3.3
Quality3.8
Difficulty50%
Would Retake113
Reviews50%
Would Retake
113
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
113 total ratings5
33
4
25
3
27
2
13
1
15
What Students Say
“A very spicy finance guys, Larbi Hammami is the man to bring your knowledge to a new level of spice”
FIN441 - 5.0 rating“This course was interesting but the final was impossible”
FINE442 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
52%
Textbook Required
54%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.53 avg changeRatings by Course
274342
5.0
(1)FINE441442
5.0
(1)ENG101
5.0
(1)MBAFIN1
5.0
(1)MANAGERIALFIN
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MBAFIN1
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FINECMI
5.0
FINFIN
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FIN500
5.0
FINE341
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Reviews (112)
He is tough, but if you go to every class you will ace the test. Most importantly, he loves what he does.
EXELLENT!
Excellent professor
He's a nice teacher and will help you outside of class. He doesn't like people talking out of their a**. His exams are difficult and you need to study hard and do all the practice problems.
This is the dumbest class I have ever taken. The material is so easy, yet he makes the exams "hard" by testing bullsh!t. You lose marks on assignments w/o reason. Please do not use this Finance class as your elective, take anything else!!
Excellent?? Are we all talking about the same pompous as*, or not? This guy is a real jerk; never seen a prof pick on so many people for no reason. Any and every question is stupid to him. Larbi, stop rating yourself buddy.
He is excellent until it remain on the basics. Afterward I think he lose something in clarity.
Holier-than-thou teaching style gets old. Slides and lectures are good, but doesn't listen to students questions.
Great prof but very unapproachable during his office hours. Will not be sympathetic unless you're one of those hardcore finance junkies..
He's funny as hell... explains finance in a way that makes it increadibly clear. If you want to be a "finance guy", he's the man to learn from. Best professor at McGill business school. No free-rides.
One of the best professors. Knowledgable and very clear explainations. Finance guy's best choice. PS: very tricky exams.
Very clear explanations but sometimes he's way too fast because he just wants to finish early (but takes breaks of 30 min+). Makes student feel stupid when they ask questions in class.
Cash is kingss!!! Great professor... made Finance fun, which is hard to do.
What is the colour of the white horse?. Fun to be in class with and pushes students by making them look stupid if they don't keep up.
has a problem with students asking questions. does not give clear answers. knows finance from experience and theory, and that's a strong point, however, too arrogant, too unhelpful and too full of himself! his exams are made of questions that no person in the right mind could understand.
Prof. Hammami is a great professor! His classes are fun. His work experience is valuable in the classroom. His marking is fair! Ask a stupid question and expect to be chopped down. If you pay attention in class and he realizes you are interested in the material he is very approachable in class and during office hours.
One of the best professors in Finance. It is clear later when you can compare him to others who teach Finance.
This man is absolutely mad, but it makes his courses so entertaining. Keep an open mind about his jokes and finance suddenly becomes fun. He is very clear in his explanations and relates the concepts to reality. Cash is Kingsss!
hes the best
hammami is literally the****! he can be scary at time and totally has a bias for the best students, but work hard and he'll help you out as much as he can. if you're into finance and especially IB, 110% recommended.
No Comments
Makes fun of students when they ask questions and his exams are impossible (not an exaggeration -- he TRIES to make them that hard). He's insane; avoid at all costs.
Great professor. 100% recommended. His exams are hard, but he's such a cool dude, that you KNOW he bell curves up about 20 marks :)
if you rely on the notes only you get screwed in the final. Should solve some book problems and understand, in depth, the various investment analysis and evaluation techniques (read those chapters from the book).
Killed my love for finance. His lectures are based on too many slides. Basically it's slides rolling. The slides rolling is accompanied by incoherent and simplistic 2-word sentences. His English is questionable. He sometimes puts an "s" behind the words, which makes one wonder if he means the plural of the word, or not. He is not a good professor.
