Product Description

Paul Wilmott, London UK is a researcher, consultant and lecturer in quantitative finance.
He is founder of Wilmott Associates, a financial consultancy and training firm, from
which he publishes Wilmott magazine. He is one of the world’s leading experts on quantitative finance and derivatives and is renowned for his criticism of popular models and concepts and for his unique, informal writing style.

In this second edition of Frequently Asked Questions in Quantitative Finance I continue in my mission to pull quant finance up from the dumbed–down depths, and to drag it back down to earth from the super–sophisticated stratosphere. Readers of my work and blogs will know that I think both extremes are dangerous. Quant finance should inhabit the middle ground, the mathematics sweet spot, where the models are robust and understandable, and easy to mend.

This book contains important FAQs and answers that cover both theory and practice. There are sections on how to derive Black–Scholes (a dozen different ways!), the popular models, equations, formulas and probability distributions, critical essays, brainteasers, and the commonest quant mistakes. The quant mistakes section alone is worth trillions of dollars!

Paul Wilmott has been called “the smartest of the quants, he may be the only smart quant”  – Portfolio magazine/Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  “cult derivatives lecturer” – Financial Times

  “the finance industry′s Mozart” – Sunday

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12742 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

From the Back Cover
“Getting agreement between finance theory and finance practice is important like never before. In the last decade the derivatives business has grown to a staggering size, such that the outstanding notional of all contracts is now many multiples of the underlying world economy. No longer are derivatives for helping people control and manage their financial risks from other business and industries, no, it seems that the people are toiling away in the fields to keep the derivatives market afloat! (Apologies for the mixed metaphor!) If you work in derivatives, risk, development, trading, etc. you′d better know what you are doing, there′s now a big responsibility on your shoulders.

In this second edition of Frequently Asked Questions in Quantitative Finance I continue in my mission to pull quant finance up from the dumbed–down depths, and to drag it back down to earth from the super–sophisticated stratosphere. Readers of my work and blogs will know that I think both extremes are dangerous. Quant finance should inhabit the middle ground, the mathematics sweet spot, where the models are robust and understandable, and easy to mend.

…And that′s what this book is about.

This book contains important FAQs and answers that cover both theory and practice. There are sections on how to derive Black–Scholes (a dozen different ways!), the popular models, equations, formulas and probability distributions, critical essays, brainteasers, and the commonest quant mistakes. The quant mistakes section alone is worth trillions of dollars!

I hope you enjoy this book, and that it shows you how interesting this important subject can be. And I hope you′ll join me and others in this industry on the discussion forum on wilmott.com. See you there!”

FAQQF2...including key models, important formulae, popular contracts, essays and opinions, a history of quantitative finance, sundry lists, the commonest mistakes in quant finance, brainteasers, plenty of straight–talking, the Modellers′ Manifesto and lots more.

Paul Wilmott has been called “the smartest of the quants, he may be the only smart quant” (Portfolio magazine/Nassim Nicholas Taleb), “cult derivatives lecturer” (Financial Times), “the finance industry′s Mozart” (Sunday Business), “financial mathematics guru” (BBC) and “a very naughty boy” (his mother).

About the Author
Paul Wilmott is a researcher, consultant and lecturer in quantitative finance in London, UK. He is founder of Wilmott Associates, a financial consultancy and training firm, from which he publishes Wilmott magazine. The Financial Times called him a “cult derivatives lecturer.”   He is one of the world’s leading experts on quantitative finance and derivatives and is renowned for his criticism of popular models and concepts and for his unique, informal writing style.

Customer Reviews

An excellent reference book, every student, and end user of this area should have this!
This FAQ does exactly what it says on the book cover. It explains some of the common questions of Quantitative Finance. What differentiates this from other Quant books is that it gives you the short quick answer to a topic first, then a longer explanation directly afterwards. So if the short answer is sufficient, you stop there with out having to wade thru lots of excess wordage and padded paragraphs, something quantitative finance topics often have in abundance.

A very good read, now you don't often hear that about Quantitative Finance!