Financial engineering is an area of finance that utilizes financial theories, mathematical models and analytical problem-solving techniques to analyze and create financial products and solutions. Financial engineers play a key role in the design and management of investment portfolios in the modern financial marketplace.

Traditional financial products, such as stocks and bonds, are developed and priced through the evaluation of economic data and the principles of finance. Financial engineering takes the evaluation of these products and services even further.Using sophisticated mathematical models and analytical tools, financial engineers analyze the characteristics and behavior of both traditional financial products, such as derivatives, as well as their derivatives, creating new kinds of products and solutions to meet the needs of investors, providers and both retail and institutional customers.

The major roles of a financial engineer are to create and design financial products, to market these products, to price them, and to manage portfolios that incorporate the products. In principle, these products can range from mutual funds to options, from currency trading to derivatives. Some of the techniques that financial engineers rely on to develop products include: arbitrage, portfolio theory, stochastic calculus, dynamics and statistics.

The advent of financial engineering has led to increased complexity in the financial marketplace and increased risk, especially in the area of derivatives trading. Financial engineering was initially perceived as a way to reduce risk, but the 2008 financial crisis, in which the risks of exotic derivatives played a major role, has revealed the potential pitfalls of this approach. However, financial engineering has enabled traders and investors to take advantage of markets that would have otherwise been unavailable.

In conclusion, financial engineering is an important field that has greatly contributed to the evolution of modern financial markets. It helps create complex financial instruments, diversify portfolios and manage risk through the use of mathematical models, statistics and other analytical techniques. While it is sometimes invoked in controversial circumstances, its growth has provided investors with more investment opportunities than ever before.