Pompeo Pontone: the tech companies’ new type of monopoly

 With over 25 years of professional experience, Pompeo Pontone is an Investment Specialist and Financial Consultant, who is particularly focused on Investment Management and Capital Markets. He is currently active in Quantitative Finance, Derivatives Trading and Data Science, as well as in projects concerning FinTech and Private Equity. In a recent article published on his website, the expert has addressed the issue of monopolies in the tech era and the control exercised by the most dominant tech companies over the app ecosystems.

Pompeo Pontone: the emergence of tech monopolies

Published on the Data Science & Technology section of the website, the insight from Pompeo Pontone focuses on the emerging issue regarding the rise of monopolies in the technological era. The specific case analyzed by the expert is that of Apple: is it conceivable that the American big tech company has made it extremely difficult to use web-based technology on its platforms? "Apple's control over its app ecosystem is a new type of monopoly that's hard to understand for lawmakers", the article says, "and difficult for us to fight back against": as explained in the insight, this is linked to the fact that it is no easy to find a way out of the restrictions when both the distribution method and the platform itself are controlled by a company. With a recent policy change, indeed, Apple has made it more difficult for developers to submit apps containing web code and to use web-based technology on its platforms. "Web information system, or web-based information system", the expert in Data Science explains, "is an information system that uses Internet web technologies to deliver information and services, to users or other information systems/applications": in other words, "it is a software system whose main purpose is to publish and maintain data by using hypertext-based principles", Pompeo Pontone writes.

Pompeo Pontone: Apple and fully independent third-party browsers

Pompeo Pontone continues his article focusing on another aspect relating to the new type of monopoly that is emerging in the tech era: Apple's history of stunting the web's progress on its platforms. "A web application (or web app) is an application software that runs on a web server", he writes, "unlike computer-based software programs that are stored locally on the Operating System of the device". As the article says, web applications are accessed through a web browser with an active internet connection, and programmed using a client server modeled structure: basically, "the user ("client") is provided services through an off-site server that is hosted by a third-party", Pompeo Pontone points out, adding that the programming languages used to build the web often find their way into apps. As explained by the expert, this is a crucial point because fully independent third-party browsers are not allowed by Apple, which requires all apps to leverage the Safari browser when rendering web-based content. This means that Apple has a monopoly on how iPhone and iPad users access the web, as all apps "must use Apple's Safari browser behind the scenes to render web pages", the Professional Investment Specialist concludes.

Pompeo Pontone’s article on Covid-19 and Data Science

How to master data set and data structures to perform analysis? This is the issue addressed by Pompeo Pontone, a Professional Investor and expert in Data Science and FinTech, in the light of the extraordinary emergency situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pompeo Pontone: Covid-19 and the use of data

In his article published on the official website, Pompeo Pontone discusses about the connection between Covid-19 and Data Science, the latter being one of his field of specialization together with Investment Management, Quantitative Finance and Derivatives Trading, among the others. "Data Scientists know how crucial is to master data set and data structures in order to perform any required analysis", the expert says, pointing out that, when dealing with data analysis, the crisis caused by Covid-19 is not something different than any other issue under the lens of Data Science. "There is no difference in dealing with Covid-19 pandemic", Pompeo Pontone explains, "Data set, data formation and data structures are being created and will constitute the base of the pandemic analysis". His article continues by addressing another crucial aspect, that is the one of reliability: the expert writes, indeed, "I personally fear that, unless data consistency is guaranteed among different countries and territories, sample hypothesis testing results will not be reliable enough". As data will form the base of the pandemic analysis, a preferable choice would be "performing statistical analysis on the entire population data set", he concludes, "as soon as statistical official data on well tested classifications (unrelated to the Covid-19 pandemic) are compiled".

Pompeo Pontone, more than 25 years of experience in the world of finance

The article on the issue of Covid-19 and Data Science is published by Pompeo Pontone, a leading Investment Specialist in the fields of Investment Management and Capital Markets, who is currently active in Quantitative Finance, Derivatives Trading and Data Science, as well as in the fields of FinTech and Private Equity. The expert's educational background includes a Degree with honors in Economics (Bocconi University of Milan, 1994), a Master of Science in Quantitative Finance (Birkbeck College, University of London), and the "Mathematical Finance: Contingent Claims Pricing in Continuous Time" Postgraduate Course (University of Florence). His first professional experience was as a Research Analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates in London in 1995. Pompeo Pontone later moved to Credito Italiano (known today as UniCredit), working as a Fixed Income Analyst in Milan, and, in 1998, he was appointed Vice President and Senior Fund Manager at Pioneer Investments, a Dublin based firm specializing in investment funds management. From 1999 to 2001 he was Director - Co-Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Portfolios at Intesa Asset Management (today Eurizon - Intesa San Paolo), and, from 2001 to 2002, Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives at Fineco Asset Management. His following top management roles include that of Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives Proprietary Trading at BMPS Bank in London, and Managing Director - Head of Alternative Investments and Asset Management at ALTIAM - Amstel Securities LLP. He held this role until 2011, when he was appointed Senior Financial Advisor at Method Investments & Advisory Ltd.

