Roche, Herve  

this class is boring. on the upside it is also based on less than a dozen formulas and he does not take role. totally agree with the pathetic finance department theory. Cyrus is a pompous idiot.

Roche is an okay professor. He doesn't required you to buy the text which is nice. Tests are pretty easy because it based directly off the homework. His has a soft voice and French accent so you might not be able to hear or understand him if you sit to far away. His lectures are okay. Homework was also okay, but sometimes it's hard to find the right equations to use, etc. because he doesn't really go over a lot of examples in class. He lectures more on the theoretical side. Overall I would recommend him. Assignments and midterm is 30% each and final is 40% if I remember correctly.

Roche wasn't a great teacher by any stretch of the imagination. His accent took some getting used to. Our class was in a lab, so most people just messed around on the computers the entire time. His tests were fairly straight forward, with the work-out problems similar to the homework. One problem was that he had a tendency to argue/explain why an answer or equation was wrong. He would go through all the calculations and diagrams etc. and after 10 minutes, would cross it out and say something like "but that is not what we are looking for." His lecture notes were pretty bad, and I spent most of the time looking up equations online rather than sifting through notes. But overall, the class is managable, but I think the general consensus was that he left us students unpared for future classes.

there seems to be a consensus among finance students: the finance department is a quagmire when it comes to educating students, and there are some serious issues with the skill of the department's teachers. roche is no exception. this is my third finance class, and my third pathetic professor. i don't deny that roche is intelligent, but his inability to clearly communicate and present a cohesive lecture is what makes him a bad professor. the material, as it turns out, isn't too bad. I just took the midterm, and i learned the majority of the material in the days prior to the exam (not in the 7 weeks of class before hand). i dont know what else to say. the finance department at cal poly is pathetic, and i am ashamed to be a finance student. cal poly needs to seriously reevaluate the professors in this department, starting with cyrus (i seriously doubt his judgment and skill as the department head).

Herve Roche is THE WORST teacher I have ever had. I never thought I would hate any teacher more than Alan Weatherford, but Roche makes Weatherford look like a Rhodes Scholar. There is no organization or discernible method to Roche's instruction technique. His French accent is so strong that you can barely understand the guy. He scribbles illegible nonsense on different parts of the board when demonstrating how to solve a problem. He loosely follows the lecture notes during class, which are slightly more understandable than him, but not clear by any means. His quizzes are unpredictable and focus on extremely subtle conceptual nuances. The midterm and final are easier as they are very similar to the homework he assigns. He also carries himself like a true Frenchman - with an air of self-importance and superiority. He always carries a bottle of Perrier or a little cup of espresso, he has the typical wan, sickly French complexion, he has a stick-man body, he has a cashmere sweater tied around his neck every class, and you can smell his body odor from the back row. He's so obviously obsessed with his inane accoutrement and cuisine, it's no wonder his country has never lifted a finger to defend the free world. Roche is a walking Frog stereotype and I want to bash in his skull with the butt of an M16.

HAHAHAHAHA.... Holy shit... Okay, so I had Roche last quarter, but I am taking a moment out of my day to comment on Poly Ratings for the very first time in the 4 years which I have attended Cal Poly in order to say the following: Whoever made the comment below me, that is the funniest shit I have ever heard in my life... That is all... I'm Out P.S. I don't think he's that bad though ; ) Do the homework, go to class, take good notes, and you'll be just fine, but if you're looking for any in-depth learning, you're going to have to seek it out yourself. He does quiz on whacked out little nuances, but if you pay close attention in class you can usually interpret what he's getting at and what the answer should be. If you really want to get something significant out of your Cal Poly Finance experience, take Gorman. M-16.... HA!

Roche is a brilliant man, but you can tell he does not care about his teaching. If he took teaching seriously this could be a good class, but he doesn\'t and it shows.

He is a good teacher that gets the information across fine. For the midterm and final make sure your notes are fill with the exercise problems from the homework assignments and you will do fine. For the quizzes go on the book\'s website and do the multiple choice questions for the chapters covered and half the questions will be from the online quizzes.

Roche is very clear and makes very complex concepts easy. His notes are very detailed. The class is tough but if you like finance this is the palce to be.

Roche was not a good instructor at all. He spent most of his time going over deriving equations, and not enough time on the overall concepts. He did not care if the students understood the material, and was frankly disengaged from the class and completely unenjoyable to be around. My interest in this subject, which is also my concentration, decreased exponentially after taking this course. I hope that the Finance department can find better instructors to teach their courses.

