A brief introduction:

Hello Everyone! My name is Mark Sarembock.

I started in the finance industry after studying for a Bachelor of Science in computer science. Thereafter I went on to study further in a post graduate Actuarial Science qualification. This got me very interested in the finance industry and I started working for a small software development company competing predominantly in the asset management space.

After graduation I moved to an asset manager in a quant role and thereafter moved into the sell side, where I started working on the derivatives and fixed income side as a Quants Analyst/Developer. While working in my current job I achieved my CFA designation as well as my FDP Charter.

Why did I take up the FDP challenge?

I pursued the FDP designation because I wanted to learn more about advances in financial modelling using alternative data sources and how I could use this to benefit my clients. AI is and was always a big interest of mine and I wanted to learn as much as I could about its applications so that I could eventually use it to build more beneficial models.

What is great about FDP?

Today I use what I have learned to try and use other previous research as a platform for new idea generation on the sell side to all our clients. The FDP Charter has definitely made me think about financial modelling in a whole new light altogether.

It is important to be able to identify with a group of members who you could collaborate with in terms of new ways of thinking, how data is being processed as well as new data source types that enter the market which may be of use for more accurate modelling.

My advice for aspiring industry professionals:

Keep up to date with new developments. Be cognizant of new ideas and read lots of new research papers and don’t be scared to think outside of the box.

About Mark Sarembock:

Mark is a Quants Analyst at a sell side brokerage on the derivatives and fixed income research team. South African, Bsc(Eng) (Computer and Electrical Engineering), Post Grad Diploma in Actuarial Science, CFA, FDP.