Lardy Salami :-)
Ok teacher, not great not stupid, requries a lot of study per exam
Didn't show up at a number of classes. Hard to understand
This class would be alright, if it wasn't taught so slowly. He literally spends ten minutes on concepts that require only one minute to be explained. Not entirely his fault, but still, let's not all have to suffer for the few who don't understand basic finance concepts. Makes mistakes often, so be careful what you're studying.
Very well designed course with focus on risk management. The midterm was OK but the final was very challenging. You learn a lot of useful stuff in this course. Highly recommended for those interested in risk management.
I dislike the way he ridicules students in class. I dislike his failure to answer questions because he doesn't bother to listen to your question first. I especially dislike how his Int. Finance exam made no sense and had typos everywhere! I'm very unimpressed and highly disappointed. He's better at teaching IPM, but his attitude's no better!
Great professor and such a nice person - so helpful when you have questions. He goes through the material quickly, which is good because much of it is dense and boring, but he is able to make it interesting because he has a great personality. Find smart people to be in your assignments group so your grade can benefit, because the exams are tough.
The material seems quite difficult at the beginning. But if you follow his lectures and do the work, it's soon becoming your second nature. Amazing prof.
This prof has poor knowledge and gives bad explanations. Not the right teacher if you really want to learn. He's not well organized and not competent. Some like him because he tell funny jokes and teaches the same material in 3 different courses.
Smart guy. If you have a knack for finance he is the perfect prof, if not, you are in trouble... Probably my favorite prof yet
Prof Hammami is one of the most intelligent people in the Management faculty. He is witty, makes class interesting and gets you interested into finance. His mockeries are funny but if you have guts, you'll stand up to him. It won't be better out there in the finance world believe me! Best prof ever!
This professor only teaches a bunch of formulas. He's a nice guy, but you won't learn a great deal about finance. Good if you're doing a concentration in finance, but don't expect much from his courses. He does not correct any paper and grades are given somewhat randomly...
Smart prof... but you want to avoid him... i personally think he is too fed up of teaching ... don't care anymore about almost anything but will help you if you go to his office.
Avoid. Thinks he's hilarious but his jokes are borderline offensive. Often goes off on a tangent. Not a very 'structured' instructor.
Larbi will teach you about the REAL world of finance. A lot of students cant stand him because his exams are very hard and unfair. That being said he is a great guy, and if you want the real finance experience you should definitely take him. If you want a guaranteed A- avoid him. If he sees you are serious and hard working, he will help you out.
Not very encouraging
Very Spicy!!! If you like finance and are very smart you will thrive in his class... if finance is not your game then stay away
Great Professor. Keeps class fun and interesting, and relevant. Not for thin skinned, but for people who really want to learn more about finance.
The boss. First half of course taught clearly, second half less so. Well structured. 3 assignments not bad, work together. Final exam is very very hard, but generous curve so not hard to get a b+
this guy was one of the best teachers i have ever met!
You have to question if he actually ever knows what's going on. Cannot answer simple, direct questions. Merely responds with hyperbolic rant. Really an idiot who uses humour to deflect fair questions he can't answer. Avoid if you actually want to learn
He is one of the best profs I have ever met (and this being my third degree I have seen a lot of profs). To the point, no BS, no OB. Every question has more than one answer, if you find the most elegant one you'll get a straight A. He is hard but he is fair.
Larbi is the man. He is by far the most entertaining and intelligent prof. I have ever had. Very funny man, very cool. take capital markets and institutions
His slide print outs are incomplete, so if you dont go to class you wont have all the info to study with. Finals are impossible.
The BEST! i like Finance juz because of him, you cant miss his classes if you were a management student at McGill =) PEACE!
Pretty standard teacher, sometimes cold and who loves making fun of students to a point where you're kinda unsure whether or not you can talk to him. To sum up: standard teaching but pretty negative attitude towards students, that doesn't help feel like we can trust him... Midterm and Final exam
His class notes (slides) are incomplete and full of mistakes. Very negative attitude toward students, and unhelpful, avoid.
