hands dirty and learning to be more focussed on getting numeric results
than on fancy theories. The main way to do this is to implement pricing
models for practice. If this doesn’t appeal you aren’t suited to being a
quant. There are quite a few ex-pure mathematicians working in the city so it can certainly be done but there is some prejudice in favour of applied maths and physics people. Generally, people tend to hire people who are like them so if you can find anyone with a similar background working in the city, apply to them.
I sometimes get asked by people whether they should do a pure maths
PhD or a financial maths one. If you are absolutely sure you want to do
derivatives pricing then you should do it in financial maths. (Yes, I am
taking PhD students but have no capacity at the moment.) If you aren’t
sure then don’t. A good compromise is to do stochastic calculus, this is a
hard area which will give plenty of intellectual stimulation and leave you
very well placed for working in derivatives if you ever want to make the
switch.
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