Pierino Branella, CFA
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since April 19, 2021
Piero has over 13 years of experience in developing financial models of the most disparate nature, including capital raising, tax optimization, financial planning, and transaction structuring as a consultant and in the oil and gas (Saudi Aramco), technology (Amazon), and financial sectors (BNP Paribas). His focus is on modeling, FP&A, valuation, data analysis, and financial derivatives. Piero has co-founded and successfully launched an ICO for a cryptocurrency providing liquidity, Linker Coin.
Career Highlights
Industry Expertise
Other Expertise
Work Experience
Head of Analytics
Amazon.com
- Led a team of data scientists, data analysts, and BI engineers to provide support and analytical thought leadership for the EU payment products like co-branded credit cards, installment loans, and 3P points. Achieved YoY revenue growth of over 30%.
- Drove strategy decisions to improve card acquisitions and spend leveraging data on customer behavior and consumer credit market analyses through complex Excel models built on data extracted using SQL.
- Designed a MECE revenue forecasting and variance analysis model for the loans business to come up with input-driven granular forecasts, attribute the overperformance or underperformance to specific factors, and save around 100 hours a year.
- Conceived, tested, and standardized various driver models in the context of sales leads and selection metrics to estimate the impact of various levers (selection, relevance, and conversion) on Amazon EU revenues.
Founder
Linker Coin
- Co-founded and successfully conducted an ICO of the cryptocurrency Linker Coin (LNC) with two fellow UC Berkeley classmates.
- Led the marketing and investors' outreach efforts to ensure an adequately capitalized ICO.
- Oversaw the quantitative trading activities and ran the risk management process.
Senior Analyst
Saudi Aramco
- Analyzed, planned, structured, and valued cross-border corporate transactions, such as M&A, joint ventures, divestments, and buyouts, in the refining and marketing space with a deal value of over $300 million.
- Developed a three-way financial statement transactional planning model for a downstream retail joint venture initiative to support the final investment decision (organic growth versus acquisition).
- Analyzed the JV and wholly-owned downstream investments' performance putting together a financial KPI toolkit, including return on assets, margin analysis, and crack spread tracking for senior management.
Transaction Economics Manager
EY
- Developed transactional planning Excel-based models to allow corporations and partnerships to achieve the desired transaction objectives (merger, acquisition, divestiture, and reorganization) in a tax-efficient manner.
- Carried out the financial and tax modeling efforts for the IPO of several MLPs in the oil and gas and chemical sectors (Shell and Westlake). Raised a total of over $1 billion.
- Developed Excel-based complex taxation models for the oil and gas industry, focusing on the acquisition of oil and gas producing properties and implementing depreciation, depletion, amortization, and AMT calculations.
Junior Trader
Cutler Group
- Traded single-name equity options — market-making of up to 70 relatively illiquid names simultaneously using the in-house developed volatility model and researching stocks on the Bloomberg platform.
- Engaged in equity exchange-traded funds (ETF) options trading. Cooperated with the quantitative strategists in the interest of continuously refining the underlying pricing model.
- Researched and modeled option strategies for corporate special situations, such as continuous tracking and analysis of major mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, stock offerings, and warrants' issuances.
- Established and maintained a company-wide Excel-based P&L tracking system, incorporating several relevant metrics and trading statistics such as average spreads, theoretical edge, and realized edge.
Cost and Risk Engineer
Saipem
- Established and managed a cost control system to support the project managers' decision-making process.
- Conducted Monte Carlo simulations of the potential impact of operational risks to simulate the expected range of the financial results of projects.
- Ran the operational risk management process of a crude oil processing plant, a water injection pumping station, a water pipeline, and a platform fabrication yard with total revenues of around €3 billion, coordinating five dedicated risk engineers.
Education
Master's Degree in Finance
University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley, California, USA
Master's Degree in Economics
Scuola Enrico Mattei - Eni Corporate University - Milan, Italy
Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering
University of L'Aquila - L'Aquila, Italy
Certifications
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
Series 7 — General Securities Representative Exam
FINRA Organization
GMAT — Top 1% Worldwide
Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)
Skills
Finance
Valuation, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Profitability Analysis, Risk, Volatility, DCF Valuation, Business Taxation, Financial Modeling, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), Data Analysis, Forecasting, Valuation Modeling, Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Fundraising, Revenue & Expense Projections, M&A (Buy-side), Derivative Pricing, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Taxation, Market Research, Price Analysis, Leveraged Buyout Modeling, Private Equity, Three-statement Modeling
Data & Analysis Software
SQL
Industry Expertise
Energy, Technology, Series 7, Renewable Energy, Venture Capital, Real Estate
Other
Excel 365, Finance, Modeling, Analytics, DCF Modeling, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Financials, Financial Analysis, Option Pricing, Options Trading, Costing, Data, Sales Growth, Equity, Market Risk, Partnership Analysis, Cryptocurrency, Futures & Options, Derivatives, Joint Ventures, Initial Public Offerings, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Marketplaces, eCommerce, Business Planning, Business Plan Consulting, Business Models, Business Development, Trading, Data Science, Leveraged Buyout (LBO), Investments, Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF)
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