Took Finance 1 with him ,and took FINE441 just for him. One of the best teachers I've had at McGill. He does make fun of the students, but this should not lead to mistrust. It is all in good fun, and if you learn to laugh at it, you will learn to love going to class. You can't miss one class though. Finals are impossible, but curved heavily.
exams are certified spicy
Easy going, funny lectures. Real understanding of the asian culture. Best accent in the "worlds". Midterm, assignments are a gimme. Final is spicy "stuffs". Overall a funny,laid back professor.
a perfect professor funny and well undrestunding
BEST FINANCE TEACHER AT MCGILL. Absolutely love him, extremely fair and straight forward. He knows his stuff (he worked at goldman). love love love! He's very entertaining, and ive had him in finance 1 as well, and will definitely take him for other classes.
He is not only the best finance professor but the absolutely best professor at Desautels. His exams are not easy but definitely easier than CFA.
Uses reign of terror to foster participation in class, yet still amusing at times. If you talk to him outside of class he's nice. Attendance a must. Slides useless, textbook essential, exams impossible. Spicy is an understatement.
ducated, competent and very interesting professor. If you do want to learn something in Finance, take him. The midterm and the assignments are easy, the final is difficult but anyone can get good grade by working seriously.
My best professor at McGill. Very funny, super interesting. I choose to do a Finance Major because of that prof. If you do the exercises and come to class, you should get an A. Definitely take this class
Not a very helpful prof. He makes fun of students who don't understand. His exams are always very difficult and need to be scaled upwards.
I don't know what other students see in him. He's terrible at explaining; the textbook does a better job, and he's very intimidating, he'll make fun of you if you don't get something.
Useless. Will give you incomplete slides to fill out in his classes, but even then you will learn very little from them. He never explains anything, just goes through slides super fast and wastes time asking dumb rhetorical questions. You have been warned.
He's the best prof that I had at McGill. Very funny and explains things every clear if you are interested in finance. I've learnt a lot in his class. After graduating from McGIll, I worked in Investment Banking and Hedge Fund industry and Honestly he's the one of most important people that introduce me into this fantastic industry.
Terrible, makes fun of students in class. Slides completely useless and messy. Exams are tough and SPICY!!!!! Save yourself and don't take him.
He teaches really well! He goes through the material at a slow enough pace that you can comprehend. My main fault with him is that the examples in the powerpoints are significantly easier than the midterm and final exam(FYI Difficulty = Spiciness). Overall good teacher. I would recommend him if you have the chance. Will bump you up if you’re close.
Learned a lot from his class and thanks to him got really interested in the finance field. Nice guy and instructive class. Easy assignments, easy midterm, difficult final.
This prof. is really bad mostly in terms of the course quality. Even though I have taken three courses of his and aced two of them (he is only teaching faculty in certain semester), strongly recommend you to avoid him, shared lots of same contents in different class slides and hardly changed over many years. Most importantly, few practical stuff.
hardly recommend taking a class with him. makes you interested in the field and you'll learn something if you follow up with him in lectures. exams are not easy, but you can't expect easy exams at this point regardless
Be sure to ace the midterm and assignments and you'll be fine. Finals are impossible but because virtually everyone fails them your grade gets curved up to your pre-final grade. Nice guy overall and if you get used to his style you can take most on the FINE classes with him without having to adapt to different teaching styles, which is easier.
He teaches really well! If you take Finance 1 with Vadim this course is pretty easy! My main fault with him is that the examples in the powerpoints are significantly easier than the midterm and final exam. Also, there is a significant lack of examples (FYI Difficulty=Spiciness). Overall a good teacher. I would recommend him if you have the chance.
