HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE UNIQUANT COMMUNITY?

UniCredit’s Quants combine data and models in the Finance and Controls departments to measure the bank’s credit, financial and operational risk. But the UniQuant Community goes beyond this definition: UniQuants are anyone with an interest in quantitative analysis, data modelling, programming, nd lifelong learning.

The first meeting of UniQuant Community was held in June 2015, as a community of colleagues in the Risk Management division. Four and a half years later, it is composed of over 200 colleagues from Risk Management, Finance, UniCredit Services, Audit, CIB, and many other units. The UniQuant community is still growing, including colleagues from all entities across the Group.

The community has evolved into a “learning lab”, where people share knowledge and experience, external speakers are invited for specific events, and ideas are born and developed.

Before the pandemic, UniQuants met face-to-face once a month during a quant breakfast or lunch. Now, the community works on online channels. During meetings, they discuss upcoming events and receive support from one another on modelling and programming topics.

The UniQuant community also had the idea for an internal programming course, which was later adopted also as a regular course at Bocconi University.

Fabio Piacenza, Anna Rita Filippi, Matteo Ognibene and Fabio Mont – who founded the group – commented:

“It was 2015 when we found ourselves using the same instrument for our work, which gave us the idea to distribute this tool to all our departments. We wrote a list of topics that be interesting for colleagues within the bank, and started an R course for dummies. Many colleagues started to use it, substituting or integrating other instruments for calculation, reporting and automation, which improved work efficiency and reduced operational risk.”

The UniQuant Community also organised two internal events with the management dedicated to Extreme Value Theory, and Blockchain and Machine Learning. The UniQuant Community is a great example of our One Team, One UniCredit culture – talented and motivated colleagues have gathering to foster cooperation and synergy, share ideas and knowledge, and spread them across the Group.

Read below what some of the UniQuants share about the community:

“It is very effective to be connected with quants of other departments, and share possible solutions for common problems. I had the chance to attend several meetings on machine learning and other interesting topics.”
Fabio Piacenza, Operational Risk Analytics and Oversight

“I really enjoyed being part of the UniQuant Community. It keeps everybody updated on the latest in data modelling and programming. As a Quant, I also had the chance to teach an internal course on R programming, considered really helpful by the colleagues who participated.”
Anna Rita Filippi, Credit Risk Management Audit

“I enjoyed teaching colleagues from several departments, enriching my network and sharing our professional experiences with each other.”
Matteo Ognibene, Group Financial Risk Models

“It was very rewarding to share our unique knowledge and skills with colleagues, helping to improve and speed up their daily activities.”
Fabio Monti, Group Price Control

“The UniQuant community provides opportunities for sharing experiences, knowledge and ideas well beyond your domain of expertise.”
Francesco Ivan Pomarico, PRM First Vice President – Market, Operational & Pillar II Risks Validation

“UniQuant is self-organised, with adedicated budget for learning. It is an example of efficient bottom-up organization. The decision-making process is always data driven. Quants at UniCredit leading the change of approach in the banking sector.”
Dr Matteo Formenti, Group Finance – FTP Pricing & Operational ALM, Head of FTP Team

“Through the Quant Community I was able to attend to an advanced course on Machine Learning in Python: I use the knowledge in my job and was able to share it back to the Community with a teach-in.”
Luca Mammi, Group Finance – FTP Pricing & Operational ALM