Engaging with society by leveraging a mathematical background. Finding my path at the forefront of financial engineering.

Profile

From Matsumoto Fukashi High School, Nagano Prefecture

Influenced by my father, a math teacher, I became interested in science and mathematics, while also searching for a way to "contribute to society through a mathematical approach."

While studying a wide range of subjects at the Faculty of Science and Technology, I encountered financial engineering—the exact field I had envisioned—and decided to join an asset management company to utilize this knowledge.

[*] Year of enrollment at the time of the interview (November 2017).

I've been a good runner since junior high, so in high school, I joined the track and field club and spent every day training. My events were the sprint and relay. I even placed fifth in the Nagano prefectural meet. I also participated in a track and field class for local elementary school students, run mainly by track and field club alumni and current students. At the time, I wasn't consciously trying to learn anything, but looking back, I feel that my experience with sports has become a core part of who I am.

Aiming for a balance between academics and athletics, I always tried to place in the top 10 of my grade on regular exams. My high school had a culture that valued student autonomy, which conversely meant that we had to be self-motivated. So, I used the study room to study little by little in the spare moments between classes and club activities. After retiring from my club, I studied from morning till night to catch up. I struggled with switching my mindset then, so I think it might have been better to continue exercising a little, like by going for a run.

Because my father was a math teacher, I've always liked science and math subjects. However, I hadn't decided on a specific future goal, so being able to choose my department after enrolling was a key criterion for me. I felt I would have regrets if my life's path was decided without understanding its essence. That's why the environment where I could settle down and study only after a clear goal came into view was so appealing.

Also, while researching my future path, I learned that there was a field of study that uses a mathematical background to approach social problems. Although it was a vague idea, I wanted to do that kind of research, and I chose Keio University because it offered that option.

I enrolled in "School 2" and initially studied a wide range of fields. But at that stage, I didn't need to decide my future yet. I think it was a time to absorb various things while figuring out what I wanted to do and what I was capable of. After that, there were two main options for me. There was the Department of Mathematics, which delves into the study of mathematics itself, and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, which uses mathematics as a tool to solve problems. I chose the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, following my initial inclination from before I enrolled. There are many fields that directly apply mathematical knowledge to society, such as factory production management, corporate management, and artificial intelligence. What they have in common is that, unlike mathematics, which focuses solely on numbers and formulas, they require a broad study of various related disciplines. It also demands communication skills, so I find it to be a challenging but rewarding field of study.

"Industrial Engineering" in the "Industrial and Systems Engineering Experiments and Exercises I" course, which I took in my third year of undergraduate studies. It was an experiment where we considered how to streamline the process of disassembling and reassembling playground equipment. We allocated personnel—how many people to assemble, how many to disassemble, how many to transport tools—and then analyzed and improved the process while actually doing the work. We had a lecture-based class on IE (Industrial Engineering) before this, but I think the real achievement was gaining a practical understanding of the knowledge by doing the work ourselves. It's not limited to this experiment; the Faculty of Science and Technology has many hours dedicated to experiments and exercises. The fields of study are broad, but a key feature is that you can experience each one through practical exercises, which allows for a more fundamental understanding.

As part of an entrepreneurship experience program in one of my lectures, we set up a food stall at the school festival. After analyzing revenue data from past stalls, we chose to sell fried ice cream. Since it's ice cream, it's good on hot days, and because it's fried and warm, it's also good on chilly days. One of the reasons for choosing it was that it wasn't heavily affected by the weather. This experience of applying the knowledge of business strategy, marketing, and financial accounting that I learned in lectures to a real-world situation was more than just running a stall; by operating as a business, I believe I was able to acquire the necessary knowledge and mindset. Of course, another takeaway is that it was a lot of fun.

Based on various experiences during my undergraduate years, the research field I ultimately decided on was financial engineering. This is a discipline that analyzes finance based on mathematical and engineering knowledge such as probability, statistics, OR (operations research), and optimization. Furthermore, since we are dealing with the fluid entity that is the market, an even broader range of knowledge, including psychology and economics, is required. The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering has fewer required courses compared to other departments, giving us the time and flexibility to choose and pursue fields of interest. I believe that being able to focus on my areas of interest was one of the reasons I decided on this research theme of financial engineering.

Financial data is not clean data; it contains a lot of noise. Statistically processing and optimizing this noisy data is both a struggle and a joy.

Financial engineering is also a field that is relatively close to the real world. At university, we tend to seek only academic rigor, but in society, perspectives such as the feasibility and convenience of asset management, and how that is communicated to clients, are also necessary. There are many practitioners rather than scholars at academic conferences, and more realistic thinking is required. This means that we can acquire very practical knowledge. In fact, a mutual fund financial product developed in collaboration with an asset management company has even been sold. This was a great encouragement.

I have decided to join an asset management company that creates investment plans for mutual funds and other products. The work is an extension of my current research theme, which is exactly the career path I wanted. In recent years, the low-interest-rate environment has continued, making it a difficult era to build sufficient assets through savings alone. The need for personal asset management will likely increase. Financial engineering, which is the basis for this, is a field that will become increasingly important. However, there are very few laboratories in Japan specializing in this field—fewer than ten. Among them, Keio University has two financial engineering laboratories in the Faculty of Science and Technology. There are also several in the Faculty of Economics. In other words, Keio University is at the forefront of financial engineering research in Japan, and I believe there is no better environment for studying it.