Dr

							                                             Dr. Philip Symes


                                                                                              September 2007


Personal Details

 Full Name                        Philip Andrew Symes
 Location                         London, UK.
 Telephone
 E-mail                           phil@philipsymes.com
 Website                          http://www.philipsymes.com
 Nationality                      British


Profile

My aim is to develop my skills in business and quantitative analysis, based on my experience of financial
risk and my background in finance and science. I am interested in applying for for quantitative analyst jobs
in market or credit risk.


Background

I have about 2 years experience in financial risk consultancy. I am currently working as a consultant
specialising in energy risk and quantitative analysis. As an experienced quantitative researcher, I have been
involved in all project stages of implementing front-to-back office trading, modelling and risk systems at
banks, brokerages and producers of different tiers.

I possess a methodical approach to problem solving, experience with technical detail surrounding
computational programming and testing, and strong analytical skills. I have a Doctorate (PhD) in
Experimental Particle Physics from the UK's highest rated physics department for research impact 1, where I
worked on the department's flagship project. I also have a Masters’ degree (MSc) in Physics from a top five
UK university and I am a Member of the Institute of Physics. I have numerous publications and present
regularly on aspects of risk and quantitative analysis.

I am proficient in the use of C/C++ (6+ years experience), Visual Basic (.NET & 2005), Linux/UNIX (4+
years administration experience), ROOT, Java and several other languages. I have recently focused on risk in
the energy and power markets; although I have varied knowledge of derivative products and pricing, trading
strategies, quantitative techniques and risk.

Work Experience
April 2007 – September 2007                        Navita UK – Senior Consultant




1 Number of citations per paper, see http://scientific.thomson.com/press/2006/8319732/

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Working as a consultant in energy risk and quantitative analysis for a strategic quantitative consultancy
practice, part of a Norwegian energy trading software company. Specialising in providing business, technical
and quantitative advice on pricing models and financial instruments to producers and consumers.

Project leader throughout the whole lifecycle of a project to integrate NR’s Olga simulation models into
Navita’s ETS software and service package at Norsk Hydro:
       External model libraries to simulate oil, gas and coal price scenarios were integrated into analysis
        software;
       Interface based on client’s specific requirements included a batch processor and ability to reload
        results for analysis;
       Deliverables included a project document, specification, installable files and Users’ Manual;
       Required writing software in the company’s framework, using VB.NET and an Oracle database;
       Project handed over successfully within the agreed budget, specification and time.


November 2006 – March 2007              Sungard Systems – Business Consultant

Worked as a business consultant in market and credit risk systems for the Adaptiv product group for several
clients, in particular:
         Barclays Capital: Worked with the implementation team as a product specialist on Gilts (UK
          Government bonds) to develop functionality to meet the client’s particular requirements as a market
          maker in the product.
         Cantor Index (Cantor Fitzgerald): Lead consultant on implementation of a new market risk system
          for equities and equity derivatives (especially CFDs).
         American Express Bank: Lead consultant at the planning and definition stages of a project to
          implement a new market and credit risk system for the bank.

April 2006 – October 2006               Asymilate Trading & Risk Consulting – Junior Consultant

Calypso proof of concept at Standard Bank PLC
      Worked as an external consultant on a “proof of concept” project for using Calypso as a Front-to-
       Back system for Standard Bank PLC's global securities operations, to replace several existing
       systems and to handle the bank's securities business and niche client-oriented services.
      Specified and executed user test cases, presenting findings back to the steering committee.

Basel Waiver Application
       Development of the “Basel Waiver” application to help auditors monitor their organisation’s
       compliance to Basel 2/ECB/FSA regulations on investment risk, developed in Java.

