Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have become increasingly important in many financial markets, including derivatives. Monticello consultants were pleased to participate in ISDA’s ESG and Derivatives Virtual Conference as panelists explored developments in ESG regulatory policy, sustainable finance derivatives products, and the future of ESG derivatives. Nearly all speakers called for improvements in data quality that firms can use for disclosure and to measure progress to drive sustainable investment decisions. Today, managing climate risk is center stage as recent climate events have raised awareness that this permeates all parts of our lives. Behavioral change is needed and policy makers are incentivizing the transition on a global scale. As ESG related policy shifts, the transition needs to be done in a thoughtful way and we at Monticello look forward to supporting continued progress in the area of consistent, reliable and comparable data to drive ESG growth and innovation across the financial services industry.
Monticello Recognized for Support of the Children’s Village “Play it Your Way” Golf Tournament
“Most Creative Golfer” - Kevin Wells
Monticello Consulting group has been recognized for it’s sponsorship and support of the Children’s Village 2020 “Play it Your Way” golf tournament, which raised over $15,000 (and counting) for underprivileged kids! In addition to sponsoring the tournament, MCG was an active participant and several employees walked away with awards including:
Stan Pique – the “Free as a Birdie” award
Kevin Wells – Most Creative Golfer
Dan Ahmad – Best Action Shot
Stan, Dan, Alan Scott and Joe Badalamenti – Low Gross Score Foursome
For more on the Children’s Village, the “Play it Your Way” tournament and ways to support the CV, click here.
“Free as a Birdie” - Stan Pique
“Best Action Shot” - Dan Ahmad
“Low Gross Score Foursome” - Alan Scott, Joe Badalamenti, Dan Ahmad, Stan Pique
Monticello Consultants Deepen their Agile Knowledge
Monticello consultants recently completed Grow Lean's “Advanced Scrum Master Training” to enhance their project management skills and learn about the latest trends in Agile practices including Agile at scale, empiricism, coaching, and the role of the product owner. Monticello Consulting Group supports continuous learning for our employees to ensure we have fresh perspectives to address complex client challenges. The team enjoyed working with Grow Lean to identify practical solutions to recent project challenges and we look forward to better serving our customers as they look to advance their critical business programs.
The Monticello team participates in the Children’s Village Golf Tournament to help raise critically needed funds
The Children’s Village works in partnership with families to help society’s most vulnerable children so that they can become educationally proficient, economically productive, and socially responsible members of their communities. While the “Play it Your Way” golf tournament has come to a close, its never too late to donate to a great cause! Thank you to the Children’s Village for finding a creative way to host a great event this year and thank you to the Monticello team for participating in the event to help raise critically needed funds. Learn more about CV and donate today https://childrensvillage.org/donate/
Monticello Participates in CFA Society New York Virtual Event on Non-GAAP Financial Reporting
Monticello consultants recently attended a panel discussion held by the CFA Society New York to address the issue of non-GAAP reporting in the context of COVID-19. Firms and the SEC are thinking carefully about how to reflect the disruptive business impact of the pandemic in quarterly and annual financial reporting and disclosures. While the SEC's published guidance on non-GAAP financial reporting measures can aid financial institutions in their efforts to disclose information that is both useful for company management and at the same time does not mislead their investors, problems still prevail. Quantifying the effects of the pandemic in a compliant manner is proving to be a challenge and the SEC will bring heightened scrutiny.
Monticello Attends XVA Masterclass Training
This week, Monticello Consulting Group attended Risk.net’s XVA Masterclass webinar series on the recent developments and trends in the XVA and counterparty risk management space. The need to correctly calculate and manage counterparty risk is vital to banks, especially in these volatile times. The events of this spring in equity and commodity markets highlighted both the importance of maintaining a strong XVA program and the potential weaknesses in the current market-wide implementation of XVA.
Looking ahead, machine learning, artificial intelligence and even quantum computing all have the potential to dramatically improve the accuracy, precision and speed of XVA calculations, resulting in cost savings and reduced risks for banks.
Monticello Chips in for the Children’s Village
Monticello is golfing to raise money for the Children’s Village through their “Play it Your Way” socially-distanced tournament. Another foursome met this weekend to play and submit their scores. It’s not too late to play or simply donate to a great cause! Play began on August 7 and will run through September 11. Please join us in this fundraiser by reaching out to us or visit the CV link to the event: https://childrensvillage.org/golfandtennis/
Monticello Joins Conversation on Inclusion in Banking
Monticello recently attended a talk on diversity and inclusion in banking by Malia Lazu, a longtime community organizer and newly named Executive Vice President and Chief Experience and Culture Officer of Berkshire Bank. Malia is currently focused on developing a diversity and inclusion program that could serve as a blueprint for other community banks. Malia shared insights on how the banking industry, especially community banks, can play a leading role in bringing about sustainable change that allows everyone to engage in economic opportunity and help close the racial wealth gap. Banks will need to drive change in order to make this a reality and create a meaningful and sustained cultural shift in the industry.
