not expected to be exceeded at a given confidence level over a specified time horizon.

    13 min readLevel: FoundationsCalculatorVideo

  2. Expected Shortfall (CVaR): Formula, Calculation, and Examples From Financial Risk Management

    Expected Shortfall (CVaR) measures the average loss in the worst-case tail of a portfolio return distribution, answering the question VaR leaves open: how bad…

    12 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorVideo

Volatility Modeling

2 parts · 22 min

  1. Historical Volatility: Parkinson, Garman-Klass & Rogers-Satchell

    Learn efficient volatility estimation using OHLC data with Parkinson, Garman-Klass, and Rogers-Satchell estimators.

    9 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

  2. Stochastic Volatility: Heston Model Explained From Options & Derivatives

    Learn how the Heston stochastic volatility model treats variance as a random process, explains the volatility smile through correlation, and compares to GARCH…

    13 min readLevel: Advanced

More articles

2 articles · 21 min

  • Finite Difference Methods for Option Pricing From Options & Derivatives

    Learn how finite difference methods solve the Black-Scholes PDE on a discrete grid. Covers explicit, implicit, and Crank-Nicolson schemes with stability…

    11 min readLevel: Core

  • Kelly Criterion: Optimal Position Sizing for Traders

    The Kelly Criterion is a mathematical formula that determines the optimal fraction of capital to risk on each trade to maximize long-term portfolio growth.

    10 min readLevel: CoreCalculatorExcel model

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Free course Portfolio Analytics & Risk Management 82 lessons · pairs with 11 of these articles

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Videos on Quantitative Finance

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