FIN 4510
Options, Futures and Derivative Securities
Examines the theory and practical application of derivative securities such as futures, options and swaps. Central to the theory of derivative security pricing is arbitrage and payoff replication. In practice, derivative securities provide a principal route to manage and, in particular, hedge financial risk. Futures, options and swaps on different types of underlying assets are examined with emphasis on pricing and application.
Instructors
Asaf Manela, Jason Donaldson, Jian Cai, Linda Schilling, Lorenzo Naranjo, Philip Dybvig
Reviews
The most kind and knowledgeable professor! I am fortunate that I took a class with him. I wish I had taken more of his classes earlier. Attendance is not compulsory, but please make sure you are familiar with all the homework. He is very responsive if you have any questions.
3/12/2026
Professor Schilling's lectures are extremely useful. The material is challenging, but she explains it clearly, stays organized, and works through problems step-by-step in class. I don't really find her rude; often students don't engage, and when she asks questions, many stay quiet on their screens. She's an excellent professor if you pay attention.
2/26/2026
Not the greatest, not the worst. Learned a lot from the course and she was super kind. Much better than the second-half of the course taught by the other professor (Linda).
12/17/2025
Professor Schilling is the worst teacher I've had. Idk how she's still teaching here, but her lectures are vague and high level without any explanation. Simply copy and pasted from a textbook. She doesn't respond or is vague and passive aggressive to students answering questions. She also violates her own syllabus policies. It is very hard to learn
12/12/2025
Schilling is a difficult teacher. Her lectures are not of the highest quality, and she provides little information regarding exams. That being said, many of the ratings below are overblown; she is merely a bad teacher, not a nightmare.
12/12/2025
Professor Schilling is the WORST professor I have ever had. She is inaccessible during crucial exam periods, shows no effort and treats students as an INCONVENIENCE, and is RUDE in response to student questions. Her lectures are incredibly disorganized and she is very unclear about what is and is not relevant to exams.
12/10/2025
Overall, very clear lectures and expectations. Good at explaining difficult concepts. Would definitely recommend.
12/10/2025
Very well-organized and did a great job explaining everything clearly. Offered many office hours and constantly sent out reminders/emails; truly cares about her students.
12/8/2025
Kind, really well-organized, pushy but in a good way. The exams were very hard but curved. I start appreciate her even more after experiencing how the other professor messed up everything.
12/3/2025
Very good Professor who trully cares about her students! Do study hard and you will learn a lot from her course. However, the course content is very hard so I would recommend fixing it and don't put everything in a semester. However, a very great prof and highly recommended!
12/23/2024
Professor Cai is one of the best professors I have had at WashU. Although the content of her course is very challenging, she is genuinely the nicest professor I've met and cares about her students a lot. I never felt afraid to approach her with questions or concerns.
12/5/2024
6-8 hrs/week
The material itself was very difficult but thankfully we had take home exams for the midterms and final which was super helpful!
6/6/2024
2 or less hrs/week
Naranjo doesn’t have formal assignments / homework so the week of a final exam is a grind. Lots of abstract concepts so that’s why I believe it harder than another traditional finance class. Not too bad if you have an excel that can help with the problems. Professor is very passionate and has a lot of energy! Kinda hard to follow though if you aren’t caught up :/
5/20/2024
Worst professor I have had at WashU. Extremely disorganized, you can tell he doesn't prep for lectures since they're often off-topic, full of errors, or just plain confusing. The exams were horribly written and usually had averages 65, they barely related to content from class. Professor often was dismissive and condescending to confused students.
5/14/2021
Take this class if you are a masochist. Seriously, take this class with other professors if you can. You learn nothing and the tests are hard.
4/6/2021
Please take the option class with another professor. The class is too disorganized.
4/6/2021
Donaldson is a really nice guy and in the beginning you love his personality. As the semester goes on you realize he isn't explaining anything, he just expects you to know all of the topics already. He is very disorganized. Exams are extremely difficult, tested on topics we never even spoke about. If you can take options with someone else, do it.
4/1/2021
Professor Donaldson is a really nice guy. He loves students to ask him questions and he is very willing to answer them. However, his teaching can be very confusing. He does not teach in a very clear way. TA session is really helpful because it basically give away answers to the assignment. Exams are very DIFFICULT.
3/11/2021
Enjoyed going to classes. The assignments are tough mainly because they're usually based on real life data, making things not clear; the professor asks students to make assumptions and move on if stuck. But if you do go through all these, you will learn a lot. Go to classes and ask questions. It is where the professor actually gives you information
1/13/2016
Extremely knowledge/intelligent. Puts a lot of work into preparing lectures and the class in general. The weekly problem sets are hard and will probably take a long time. Learned so much finance it's ridiculous. Teaches interesting and useful topics like Monte Carlo Simulation. Can't say enough praise.
5/8/2014