Monticello Tees Off to Raise Funds for the Children’s Village
Monticello is golfing to raise money for the Children’s Village through their “Play it Your Way” socially-distanced tournament. Several of our employees met this weekend to play and submit their scores as the initial MCG foursome. Play began on August 7 and will run through September 11. Please join us in this fundraiser by reaching out to us or visit the CV link to the event: https://childrensvillage.org/golfandtennis/
Monticello Attends WSJ Roundtable on Investing in Cybersecurity
Monticello Consulting Group recently attended a Wall Street Journal Cybersecurity Training focused on identifying where companies should allocate their cybersecurity Technology budgets. A key takeaway was that the careful selection of vendors and partners is vital to successful investments in cybersecurity.
Firms need to make sure they take a holistic approach to vendor selection to ensure they can provide a solution that can meet the overarching complexities of the organization. Having a Steering Committee is a great way to collaborate internally and remain in sync with what the company is looking to achieve and identify the vendor that best fits this profile.
Furthermore, firms should view their vendor’s work as a partnership, rather than a one-off contract. The ideal vendor is one with longevity, that the company can continue to partner with over time. With so many vendors in this space, it is important to partner with one that maintains a long-term outlook.
Monticello Thanks You - Care Package Time!
COVID-19 has greatly affected all of us, presenting new challenges in the workforce. We hope our team care packages made our consultants smile this week as we truly appreciate how they have all adapted so smoothly with this transition, working together as a stronger knit team over the last 6 months – thank you for your partnership!
Monticello’s own Jeff Souva practicing for the CV event earlier this summer.
Children's Village 2020 Golf Fundraiser Kickoff!
Today kicks off the Children’s Village 2020 Golf Fundraiser event, as we raise money for our partner charitable organization by playing golf anytime between now and September 11th and submitting our scores online. This is a chance to both help raise the funds needed for all the vital programs the CV manages on a daily basis while having fun and adhering to social distancing guidelines. Please join us in this fundraiser by reaching out to us or visit the CV link to the event: https://childrensvillage.org/golfandtennis/
Thank You To Our Summer Interns!
It’s been a great summer at Monticello and our college and high school interns have been hard at work creating new marketing content, optimizing our website, developing creative thought leadership insights, managing new business development technology enhancements, conducting research for the recruiting department, performing financial analysis, and much more. At first, Michael and Sarah were curious about how things would unfold with the team working remotely this summer, but in the end, they really enjoyed the work from home experience and they brought fresh ideas and tremendous enthusiasm to the “office” every day. We asked Michael and Sarah about their experiences working at Monticello this summer - read on to see what they had to say!
Sarah Dudley (High School Intern)
During my time as an intern at Monticello Consulting Group, I was able to contribute directly to several high-profile projects. I worked alongside the leadership team and senior associates and was able to take initiative on sections of major projects. Not only was I learning through experience on daily projects, but I also met weekly with my mentor, who was able to give me advice on selecting a career in the finance industry as well as being a woman in finance. My internship was filled with new projects and tasks where I was able to contribute my ideas. Unlike working at a large firm, my ideas were heard and many of them would later be seen in the final project. There were several projects where I was able to act as the main editor with contributions from other team members. These included updating the website, recruitment research, and the LIBOR Playbook.
The first project I worked on was updating pages of the website, along with SEO research. The goal was to speed up the website by reducing page sizes, specifically looking at image sizes. I also focused on the Day in the Life page, as we were looking to make it more modern and more SEO friendly. I reformatted the entire Day in the Life page, creating the basic format for future Day in the Life posts. I was also able to change many other pages, focusing more on thematic images and icons that matched the new website style.
Next, I started recruitment research on firms in the NYC Metropolitan Area. The first task was to update the compensation research that had been completed several years ago. This consisted of looking on different websites to find information regarding how different positions were paid at different companies within the management consulting space. This is important to understand when making offers of employment to candidates, as companies need to offer competitive salaries in order to attract top talent.