COFFEE AND CREAM COFFEE AND CREAM COFFEE AND CREAM COFFEE AND CREAM COFFEE AND CREAM COFFEE AND CREAM COFFEE AND CREAM COFFEE AND CREAM. good thing he uses COFFEE AND CREAM examples for EVERYTHING or else you would get all of the examples confused!!!

Professor Roche, what can I say for him- among with Dobson he is one of the worst professor in Cal Poly. I admit he knows his staff but his ability to teach is ZERO. The whole class consists of 3 quizes which are 30% of your grade and on which is impossible to get 100% because most of the questions he had never cover at class. The rest of your grade is the Final and the Midtern. I recommend you geting a good grade on the Midterm because getting a good grade on the Final is almost impossible. There is no book for this class but only a reader consisting of Roche's notes which most of the time are difficult to understand. In class he spends more time in deriving the equations rather than explaining you the main idea. I agree with the previous post that there are a lot of examples with COFFEE AND CREAM which make no sence at all.

I liked Professor Roche. There is one midterm, one final exam, and 4 quizes (where he takes the highest 3 scores). I thought that the exams were very straight forward and similar to the practice questions he gives you. He does have a thick french accent so I had some trouble understanding him at times but you get used to it. I did take Gorman for BUS 342 (the introductory finance class) so I might have had an advantage going into this class. But overall, I don't think that this class is bad or impossible by any means, do the practice tests and read the booklet he gives you and it's pretty straight forward.

Professor Roche presents the material in a way that really challenges you to think beyond the calculations to the portfolio theory itself. This is reflected in the quizzes and exams that the class takes throughout the quarter. 30% of the grade is composed of three quizzes (total of four throughout the quarter with the lowest dropped), another 30% for the midterm, and 40% for the final. Overall, the class is not bad. Do not just focus on the formulas, focus on the theory the most. His exams and quizzes will test you on very detail-oriented concepts that are entirely based on theory. To compensate for his heavy accent, sit close to the front or ask for clarification. Do not think Gorman is the only option for this class because you can learn just as much from Roche if you are personally invested in the class. Gorman students brag about learning so much more, but if you take the time and review Roche's class note packet, you can learn just as much including the Fama-French Three Factor Model and other multifactor models without having to deal with Gorman's inflated ego and the cult of brainwashed students that think Gorman is some sort of god.

Coming from Gorman's class the quarter before (where I essentially gave up on the 100 hr project 40 hours in after running into some major difficulties with my company's lack of information regarding their depreciation schedule), this class is by far a breeze. Essentially, he spends the entire class teaching you what Gorman blows through as fast as he can so he can teach you his excel projects for the 100 hour project. If you actually put in even half the amount of effort that you would have to for Gorman's project you will completely understand everything. The packet makes things incredibly easy, and overall the class as a whole is probably less work than Gorman's 100 hour project alone. That said, if you want something to show off in interviews, the project is a good thing to have, but understanding the actual concepts will come from Roche, not Gorman. If you've never had a teacher with an accent before - like apparently a lot of these students commenting in the past haven't - then understand that it will be difficult to understand Roche for the first 3-4 weeks, but in general those are the easiest concepts. All in all Roche is a better professor in my opinion, as someone who did not buy into the Gorman hype. You really can't fail this class with Roche if you try, but with Gorman expect 20% to do so, even with a lot of effort.

4 quizzes, 1 midterm, 1 final. 30% for quizzes (you get to drop 1) 30% for midterm (45% mc 55% free response) 40% for final (similar to midterm) He talks about coffee and cream, pizza, tomatoes, bread, tea, and sometimes pink shoes whenever you ask him to clarify a legitimate question. I imagine he thinks he has somehow helped answer your question via these food/clothing analogies, but its not great advice. This class is a review of Gorman 342, but unfortunately the only difference is that all his examples are HIGHLY THEORETICAL, multiple times in class I have asked him if he could give me a real world example of what hes talking about and he told me he coudn't think of one...Why is he teaching it then!? If you are debating between gorman 431 and roche 431, I would still recommend roche 431, although a way more boring and useless class by far, it is much MUCH easier to get a high grade in (still not a walk in the park tho) Make a note of everytime he says "Coffee and Cream" post in polylearn next quarter, I counted 46 this quarter.

Roche is a cool guy, use his office hours. For this particular class utilize the workbook he has. Don't bother with the text book. Do the practice problems he sends out a few times and make sure you have the conceptual stuff from the workbook. If you do that you're solid for the tests. Quizzes are conceptual so pay attention in class.