He teaches well! This course was interesting but the final was impossible. My main fault with him is that the examples in the powerpoints are significantly easier than the midterm and final exam. Also, there is a significant lack of examples. When you see the final, it’s like writing an exam for a course you’ve never done. Overall a good teacher.
Larbi is the worst professor in the finance department at McGill and it is a shame he teaches so many courses. His slides, course content and teaching methods are poor, repetitive and extremely outdated.You'll learn absolutely nothing useful, avoid!!
he is a good professor, teaches really well. He is clear in his lectures and explains well. Take notes during his lectures, read the book and you will do well.
Pretty funny guy, but not the best finance prof at McGill. ACF means a case report a week + presentation. Mandatory participation fosters a very hostile environment in presentations, so expect to be grilled. Participate in every class and you're fine. Make sure you study a lot for the final because it will be SPICY.
Great prof, assignments are tough, but he grades them nicely. Hammami is just so interesting to listen to. He doesn't over complicate what we need to know.
If you're comfortable with spice, you'll be alright. His exams are SPICY.
After a few years of having graduated from McGill, I still remember Prof Hammami. He's awesome, most of the finance students were quite happy with him as he teaches what you need to know at the level you need it.
Do yourself a favour, and avoid Hammami. There are far better instructors in the faculty for all of the courses that he covers. He does not seem to care about the students, does not share your grades with you, and doesn't mark your papers himself. His lectures are unintelligible, and the slides are incomplete. My advice is look elsewhere.
Old school guy, makes borderline jokes, sometimes makes you laugh, sometimes - uncomfortable, but definitely makes dry finance sound exciting. Knows his subject well. If you have a personal situation that's difficult, can customize test schedule for you (I was working full time). Tests are tough, especially final but doable if you got the concept.
Hammami is a right of passage, you can't consider yourself a finance grad unless you have taken him at least once. His slides arent grade and the course hasn't been updated since 2004, but he's pretty entertaining as a lecturer and the class average ends up being a B+ so things balance out
The course material is very useful and interesting. Unfortunately he is an awful professor. His slides are littered with formulas everywhere that he barely explains. The midterm is doable but his assignments look like they're from another class that you never studied for. The final is literally just how many part marks you can finesse.
A very spicy finance guys, Larbi Hammami is the man to bring your knowledge to a new level of spice. He is the Dean of the Hammami School of Business, a school that enables all finance guys to share their joyous memeories at McGill. Outside of class, he can be found teaching in a building for poor guys or getting a tan with beers on Hammamet beach.
He is hilarious! Always joking around and trying to make the content interesting. His assignments are super hard (don't know where he gets the material from). However, you are able to get a good grade if you put in a lot of work. His class is hard so be prepared to learn a lot yourself and having to spend hours getting the material down pat.
An extremely difficult final so make sure you get as many marks as you can on assignments and midterm. Do not bother doing the textbook questions as they are nothing like his exams.
I would say study for the midterm and don't put too much effort on final. Things on the final weren't covered in class so textbook problems don't help at all.
Overall, the material is very accessible. However, he makes the final extremely difficult. The practice which is given for it (assignments, textbook problems) is totally irrelevant. That being said, he's a nice guy who makes every class funny!
A good lecturer but with very hard finals. He warns you in advance on how hard the final is and even then, the final is difficult to do without a complete understanding of the topics covered. Was an enjoyable but difficult learning experience.
Hammami strikes again-thankfully my last with him. This professor has an opaque grading scheme in which you never see the results of your exams or half of your assignments. Appears to assign final marks simply by picking his favourites for As and A-s then just assigns the rest randomly. Worst prof I've had at McGill
In ACF there's 10 cases & a final. the cases are graded between 71-79 where anything over 75 is "good" and anything lower is "bad." The cases aren't difficult and they're all 15+ years old. The final exam is very hard but possible, unlike IM. however, there's still a massive curve with grades given arbitrarily. Class avg ALWAYS ends up being a B+
Solid prof but has grown very complacent over the years. You can feel that the guy really knows his stuff but is plainly not interested in teaching the class for the 50th+ time. This translates into a very lazy grading scheme (no midterm, 35% cases that are 10+ years old and where getting an A is impossible).