The LIBOR Playbook was my last project. I was able to take creative lead on this project, as I was editing the main file. This project was important, and it had been designated an advertising budget. Another task I had was to reach out to different digital finance media sites and inquire about their advertising options. I was able to truly see the project from start to finish, playing a main role throughout. Again, if I was working at a larger firm, I would not have this opportunity, as it would be given to a higher-level associate. However, at Monticello, there are many opportunities for interns to step up and take the lead on important projects.
Overall, working at Monticello this summer has given me invaluable experience in the finance industry. I was able to take lead on major projects, giving me firsthand experience. I met people who gave me excellent advice for my future both in the college process and for my future career. My internship was an amazing experience because I was able to work with a team of hardworking, motivated people, who helped me learn the ropes and truly welcomed me into the company.
Michael Jost (Loyola University Maryland)
My summer internship at Monticello was truly an eventful experience. Despite having to communicate with the team online, the collaborative workstyle enabled me to communicate and interact with everyone effectively. The variety of projects that I worked on led me to become more knowledgeable about my majors, helped me establish relationships with different parts of the team, and prepared me with skills and tools that lead me to more success in the future.
For my first couple weeks, I helped to revamp the Recruiting Phone Screen Template that is used during the hiring process of candidates. It really put my Excel skills to the test, as I worked on helping to improve and organize it, and overall make it more efficient for the Monticello team to use. These first two weeks also introduced me to Salesforce, where I started to look into the more data aspect of the company. As the weeks progressed, I continued down this path of data analytics and really had the opportunity to dive deep into Salesforce. I worked on many different Salesforce related projects, such as creating and updating reports, logging tasks and calls, organizing different data sets, and much more.
For my final week, I had the chance to work on more of the business side of the company and research company’s financial statements and earnings reports of the second quarter. I created a PowerPoint on my findings and research, where I discussed the effects that COVID-19 had on these companies, how they performed compared to the previous quarter and year, and any plans that they may have for the future. I was able to present this PowerPoint to the firm over a conference call, which also gave me experience in public speaking, something that I find to be a very valuable skill. Although I worked on a variety of projects this summer, my biggest task that I faced was discovering a more efficient way to create and update data that the company has and automatically import it into Salesforce, rather than uploading it manually. I was able to work with the team to help discover an efficient approach to the problem that the company can now use in the future.
Overall, my summer internship at Monticello provided me with an incredible experience, regardless of the inability to work in the office. The Monticello team did a great job of keeping me engaged throughout the summer while guiding me along the way. Not only did I learn more about the business, but it was a great way to see how a company works together to build up towards the same goal. Their collaborative, entrepreneurial, and inclusive workstyle truly made me feel like I was part of the team and that the work I did served a purpose. I am happy to say that I have established some amazing relationships over the past two months and cannot be more thankful for the opportunity that I was given.
Michael and Sarah – Best of luck as you head back to school in a few weeks – we really enjoyed having you as a part of the Monticello team and you made a lot of great contributions!
Penny giving a cuddle
COVID Animal Rescue - Welcome to team Monticello!
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic there was pet abandonment in large numbers in China, and fearful that the same would happen locally, many animal rescue organizations in the US set out to empty their shelters. Subsequently, there was an unprecedented upsurge in adoptions and fostering - Monticello has joined the efforts here as two of our teammates have adopted dogs from local NY animal shelters! Meet Penny and Ness, our furriest and sweetest new family members – congratulations Megan and Andrew on your animal adoption!
While adoption is selfless act for the well-being of the animals in need, we can all agree that the benefits of animal fostering and adoption go two ways. Aside from the stress-mitigating impacts of caring for a pet, it is often a powerful influencer in maintaining health-protective behaviors, such as eating well or going out for more walks. Great work team Monticello!
Ness relaxing in the sun
Monticello Attends ISDA’s Uncleared Margin Operations Training
With the one year delay of UMR Phase 5, firms have a unique window to evaluate and implement automation opportunities within UMR operational processes. Automation is a key lever to improve risk management, increase efficiency, and reduce costs within the UMR workflow while enhancing business continuity following disruptive events.
The most impactful automation opportunities typically lie in the most manual and time-consuming processes in the UMR collateral lifecycle, from IM dispute management to collateral pledging and release instructions. The benefits of automation also extend to leveraging data mining and machine learning techniques to uncover process improvement opportunities.
Creative and prepared firms will take advantage of the extra year to introduce automation into UMR operations in order to drive cost savings and ROI over the long term.
