Italian software and consultancy company Prometeia, an expert in the risk, wealth and performance management space, is entering the Swiss market. finews.com talked to Senior Manager Carmine Cammarota who will be the «face» here.
Carmine Cammarota, Prometeia is opening an office in Zurich. What explains the timing of your entry in the Swiss market??
Our timing is the result of a set of pressures in the market which have now matured to produce opportunity at the intersection of front office digitalization, advisory, and compliance, which is where we excel. It’s a perfect time for us.
What are the main activities that you plan to provide in Switzerland?
We are specialists in risk, wealth and asset management, and over the last 45 years, we have developed a wide-ranging portfolio of consulting, software and data services in that space, supporting the operations of many leading institutions. But to start, our focus in Switzerland is our investment front office software and data solution, PFTPro Suite.
«The PFTPro enterprise wealth management platform is the expression of Prometeia’s unique WealthTech approach»
The PFTPro platform is Prometeia’s unique WealthTech approach, using advanced methodology, process, and technology to reach business objectives. Together, its modules guarantee complete coverage of front office processes and workflows.
The data component of PFTPro Suite provides an up-to-date, sophisticated risk and financial analytics data feed for single instruments and portfolios. The service delivers raw or processed market data and analytics including market, credit and liquidity risk and other financial indicators, using state-of-the-art risk management methodologies.
For each initiative Prometeia partners closely with the client to ensure that the project goes smoothly and delivers value from kick-off to go-live and beyond. For the Asset Management world, we have the AMI (Asset Management Insights) platform. It’s an interactive on-line tool for benchmarking, comparisons and market analysis aimed at asset managers and insurers.
What kind of clients are you going to target?
Financial institutions including banks, asset managers and insurers.
«We understand the market in which wealth managers operate and the resulting needs»
The PFTPro solution is highly modular with a wide range of components, and this provides a lot of flexibility. We have configurations installed at private banks that focus on depth of analysis and sophistication, others running at universal banks where automation and process governance are key, yet others with an emphasis on insurance products. We work with different types of intermediaries and are aiming to do so in Switzerland too.
What is the added-value that Prometeia can offer?
It not only allows us to support our clients across the entire project lifecycle but the development of the PFTPro platform benefits immensely from our knowledge of the business and regulation of wealth management and the associated processes.
We understand the market in which wealth managers operate and the resulting needs, and these drive the design and innovation of the platform.
Prometeia is hardly known here. Who is behind this company?
In 1969 a group of young professors at the University of Bologna were invited by Lawrence Klein to participate in his Nobel Prize-winning LINK project for modeling the world economy. Prometeia was then founded five years later by the LINK participants as a non-profit economic think tank after the eruption of the oil crisis and the resulting uncertainty created an acute need for the types of macroeconomic forecasts they specialized in.
«Prometeia is an independent company, with private shareholders and partners»
In the early 1980s, a for-profit company was spun off to give the financial sector access to these highly specialist skills in the form of professional and technical services, and over time this initiative has grown into the leading provider of risk, wealth and asset management services and technology you see today.
Prometeia is an independent company, with private shareholders and partners. This type of ownership allows us to invest more in research and development and, perhaps most importantly, take a long term view in terms of client relationships and business strategy.
How will you be positioned working out of Zurich and where will you set your priorities?
The priorities at the moment are to make the value of Prometeia’s expertise known in Switzerland and to allow the Swiss financial world to benefit from our extensive experience with European regulation (MiFID II, IDD, PRIIPS).
«Throughout its long history, the Swiss financial industry has always been able to adapt, resist and flourish»
Switzerland is being confronted with the pressure of regulation but, in my opinion, is not yet fully prepared to turn a compliance requirement into an opportunity to better serve the investor.
What is your view on the Swiss financial center/industry?
The Swiss financial center is undergoing a great transformation driven by greater transparency, increased competition, changing customer expectations and stronger regulatory pressure. Throughout its long history, the Swiss financial industry has always been able to adapt, resist and flourish, and I don’t see that changing.
«This is one of the reasons Prometeia wants to be active and visible in Switzerland»
The political stability built over centuries around a solid consensual democratic approach, the excellent education system, the international and innovative spirit of our people have helped and will continue to foster this process. This is one of the reasons Prometeia wants to be active and visible in this market and to be able to participate in its future evolution.
Finally, tell us something about your personal interests and your view of Switzerland.
I love my preferred sport: rowing. In addition to practicing it regularly, I’m also the vice-president of the Club Canottieri Lugano.
«When I see an 8 win, the feeling is even more wonderful»
Allow me a comparison between our work and my preferred sport. Rowing is a hard sport, with sacrifices, and is, though it may not always seem like it, team-oriented. I think you know that there are several types of boats: the single (skiff), double, four, and eight. During the races when I see the single win I'm happy for me and the athlete, the same for the double.
But when I see an 8 win, the feeling is even more wonderful. The victory of 8 athletes who rowed so intensely in the same direction, with the same rhythm, with the same determination, as one single organism slicing through the water, is peerless.
My guidance is to apply the same kind of principle to work: achieve goals by going in the same direction with determination, knowing how to interpret the obstacles looking for an excellent result, and striving to integrate different personalities and different contributions.
Carmine Cammarota has 25 years’ experience in the banking IT industry. After his studies at the ETH Zürich in Computer Science, he managed several projects working for a Swiss bank. At the same time, he continued with his studies, completing a master’s degree in Business Administration. After various professional experiences, he took on managerial roles first in Bloomberg Switzerland and then in B-Source which later become, with the purchase by Avaloq, Avaloq Sourcing Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Through his 11 years in outsourcing for banks, he has come to know the financial sector here in Switzerland very well.
