lthough investment professionals conduct thorough due diligence as a matter of course, not many are accustomed to analyzing on a sub-atomic level.

       But as a former high energy physicist for CERN (European Center for High Energy Physics) and a prolific author with more than 29 articles published, Giuseppe Ballocchi, CFA, conducts investment research and analysis down to the absolute irreducible elements.
       Ballocchi searches for academic precision and reliable, relevant data in every post he holds, whether scientific or financial. Eleven years ago, he changed career fields entirely, from high energy physics to finance and began his journey with the CFA Program.
       “The only regret I have is not to have done it earlier,” he says. “The payoff has exceeded my expectations by far.”
       Dr. Ballocchi serves as the head of the risk management department at Pictet & Cie, one of the oldest and largest private bankers in Switzerland. There, he manages and controls credit and market risk across all asset classes, using the solid research skills that served him so well at CERN and the knowledge he gained from the CFA Program.
       “The CFA Program really helped me because I came from a very deep but narrow perspective in physics,” he says of his transition to the financial arena. “I didn’t have the breadth of knowledge to be confident with financial instruments in different markets until I undertook the CFA Program.”
        His career began at CERN, where he worked as a research scientist for six years after earning both a PhD and an MA in physics from the University of Rochester in the United States. His meticulous research led to ground-breaking findings at CERN and publication in refereed research journals. Such success ingrained into his character a habit of questioning everything, especially underlying assumptions.

        “It's very important to be pragmatic and not be swayed by strongly held opinions,” he says. “You must be open to what the data shows.”
        This academic work laid a foundation for his subsequent endeavors—a foundation based on verifying data and determining its relevance quickly before proceeding with any further analysis.
        However, Ballocchi was becoming impatient with the length of time required to see results from such long-term projects. He also wanted to explore a subject that had long fascinated him: finance, especially quantitative analysis. He earned an MBA at the Open University in the United Kingdom, which proved not to be the solution he was seeking. At the same time he was offered a position as a senior researcher at Olsen, a finance research firm.
        “The MBA was much too general for me,” Ballocchi says. He wanted a graduate program focused exclusively on finance.
        With a smile, Ballocchi confesses to an inherently cautious nature. He admits that he thought the CFA Program was attractive because of its self-paced curriculum that did not require him to give up his job. However, he needed more evidence to persuade him that it was better than other “part-time” graduate finance programs.
        “One point convinced me above all else to enroll in the program—the global recognition,” Ballocchi says. “If I ever move or make presentations outside of Switzerland, I will not have to explain the credential. That was a huge plus for me.”
        In fact, he took advantage of the CFA designation's worldwide reputation when his wife was transferred to the Philippines. Ballocchi applied to the Asian Development Bank, listing his status as a candidate in the CFA Program prominently on his resume. He says that his candidacy was looked upon favorably and was surely a factor in his earning a post there as a senior portfolio manager.
        As he worked for the bank, managing an international bond portfolio of US$2 billion in assets, he immediately put into practice the knowledge from the CFA Program curriculum. He says that the Candidate Body of Knowledge™ (CBOK) is one of the most compelling benefits to any investment professional enrolled in the CFA Program.
       Ballocchi completed the program and earned his CFA charter while in the Philippines. Upon his return to Olsen, he was promoted to chief technology officer and then chief investment officer. He continued publishing articles in collaboration with other investment professionals and demonstrated a profound understanding of the most complex elements of financial markets. He also began lecturing on financial statistics as an adjunct professor at the University of Genoa.
       His convictions about the CFA Program led him to devote much of his free time to supporting its continued rigor and growth. He serves on the CFA Candidate Curriculum Committee and as vice president of the Swiss CFA Society.
       His advice to CFA Program candidates mirrors his own experience with the program. “You must use discipline and study the [curriculum], ” he says. “There are no short cuts.”