For someone who had no particular vocation for finance and who discovered this world right at the end of his long scientific studies, Frank Trividic has nonetheless become a high-flying expert in financial modelling. Now the deputy head of management at Seeyond, he is involved in the development of strategies based on mathematical models in order to offer optimal investment solutions.

A maths whiz from an early age, Frank Trividic went on to pursue a diploma of further studies in Modeling and mathematical methods in economics and finance at the Ecole Polytechnique and Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, followed by an advanced master’s in international finance at HEC, all of which gave him the opportunity to put his scientific background to practical use. “This specialization allowed me to combine two areas I enjoyed: maths and economics.”

Cutting-edge financial engineering

In the early 1990s at BNP, this talented mathematician tried his hand at the most cutting-edge domains in financial engineering, from the bond issues origination to the assessment of interest rate derivatives. « My job involved creating formulas and IT developpements in order to provide innovative financial products», explains Frank Trividic. 

Going on to join the BGP (Banque de Gestion privée), a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, in 1995, he began a new chapter in his career. There Frank joined the asset management sector as a portfolio manager. “With this kind of job, you are less focused on the purely mathematical side, and more concerned with macroeconomic analysis and understanding financial markets and monetary policies.”

 

Frank Trividic, at his desk at Seeyond

A multifaceted job

Over the course of various mergers and re-organizations in the hyper-competitive asset management sector, in 2004 Frank became head of quantitative bond management on behalf of Ixis (formerly CDC Asset Management), before taking charge of Total Return management within the Asset Allocation division of Natixis Asset Management (now Ostrum Asset Management) in 2007. “This type of management is more operational. But my team and I were also developing tools for the entire division.”

However, it was not until 2021, with the creation of the Seeyond brand that combines all Natixis Asset Management methods of management based on tools and mathematical models, that Frank Trividic took up a position that met all his expectations. “I still work on the design of mathematical models and their implementation in our portfolio management, but as a member of the Seeyond executive committee, which became a separate company in 2018, I am also involved in the development of a high-growth company.”

The support I have received from the company regarding the process to gain recognition as a disabled worker has encouraged me to open up about my situation. If it can help other people with disabilities…

When disability is no longer an obstacle

An exemplary career that nothing could upset, not even the disability that Frank was born with and kept to himself for a long time. Suffering from hereditary hearing loss, he was able to cope with it to the extent that he did not get his first hearing aid until 2007 at the age of 41. “It has inevitably had an impact on my personal development, and possibly on my career as well. I am definitely quite reserved and have had more problems than the average person when it comes to learning foreign languages for example.”

But over time, Frank Trividic came to terms with his situation. He applied for the official recognition of the status of disabled worker (RQTH in French) last year and obtained it in January 2021. This milestone is also an opportunity for him to share his experience. “The support I have had from Natixis and in particular from the HRD in this particular process, has encouraged me to be more open about my situation. If it can help other people with disabilities…”

*Seeyond is a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers