Certificate in Python for Finance

In September of 2025, I officially start my next online certification program, the Certificate in Python for Finance. The course consists of 350+ hours of video, 2750+ pages of text, 85,000+ lines of code, in 500+ Jupyter notebooks. You also get access to seven eBooks related to using Python in Finance. If you guessed this program is not the cheapest option online you’d be correct.

I previously read one of Yves Hilpisch’s books back when I was unemployed or had just started working in Finance. A lot has happened since then including COVID-19. I still work for the same firm in Calgary but there is a renewed push to use AI in Finance and although that is not the book I previously read, I had been following Yves on Twitter and was on his mailing list for years, so was familiar with the courses he also offered.

The CPF, however looked like a lot of work, and my day job of course is demanding. Although, I’d already learned a fair amount of Python, I’m just not leveraging in my day job. However, anything involving AI, machine learning, or natural language processing is getting pushed hard at the firm and in the industry. So as we have a professional development budget which I had not been touching, it was hinted strongly I should do something.

Adventures in Python

In 2018, I finally passed the third and final CFA® exam. The running joke online back then was as soon as you finished studying for the CFA exam you started learning Python, so of course I did. Python was also appearing on many, many job postings and I was definitely looking for a new job in 2018.

Eventually, I did find a new job but I had to relocate halfway around the world to do so. While all that was going on I continued to learn Python eventually reading a book by Wes McKinney. I definitely read Wes’s book before I read any of Yves’s books. Wes has a lengthy biography on his website and he must speak at conferences, however his books and online tutorials will have to suffice if you want to learn more about pandas from its creator.

After reading “Python for Data Analysis”, I must have moved on to financial analysis which is when I took my first online Python course through Udemy. It was about that time, when I read one of Yves books. And during this period I finally got a new job and relocated to Calgary where Python largely got put on hold as there was a large project involving moving the firm from things like Advent Portfolio Exchange, FactSet, and Charles River IMS to SimCorp Dimensions. I also made a lot of Power BI dashboards and wrote a lot of SQL, but almost no Python code.

Having already completed one online course and not even mentioning it on my resume for six years, I enrolled in another certificate leveraging Python, this time offered by the CFA Institute as I was being strongly encouraged on multiple fronts to do more professional development and to get on the AI bandwagon.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing were some of the focuses of the Data Science for Investment Professionals certificate I just completed. This was actually my 2024 professional development as I started this certificate in October of 2024. The Data Science for Investment Professionals certificate consists of five online courses and I estimated it took me well over 100 hours to complete them all. The other program I considered last year was the CPF. So I doubled down on Python for Finance.

Preparing for the Program

I probably should have prepared even more for this online course. I was strongly encouraged to do an introductory online course on Yves’s platform and I intend to. It seems to be 35 videos long and likely covers some of the material in the books I’ve read and the previous two online courses I’ve taken.

The online learning platform is of course password protected, but Yves and the CPF program are on social media and prior to registering I did watch one or two free online videos where Yves introduces some of the material that will be covered, explains why the material was chosen, and how the online learning platform works. He refers to his online learning platform as “the Quant Platform” if you watch the two videos below.

More to come…

Obviously I hope to complete this next online professional development certificate program in a timely manner, though it likely will take me longer than sixteen weeks. I also hope to learn more about using Python in Finance and I really am going to do something with Python in Finance and it may even involved AI, machine learning, and natural language processing. But right now I’m dog sitting for my sister and her dog is quite demanding.

I also hope to blog about some of my learnings. Obviously there are a lot of Python resources online and there are a lot of micro-credentials and certificates you can earn online, so my writings may be of some use to others considering how to spend their professional development dollars or just looking to up skill and enhance their resume. In 2025, the job market may be even more competitive than it was six or seven years ago. My plan is to add more content to this post, but I might write multiple posts on learning Python for Finance and have actually linked to four others I’ve already written above. However if you have any questions you can leave a comment below.

This entry was originaly posted on August 22nd, 2025, it was last edited on August 22nd, 2025 and is filed under: Personal Improvement and tagged: Finance, Professional Development, Python.