Ferdinantos Kottas profile photo
Interested in AI and ML applications in finance, risk, and quantitative research
Dublin, Ireland
+353831012005
ferdinantosk@math.uoa.gr
Quant • Risk Scientist & Analytics • Researcher

Ferdinantos Kottas, MSc, MPhil, PhD

Quant & Risk Data Scientist | Building AI & ML Models for Risk and Portfolio Management to Investment Decision-making

Quantitative finance and risk scientist with advanced expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning for financial applications, combining rigorous research with real-world model development and deployment. My work focuses on asset pricing, portfolio management, credit risk modeling, fraud analytics, and predictive decision systems, with a strong emphasis on selecting securities and allocating capital through data-driven models. I bring PhD-level depth in empirical finance and financial econometrics together with industry leadership in building scorecards, AI solutions, and analytical frameworks for banks, fintechs, leasing and mobility companies, telecom operators, and other institutions where risk, segmentation, and commercial performance are critical.

GitHub LinkedIn Kaggle ORCID Google Scholar ResearchGate FMC Research Fellow

Professional Profile

I specialize in AI and machine learning applications in finance, with a profile that bridges quantitative research, real-world analytics, and high-impact model deployment. My work covers portfolio management, asset pricing, credit risk, fraud scorecards, predictive segmentation, and decision systems designed to improve both risk control and business performance.

Alongside my academic background in empirical finance and financial econometrics, I have delivered scorecards and analytical solutions for a wide range of institutions, including banks, fintechs, leasing and car-rental companies, mobile and telecom businesses, and other organizations where predictive risk modeling creates measurable value. This combination of deep quantitative expertise, AI capability, and commercial impact gives me a strong profile across finance, risk, and machine learning.

Focus Areas

AI in Finance Machine Learning in Finance Portfolio Management Asset Pricing Risk Modeling Fraud Scorecards Financial Econometrics Risk Analytics Quant Research Reinforcement Learning Credit Scorecards Scorecard Development & Deployment

Selected Experience

Senior Risk Analyst, Team Leader & Lead Instructor — Creditinfo, Prague, Czechia
2022 – 2025
Led the development of advanced credit and fraud scorecards across multiple international markets, serving banks, fintechs, leasing and car-rental companies, mobile operators, and other financial and commercial institutions. Built and validated scorecards for retail, SME, corporate, agricultural, fraud, and Buy Now Pay Later products, including corporate BNPL solutions, using Python, SQL, and R. Held senior and team leadership responsibilities, contributed to hiring and team development, and played an active role in strengthening analytics capability inside the organization. Chosen by the company as lead instructor for a major bootcamp in Africa, where I trained banking professionals across the region to design, develop, and validate scorecards from scratch.
Crypto & Equity Analyst — VF Investment / VisionFactory, Barcelona, Spain
2021 – 2025
Worked as a trainee on equity and crypto market analysis, valuation research, and portfolio-oriented financial insights, combining quantitative methods with investment-focused analytics.
Credit Risk Data Scientist — Optasia, Athens, Greece
2021 – 2022
Designed and implemented credit risk models, scorecards, monitoring processes, and mitigation strategies for loan portfolios, supporting both risk control and revenue optimization.
Researcher, Research Fellow & Teaching Assistant — Maynooth University & FMC2, Ireland
2018 – 2022
Conducted research in empirical finance, financial econometrics, security classification, asset pricing, portfolio and risk management, and later expanded strongly into AI and machine learning applications in finance and portfolio analytics.

Education

  • PhD in Empirical Finance & Financial Econometrics — Maynooth University, Ireland
  • MSc in Applied Mathematics — Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
  • MSc in Data and Web Science — Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
  • MSc in Business Analytics & Data Science — University of Macedonia, Greece
  • MPhil in Economics — National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • MSc in Accounting & Finance, Major in Finance — Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece
  • BSc in Applied Mathematics, Majors in Statistic & Operation Research and Computational Mathematics — National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Publications

5 published
Performance of Green vis-à-vis Red EU Securities
Investment Analysts Journal, 53(3), 2024
DOI
Empirical Asset Pricing Models for Green, Grey, and Red EU Securities: A Fama-French and Carhart Model Approach
Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 18(5), 2025
DOI
Factor Structure of Green, Grey, and Red EU Securities
Risks, 13(9), 2025
DOI
A Hybrid Genetic Algorithm with Learning-to-Rank-to-Optimization for US Equity Portfolio Construction
International Journal of Financial Studies, 14(4), 2026
DOI
European Green, Grey, Red Securities and Crisis Sentiment
Review of Behavioral Economics, 13(1), 2026
DOI

Working Projects

Bayesian Credit Risk Modelling
Working Paper
European Bank Equities and Crisis Sentiment
Working Paper
Approach of Genetic Algorithm to Reinforcement Learning using Learning-to-Rank for US Equity Portfolio Management
Working Paper
Digital Currencies and Policies
Working Paper
Additional ongoing research paper
Working Paper

AI, ML & Portfolio Management

  • Developed AI and machine learning frameworks for stock selection, ranking, and wealth allocation.
  • Applied reinforcement learning and learning-to-rank approaches to portfolio management and investment decision-making.
  • Built research-driven asset pricing and market analysis models across securities with different environmental classifications.

Risk, Credit & Fraud Modeling

  • Designed and validated credit and fraud scorecards across international banking, fintech, leasing, mobility, telecom, and broader commercial markets.
  • Built scorecards for corporate BNPL, SME, retail, microfinance, agricultural, fraud, and other risk-sensitive products.
  • Led model training, analytics instruction, and scorecard development bootcamps for financial institutions in Africa.

Professional Certifications

  • IBM Data Science Professional Certificate
  • Professional Data Analyst Certificate (DataCamp)
  • Azure Data Scientist Associate
  • Blockchain Developer

Professional Qualifications

  • FRM® Level I Candidate
  • ACCA — Certified with F1–F4 papers

Teaching Course

  • AI and Portfolio Management
  • Mathematics in Data Science
  • Blockchain Architecture and Programming in Solidity
  • Machine Learning in Finance
  • Database management in Finance
  • AI in Risk modeling and management

Technical Skills

Python R SQL MATLAB Fortran Mathematica Stata EViews JMP Alteryx Tableau Power BI MongoDB Neo4j SPARQL

Domain Expertise

Credit Risk Modeling Fraud & Credit Scorecards Financial Econometrics Risk Management Portfolio Management Reinforcement Learning Valuation Asset Pricing Forecasting Algorithmic Trading

Contact

ferdinantosk@math.uoa.gr +353831012005 LinkedIn GitHub Google Scholar ResearchGate