[10] Masters in Financial Economics [1] are usually one to one and a half years in duration, and typically include a thesis or research component.
The curriculum is distributed between theory, applications, and modelling, with the emphasis on each differing by university and program, as outlined.
These degrees aim to train practitioners and "quants" — i.e. specialists in derivatives, fixed income and risk analysis — as opposed to economists, and their curricula are therefore weighted toward stochastic calculus, numerical methods, simulation techniques and programming, and are quantitative (well) beyond the level of the Financial Economics degree.
On the other hand, coverage of financial and economic theory, and econometrics, while significant, is comparatively secondary.
Similar comments apply to professional certifications such as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.