Pompeo Pontone: BCIs and the theft of emotional responses

With more than 25 years of experience in the world of finance, Pompeo Pontone is a Professional Investment Specialist and Financial Consultant. His fields of specialization include Investment Management, Quantitative Finance, Derivatives Trading and Data Science.

Pompeo Pontone: the challenges and threats of brain computer interfaces

The new generation of mind-reading technologies is the issue addressed by Pompeo Pontone in a recent intervention on his website, which explains the threats related to BCIs, namely brain computer interfaces. "We already know it's annoying to have a user name and password hacked", the article says, "and worrying when it's your bank account details that are stolen". But, in the light of the big development of such devices to read thoughts and feelings through computers, the expert in Data Science and FinTech points out that "BCIs (Brain Computer Interfaces) mean that eventually it's your emotional responses that would be stolen and shared by hackers, with all the embarrassments and horrors that go with that". As explained, indeed, mind-reading technologies can allow entry to the most private type of personal data, e.g. emotional responses: "BCIs offer access to the most personal of personal data", Pompeo Pontone writes in the article, adding that "inevitably they'll be targeted by hackers and would-be blackmailers". But, as underlined by the Investment Consultant and Specialist, data owners will try to keep information in the safest way possible, using appropriate security and privacy systems: "Security systems will attempt to keep data from BCIs as locked down as possible", Pompeo Pontone concludes, adding a warning on the issue: "We already know the defenders never win every time".

Pompeo Pontone'career in the financial field

The article on mind-reading technologies is published on the Data Science & Technology section of Pompeo Pontone's website. With over 25 years of professional experience, he is an Investment Specialist and Financial Consultant, who is particularly focused on Investment Management and Capital Markets. The expert is currently active in Quantitative Finance, Derivatives Trading and Data Science, as well as in projects concerning FinTech and Private Equity. Pompeo Pontone graduated with honors in Economics from the Bocconi University in Milan (1994), and gained a Master of Science in Quantitative Finance from the Birkbeck College (University of London). He completed the "Mathematical Finance: Contingent Claims Pricing in Continuous Time" Postgraduate Course (University of Florence). After starting his career as a Research Analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates (London) in 1995, Pompeo Pontone held the roles of Fixed Income Analyst at Credito Italiano (known today as UniCredit) in Milan. He then joined Pioneer Investments - a Dublin based firm specializing in investment funds management - where he was Vice President and Senior Fund Manager. His career includes several top management roles: Director - Co-Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Portfolios at Intesa Asset Management (today Eurizon - Intesa San Paolo) between 1999 and 2001; Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives at Fineco Asset Management (2001-2002); Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives Proprietary Trading at BMPS Bank in London (2002-2010); Managing Director - Head of Alternative Investments and Asset Management at ALTIAM - Amstel Securities LLP (2010-2011); and Senior Financial Advisor at Method Investments & Advisory Ltd.

Machine learning algorithms, Pompeo Pontone explains the usefulness of Decision Trees

Pompeo Pontone is a Professional Investment Specialist and Financial Consultant with more than 25 years of experience gained in the field. As an expert in Data Science, FinTech and Private Equity, he has recently dealt with the subject of Decision Trees in Data Science.

Decision Trees explained by Pompeo Pontone

Currently working in the fields of Quantitative Finance, Derivatives Trading, FinTech, Data Science, and Private Equity, Pompeo Pontone explains why Decision Trees are so important within Data Science: "Decision trees (DTs) are among the most versatile class of machine learning algorithm", he writes, "they're particularly useful as the basic classifier and random forests which are among the most powerful class of machine learning algorithm". As pointed out by the Investment Consultant and Specialist, indeed, a decision tree is a non-parametric supervised learning algorithm used for classification and regression problems. His article underlines that the goal of Decision Trees "is to create a model that predicts the value of a target variable by learning simple decision rules inferred from the data features", expert says, adding that such methods are "capable of handling both classification and regression tasks and they're able to deal with complex nonlinear datasets". Pompeo Pontone continues his article by explaining another useful feature of Decision Trees, which are also called "white-box models", as they are easy to interpret: "This is because they're based on a hierarchy of simple classification rules which are easily visualized", he writes, and "this is an opposition to black-box models like deep neural networks. In black-box models, decisions are made in a process which is far more opaque". The Investor and Investment Specialist concludes his article by adding that "with Decision Trees, we can easily traverse the tree by eye and see the criteria for how the decisions are made".