September 2002 – January 2006           MINOS Project / University of Sussex – Particle Physicist

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD or DPhil) in Experimental Particle Physics (published 2006)
Thesis: Preliminary Measurement of Neutrino Oscillation Parameters at MINOS & Calibration Studies to
Improve This Measurement

Research
      Worked as a physicist on the MINOS Project, the leading experiment in the field of neutrino
       oscillations, for over 3 years with 6+ papers.
      Much of this work focused into developing new methods of calibration, requiring strong skills for
       numerically analysing data. This included techniques such as data reconstruction, Monte Carlo
       simulation, linear regression and distributional analysis.
      Received formal training in Object Orientated technology and programmed analysis modules in C++
       and ROOT to run on Linux/UNIX systems.
      Administered the Sussex group's computer systems, running Linux and Windows, duties included
       maintaining databases and compiling software.
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       Carried out an independent preliminary analysis of the project's full data set to provide an alternate
        method of verifying the experiment's key results.
       Given responsibility for the installation of calibration systems on all of the project's multi-million
        pound detectors.

Teaching
      Gained over 2 years experience teaching various topics in maths and science to students at all levels.
      Heavily involved in physics outreach, winning 4 accolades and presenting research at several venues
       internationally, including the BA Festival of Science and Parliament.


Qualifications

       Master of Physics (MSc or MPhys) with Honours (2:1) from University of Manchester;
       Doctor of Philosophy (PhD or DPhil) in Experimental Particle Physics from University of Sussex;
       Member of the Institute of Physics (MinstP).


Key Skills
Field                           Description
Communication skills            Over 2 years teaching experience and regular presentations on science and
                                financial applications. About 2 years experience managing and structuring
                                meetings with clients and management to ensure productive outcomes.
Project management              Responsibility for installing the “light injection” system on the multi-
                                million pound MINOS Near Detector, ensuring commissioning was
                                completed ahead of schedule. Lead consultant on 2 successful consulting
                                projects at Sungard and project manager at Navita.
Numeracy                        Strong and practical use of statistics for physics analysis (both high data
                                volumes and low statistics limits) with advanced mathematical content
Analytical skills               6+ years of scientific computing as standalone programs or as part of larger
                                projects. 7+ years of university-level problem solving in experimental
                                physics. About 2 years of analysis as part of quantitative finance exercises
                                for clients.


Systems Experience
System                          Proficiency
Microsoft                       15+ years of Windows (3.1-Vista), Office (inc. Excel), Visual Studio (6,
                                .NET and 2005) and Publisher
Linux and UNIX                  Set-up and maintenance with Red Hat Linux (7.2 - ES 5) and Ubuntu
C/C++                           Six years of programming experience in C/C++, producing numerous
                                analysis packages and in standalone and OO environments.
Java                            Written application to help auditors monitor compliance to Basel 2
                                regulations and written extensions to Calypso product suite.
Visual Basic                    Written commercial applications in VBA, VB.NET and VB 2005
Other                           ROOT (3 yrs), MySQL, MS-SQL, Oracle, bash, LaTeX, HTML, C#


Financial Skills

Specialising in risk; other quantitative finance knowledge is to about the level of books by Wilmott and Hull.
Area                              Topics

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Product Knowledge              Forwards, futures, options, securities, equities, swaps, IR derivatives, exotic
                               derivatives, hedging and trading strategies, etc.
Fixed Income                   One and multiple factor IR models; HJM and LMM models; yield curve
                               construction; finite difference methods.
Option Pricing                 Black-Scholes model and “the Greeks”, etc.; binomial and trinomial
                               models; volatility surfaces.
Risk Methods                   Market, credit and operational risk; VAR, VAR variants, expected shortfall,
                               etc.; stress tests and scenario analysis; historical, parametric and MC
                               simulation; RiskMetrics family, Mark-to-Future; covariance and copulas.
Calypso & Sungard              Calypso University courses, with API and eclipse integration. Various
                               training courses on the Adaptiv suite of Sungard products.
Energy Industry                Use of financial products for hedging energy risk.


Interests

       I like to exercise in the gym and I am a FA qualified referee.
       I build and maintain computers and run several websites.
       Enjoy travelling (have done so extensively across 5 continents) and scuba diving (PADI Advanced
        qualified scuba diver).

References and Publications are available on request.




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