Mattatia makes surprise move to MSCI

Former SG equity derivatives structurer was set to join BNP Paribas

Mattatia: change of plan

Equity derivatives structurer Stephane Mattatia has joined MSCI in London as head of index products for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and global head of thematic index products.

Mattatia had been due to join the equity derivatives division of BNP Paribas in August after leaving his role as global head of products strategy for equities and derivatives at SG Corporate & Investment Banking (SG CIB) in April – a move Risk.net reported at the time.

He began his new role at index provider MSCI in July. It’s not known what prompted the change of plan. A spokesperson for BNP Paribas declined to comment.

A spokesperson for MSCI confirmed Mattatia’s appointment and said he is reporting to Diana Tidd, head of index.

Mattatia’s decision to leave banking and join MSCI comes as index providers seek to capitalise on a growing trend from active to passive management, ramping up efforts to develop ever-more innovative investment themes and alternative benchmarks that aim to replicate hedge fund strategies in a systematic and cost-effective manner.

In its 2017 asset and wealth management study, PwC forecast that global assets under management are set to double by 2025 to $145.4 trillion, with passive investments also increasing their market share from 17% to 25%.

MSCI has $12 trillion in equity assets benchmarked to its products globally and its indexes represent the underlying for around 1,000 exchange-traded funds.

The company’s thematic benchmarks, which Mattatia will be responsible for, include agriculture and food chain indexes, commodity producers indexes and broader economic investment indexes that identify trends influencing markets.

During 13 years at SG, Mattatia devised a range of hedging strategies and investable index products aimed at buy-side firms, in particular hedge funds. His earliest innovations included the bank’s Symphony range – a skew-based trade comprising a series of cliquet options that left investors long the best and worst performers and short the median in a basket of stocks.

Mattatia also led the development of the first exchange-traded funds linked to dividend derivatives, as well as a dynamic volatility allocation strategies. His final project at SG saw Mattatia work alongside Martin Ford, an author and specialist on artificial intelligence and robotics, and independent index provider Solactive for the bank’s Rise of the Robots index.

Mattatia joined SG in 2005 after almost seven years at the French Ministry of Industry. He initially worked in the pricing and structuring team but was promoted to global head of engineering in the global equity flow division in 2009. In 2014 he took on a cross-asset role, becoming global head of the macro group, before taking on his final position in 2017.

Update, August 3: The article has been amended with a confirmation by MSCI of Mattatia’s hire.

Editing by Alex Krohn