Pompeo Pontone: current activities and past roles in the world of finance

Particularly focused on the fields of Investment Management and Capital Markets, Pompeo Pontone is a professional Investment Specialist and Financial Consultant with over 25 years of experience. After graduating with honors in Economics from the Bocconi University in Milan (1994), he obtained a Master of Science in Quantitative Finance from the Birkbeck College (University of London). His academic qualifications include as well the "Mathematical Finance: Contingent Claims Pricing in Continuous Time" Postgraduate Course (University of Florence). Currently working as an Investor and Investment Specialist with a focus in Quantitative Finance, Derivatives Trading, FinTech, Data Science, and Private Equity, Pompeo Pontone started his career as a Research Analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, which he joined in London in 1995. He then served as Fixed Income Analyst at Credito Italiano (known today as UniCredit) in Milan, and as Vice President and Senior Fund Manager at Pioneer Investments, a Dublin based firm specializing in investment funds management. After a professional experience at Intesa Asset Management (known today as Eurizon - Intesa San Paolo), which he joined as a Director - Co-Head of Credit Portfolios & Asset Management in 1999, he held the position of Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives at Fineco Asset Management from 2001 to 2002. His successful career led him to undertake other significant challenges at leading international institutions, such as BMPS Bank in London, where he was Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives Proprietary Trading, and ALTIAM - Amstel Securities LLP, where he was appointed Managing Director - Head of Alternative Investments and Asset Management. His last professional experience before starting his current activities was as Senior Financial Advisor at Method Investments & Advisory Ltd in 2011.

Pompeo Pontone’s top management roles at investment institutions

Investment Management and Capital Markets: with more than 25 years of experience in the world of finance, Pompeo Pontone is a Professional Investment Specialist and Financial Consultant.

On the strength of his deep knowledge of stochastic modeling, financial economics, quantitative finance, econometrics and applied mathematics, Pompeo Pontone's career includes top level roles in leading international institutions.

Pompeo Pontone: educational background and first appointments in the world of finance

Particularly focused on Investment Management and Capital Markets, Pompeo Pontone is a Professional Investment Specialist and Financial Consultant, who boasts more than 25 years' experience in the financial services industry. His strong educational background consists of a Degree in Economics, which he obtained with honors from the Bocconi University in Milan (1994), followed by a Master of Science in Quantitative Finance from the Birkbeck College (University of London). He completed as well the Postgraduate Course "Mathematical Finance: Contingent Claims Pricing in Continuous Time", which he attended at the University of Florence. His working experience in the world of finance began in 1995, when he joined Stone & McCarthy Research Associates (London) as a Research Analyst. He then moved to the Financial and Economic Research Department of Credito Italiano (known today as UniCredit) in Milan, where he served as Fixed Income Analyst. While at Credito Italiano, Pompeo Pontone contributed as well to several financial publications: indeed, he was co-author of The Italian Treasury Bond Guide, and Investment Strategies: Financial Newsletter, among the others. Over time he continued to hold positions of increasing relevance, such as the appointment he received in 1998 as Vice President and Senior Fund Manager of Pioneer Investments, an international firm headquartered in Dublin and specializing in the management of investment funds. The following year he was appointed Director - Co-Head of Credit Portfolios & Asset Management of Intesa Asset Management (known today as Eurizon - Intesa San Paolo), holding this position until 2001.

Pompeo Pontone's top management roles and current activities

The roles of responsibility he held in the financial field allowed Pompeo Pontone to develop specialist skills and establish himself as a leading Investor and Investment Specialist. His deep knowledge of stochastic modeling, financial economics, quantitative finance, econometrics and applied mathematics, indeed, led him to hold positions at the top management of several financial institutions between 2001 and 2010. After being appointed Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives at Fineco Asset Management (2001-2002), he joined BMPS Bank in London, where he held the position of Managing Director - Head of Corporate Bonds & Credit Derivatives Proprietary Trading (2002-2010). His following professional experience was at ALTIAM - Amstel Securities LLP, where he served as Managing Director - Head of Alternative Investments and Asset Management. In 2011 he moved to Method Investments & Advisory Ltd as a Senior Financial Advisor. With a focus on Investment Management, Quantitative Finance, Derivatives Trading, and Data Science, Pompeo Pontone currently works as an Investor and Investment Specialist, and is also active in projects concerning Private Equity, FinTech, and Blockchain. He is skilled as well in Computer Programming (Java, Python), and has professional interests in Information Technology, Cyber Security and Computer Science. He holds a Day Skipper (Sail & Motor) License, and is a PADI Certified Dive Master.