Monticello Attends FIA Training on Cross Border Clearing and Market Access: EMIR 2.2 and Brexit
The Monticello team attended a webinar on Brexit and EMIR 2.2 last week regarding the changing nature of cross-border market access and supervision. The webinar was hosted by the UK Futures Industry Association (FIA) and featured a panel consisting of legal and clearing experts. With Brexit now a reality, EU regulators need to determine how to treat the major UK central counterparties (CCP) after the transition period ends on 12/31/2020. EU regulated financial institutions have large exposure concentrations to UK CCPs, such as the London Clearing House (LCH), ICE Clear Europe and the London Metal Exchange's (LME) clearing subsidiary. Under EMIR 2.2 rules, the UK CCPs would be classified as 3rd country entities, which would trigger punitive capital requirements that would force EU counterparties to either set up UK subsidiaries, or move their exposures to EU domiciled CCPs. The next few months will be pivotal to avoid this 'cliff edge' situation. Like seemingly everything related to Brexit, there will be twists and turns and it remains to be seen if an agreement can be reached between the EU and UK negotiators that will provide UK CCPs with temporary or permanent exemptions from EMIR 2.2 restrictions.
Monticello Attends Launch of SOFR Summer Series
The Monticello Team attended a webinar hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank of England this week titled LIBOR: Entering the Endgame. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, joined John Williams, NY Fed President, and other participants and reiterated the continued importance of a timely transition from LIBOR, the need to shift to more robust alternative reference rates, and the endgame for LIBOR. The presenters reiterated their stance that LIBOR transition needs to progress according to the original timeline, especially in light of the recent Covid-19 triggered market volatility. During the week at the end of March, term LIBOR rates represented no more than educated guesses, given a complete absence of actual market transactions. We look forward to future events and continuing to support our clients to ensure market readiness!
Happy 4th of July 2020!
Monticello Consulting Group wishes you and your family a wonderful 4th of July weekend ahead! As we celebrate our country’s independence, we consider how grateful we are for our freedom and rights today, pushing forward to have true equality for all. Stay safe and enjoy your 4th celebrations everyone!
Celebrating Freedom - Juneteenth 2020!
Today, on Juneteenth 2020, we celebrate freedom and the significant directional change our country made in 1862 when African American enslaved people in the US were declared free under the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation! Now more than ever we need to continue to make positive changes and take action to empower all people in our society. Please join us in celebrating freedom today and look for ways within your own community to help achieve true equality and progress.
Michael Jost
Meet Michael, one of Monticello’s 2020 Summer Interns who joins us this year from Loyola University! In his welcome blog below, Michael describes his career interests and priorities for the summer along with what he hopes to learn through Monticello’s internship program. Best of luck this summer Michael, we look forward to a great experience ahead with you!
Monticello Welcomes This Year’s Summer Interns - Part 2!
Hello, my name is Michael and I am an intern for Monticello Consulting Group this summer. I am a rising senior at Loyola University Maryland, located in the city of Baltimore. I am a double major in Finance and Information Systems, having a strong interest in how business and technology can work together as a whole. I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to intern at Monticello, as I am excited to learn more and more about the consulting industry, the services that they provide, and how the business world works in general. Being around such a collaborative and welcoming team, I am looking forward to not only learning as much as I can, but also providing as much as I can to help the company grow.
Due to the pandemic, I am currently working from home in Westchester, New York. Although it I will not be able to experience what it is like to work in New York City just yet, the Monticello team has made it super easy for me to adjust to a work-at-home environment. My first couple days was mainly for me to gain a deeper understanding of what Monticello does, who they serve, and how they operate. It included lots of onboarding paperwork, setting up my email, downloading the applications that I need, and other activities that just made me more eager to get started. I was also given an itinerary of the different projects that I will be working on over the next few weeks. As someone who values the importance of constantly learning and improving, I am excited to be exposed to a variety of projects during the summer.
During my first two weeks, I helped to revamp the Recruiting Phone Screen Template that is used during the hiring process of candidates. Using Excel, I helped to organize, improve, and make it more efficient for the Monticello team to use. I was also introduced to Salesforce, where I began to create and run different reports for the team. Beginning my second week, I will be diving deeper into Salesforce. So far, I ran a gap analysis between the data in Salesforce and in Excel in order to make the transition from Excel to Salesforce more efficient, as well as updated the lead management process. In the future weeks, I will be working with the Director of Operations, where I will be working on projects such as revamping the financial industries web page, as well as researching the effects of COVID-19 on the market.
By working with Monticello Consulting Group, I believe that it will be my most knowledgeable summer yet. I am confident that I will learn a multitude of skills, whether it be technical, business, or behavioral skills, that will surely benefit for the future. Overall, I am extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity that Monticello and the rest of the team has presented me with, and I am ready to make the most of it.