Roche makes you feel like a fool when you ask him a question; In my opinion, that's a horrible quality for a teacher. Whenever I asked a question in class (which stopped after about the third time), I could barely understand what the hell he was saying because of his accent and the little bit I could catch was him either making a joke about my question or talking about something completely irrelevant to the question I asked. He did this to a lot of people in the class and I'm sure it discouraged involvement from the students, collectively. He's not a bad guy and I am not trying to sound sensitive, but with his accent and bizarre analogies the right to ask questions is quite pertinent. What he lacks in teaching ability he makes up for with his How-To Security Analysis Manual (it makes more sense if you read it with his accent in mind because there are multiple obvious syntax errors). This Manual is literally the key to the tests and quizzes, you DO NOT NEED TO BUY THE BOOK. Study his packet, do the exercises and this will be an easy class. If you are like me and don't value "easy" as high as "beneficial", the you might want to take Gorman's class. This class is proficient, but it will not catapult you to the next level.

He spends a lot of time asking the most general questions and laughing at students when they don't give the most specific answer he is looking for. What point is he trying to make when he asks these questions? No idea, they rarely make any sense and poorly relate to the material. He fails at answering student questions, when you ask him a question he basically asks you why you don't know the answer. The class is very slow paced and we don't make it to the juice material in portfolio management. Whole three weeks to cover the absolute basics of portfolio management. The small workbook he makes you buy can be substituted for the text book since the his book is basically copied-and-pasted material from the textbook. I suggest buying the textbook if you plan on using it as a reference. The difficulty of the class is minimum to medium. The quizzes are all conceptual and the exams are 1/4 computational and 3/4 conceptual. Overall its an OK class.

A plump tortoise removed from his shell, separated from friends and family, and placed in a lab for experimental testing at a young age, Herve Roche obviously had a very rough childhood. His life calling in the finance industry fostered somewhat of a pessimistic worldview, which can be observed from his interaction with Humans. his personality, teaching style, attitude towards students are clearly outside his control, and you must show him both kindness and the dearest sympathy to help him through his troubles. By watching ESPN live and catching up on reddit, I was able to endure what some people call "A completely useless fucking class that was a complete waste of time." Participation counts for nothing, so does intellegence, If you are a moderatly booksmart kissass or a exceptionally lazy narcissist, you too will ace this class even though you only got B's on everything...

Previous two reviews sums up this class. Horrible with students, can't answers questions without making you answer it first than telling you its wrong. If you can bullshit with him about soccer, he'll like you. Office hours are pointless. His exams are exactly from his shitty work book and exercise handouts (which are both just copied material from the text book). If you can't into Gorman, you are stuck with this guy, and I feel sorry for you.

All of you Finance concentration friends out there: you must make a choice. A choice, between Roche, the illustrious frenchman, or Gorman, the classic personality. I would choose Roche's class 8 days out of the week, twice on Sundays. He gives you a text that is basically a summary of his lecture notes, which is really easy to study off of. His quizzes, midterm, and final are the only factors in your grade, and thus you can do very well if you study from his text. Don't listen to all the whiners who complain about his voice, he is actually pretty funny. Listening to his lectures can be extremely helpful, since the way that he describes his examples is usually EXACTLY what he is looking for on the free response sections of his exam. So for those of you still reading this, switch to your portal, and enroll in 431 with Roche.

professor roche is a pretty nice guy who teaches straight out of the course packet you buy for the class. he isnt that great at answering questions, and doesnt seem to understand if you didnt understand his answers, so its better to ask other people. there are 4 quizzes, all conceptual, and you drop the lowest. the midterm and final arent tough at all, and there is nothing else. Most of the class felt like a review of Gorman's 342. unfortunately, it takes a week or two to adjust to his accent, but not a bad class overall.

went into the final with no shot at reaching an A- with the 40% final. but roche ended up giving me an A in the course. sit in the front, laugh at his jokes, study for the end and see your gpa bump up

So I have become very disillusioned with the teachers in the finance department and Herve has not helped. He just isn't a very good teacher. I am normally a good student and have got an A in every finance class except one B+ but I was pretty sure I was gonna end up with a D in this class. He teaches off of his own lecture notes that he writes that just aren't consistent. He will teach you a new equation that has variables you have never seen without explaining them or change the symbol used for a certain variable without letting you know. His tests are NOT based on the homework problems and a number of people that I studied with only studied the homework problems and failed the midterm. The only reason I got an A was because on the last day of class he said even if you fail the class he won't give you less than a B-. So apparently my D got me an A. Overall I would not recomend him. I worked hard for that D and still feel like I know nothing about futures and calls. Not that I want to since my education in international business was way better than anything I learned in finance.