Explains badly, makes fun of students, never answer the question properly, sticks to the book and aged examples so the class is REALLY far from the reality. He's a joke.
Class has cool material and good intro to transactional finance but very participation heavy. For the final just focus on prepping textbook valuation and various transactions.
Before going to my first class, all I'd heard about The Hammer had set me up for a wild ride with super tough exams. The part about tough exams was true, but they were entirely fair. In reality, he was a great lecturer who in class, pointed out specific topics on which we would be tested. Make sure to go over slides and assignments when prepping.
Just avoid this guy. Covid or not, spice man has no chill. Even with notes and 2 days to complete the final exam you're in for a beating.
I don't know what happened to this prof. He used to get teaching awards but his current teaching style is terrible. 20min videos instead of 1.5h. Very superficial slides. Without the textbook, you'll fail. Exams, however, were not that difficult if you do the recommended problems and study well on your own.
Spice man lives up to his reputation. Cold calls you in front of the whole class if you do not pay attention. Exams are tough, but fair. Slides are messy, like his explanations. However, he's a pretty nice guy and cares for you if you show interest.
Fun interactive lectures. Will call you out and laugh at you in front of the class if you don't pay attention.
Hammami is a great guy, although he can seem intimidating at first. However, his classes are very hard to follow due to his strange slides. Exams are hard, you have to put a lot of work into them. Nonetheless, I did learn a lot from this course, and heard some fun jokes!
I used to have biases towards Prof Hammami. Online, his lectures were boring and I learned nothing. However, in person he is the best if you want to learn something that touches the ground(non-theoratic), but you may find his lecture a bit confusing if you don't go to his lectures.
Well, he teaches the concepts very well and teaches a lot, but expect messy slides (impossible to understand if you didn't attend or took notes), a lack of practice questions, and a spicy final exam. If you're not taking any other hard classes, you should definitely experience Hammami once. p.s. he'll like you more if you sit in front
Simply awful
Great professor who cares about his students, if you don't understand something he will explain it to you during office hours without any problems. His slides aren't always super clear, but if you come to class, it all makes sense.
pretty awaful
Larbi (Hammer) Hammami can be intimidating at first glance but once you know him and he picks on you a few times, you will begin to love him. Honestly, he is the best McGill Prof. No question.
Larboz chucks your project in random numby generator tech... all you can control is exam. which is another random number generator. Just memorize every practice q and slide to beat average for A.
Very Generous to give me A. the Best prof in Desautels
Midterm was pretty easy, assignments were also pretty light as long as you put some work in. Final was… Spicy, but didn't seem to matter because of the insane curve that will inevitably happen(no chance I passed but still ended with the B+). Overall you'll probably pass, but have to put in a lot of work to get an A.
Larbi Hammami's class is challenging but engaging. Attend lectures, use the textbook, and try Unstuck study - it's a great study aid alongside other tools like ChatGPT. Stick with it, and you'll learn a lot.
Genuinely shocked to see that everything that is said about him is true. I went to every class and got 5/21 on attendance. You will not get any comments on your assignments, just your grade.
He's funny, but his slide examples have typos and errors everywhere (solution keys too). You will spend more time trying to figure out what is going on than productively studying because a lot of the material is unreliable. Exam content is much more difficult (including confusing wording) than anything you will see in class. (fine445)
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
52%
Textbook Required
54%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.53 avg changeRatings by Course
274342
5.0
(1)FINE441442
5.0
(1)ENG101
5.0
(1)MBAFIN1
5.0
(1)MANAGERIALFIN
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MBAFIN1
5.0
FINECMI
5.0
FINFIN
5.0
FIN500
5.0
FINE341
5.0