Roche is the worst professor i have ever had. He pretends he knows everything about finance when he clearly doesnt. when asked for clarification, he would say "i cant teach you everything, if i did, you wouldnt need me". what kind of professor says things like that?? arent you paid to teach us?? do not recommend him at all!!

This class is really challenging if you rely only on Dr Roche's notes and his lectures. The only way to pass the class with a good grade is to buy the book. That is what I did and I got an A. There are 2 Midterms and a Final. The first Midterms is on 25 multiple choice questions + 5 extra credit questions which you will really need. The second Midterm is on Binomial trees (approximately 20 short questions).You should try to do good on the first and the second midterm because the third one is ridiculous to pass with a good grade (it includes the materials from the 2nd Midterm and the material Roche was teaching the week before the Finals). His grading policy varies depending on how good people are doing in class. Overall, I learned a lot from this class because I was studying by my own from the book ( I didn't even buy his notes)and I didn't pay attention to him.

Roche is a really nice guy, and I do believe he wants his students to succeed, but having said that, THIS CLASS IS THE WORST! His accent is so thick, which I understand is not his fault, but it makes the material, which is already somewhat difficult to grasp, even harder to grapple with. His lecture notes are pretty difficult to follow, so be prepared to really pay attention if you want to do well in the class. There is no required homework, but make sure you do his practice exercises and understand them fully. The first midterm is 30 questions, but he grades it out of 25, so do the best you can to rack up any extra credit. The second test is cake if you understand the Binomial model that he covers extensively (I personally didn't finish the test because I didn't go to class for the second half of the quarter...but I did alright on it anyway), and the final is somewhat challenging but not impossible. Perseverance is key here. If you can sit through the class, pay attention fully, understand what he's saying, and actually digest the material, you'll be fine. But...most people cannot.

Coming from gorman's class last quarter, this guy definitely needs to go back and teach in france where he can be understood. he comes across as the stereotypical asshole frenchman as well

Roche is a very smart person who really knows what he is talking about. He genuinely cares about teaching and he's very helpful in office hours. If you are serious about derivatives, this is the course to take! The material is quite challenging but I found it very helpful to prepare for the CFA exam.

This guy sucks. He cannot teach at all. Teach yourself and the material is easy. Listen to him and get lost in a world of French B.S. and B.O.

I came into this class wanting to learn about futures and options (seriously!). I now know that I made a GRAVE mistake. I had Roche for 331 and he was...bad but tolerable. In 442 his worst attributes are magnified! He doesn't put the class on PolyLearn, doesn't provide questions to learn the material from other than his few practice exercises which are separate material from the lecture. He won't respond to any of my emails so I have no idea when his office hours are (lazy much?). I wish I had read all the reviews on this page before taking this class since I just went off his lecture notes and lectures (bad mistake!). He whizzes through the material so fast and with such a pompous french accent that your eyes will glaze over faster than a krispy creme doughnut. BUY THE BOOK or teach the material yourself outside of cal poly. You and your grade will be better for it. I have spent a lot of time working on this class, I'm a B+ student, and I have never been this afraid of failing a class (never have I failed a class before) all because he is the worst teacher Cal Poly has to offer. How he got his degree is unbeknownst to me.

This class is a lot of work, but is manageable if you stay on top of things. If you procrastinate, then you will hate yourself at the end of the quarter. If you put forth a good effort and work hard, then there is no reason why you shouldn't get a good grade.

This is a challenging class simply for the reason that the material is very difficult. I did not have an experience akin to many of the poly ratings I have read; Professor Roche was extremely helpful in office hours-he even arrived late to one of his classes once because he wanted to make sure I understood the material. This was a hard class- so don't take it if you are looking for an easy elective. I found that the people who did best in the class had taken Gorman's international finance the previous quarter. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. Although international finance is not a prerequisite for this class, I would highly suggest getting exposure to options and futures before taking this class since the material is expansive, and, at times, overwhelming. Overall, a good class to take if you are looking for a challenge.

Professor Roche knows a lot about options and Futures and wants his students to do well. There are multiple practice exercises to prepare for the exams. There are two midterm exams and a cumulative final exam. The first midterm was kind of hard but not horrible. The second midterm was a lot easier. The final exam was way too long! Sometimes, the class itself was kind of boring for me, but I think a lot of that has to do with the subject, not the teacher. Roche is a funny guy.