Integrity

Sound ethical behaviour is how we should conduct ourselves in our everyday lives.  Our code on Ethical behaviour helps us understand what is acceptable and what is not at Quant Foundry.  Every day we face challenges and pressures from delivery targets to client expectations.  We must never compromise our commitment to our integrity.

At the Quant Foundry, our actions and our behaviours can impact the reputation of the company and ourselves.  Our actions affect who wants to collaborate with us, who wants to supply things to us, who wants to invest in us, and importantly.

A pillar of Quant Foundry is our focus on how we attract and retain the best quantitative talent.  We want us all to be equally proud of the way that we do business and build the reputation of the Quant Foundry. Sound ethical behaviour is integral to our culture and represents who we are. 

Everyone, at all times, must speak up to the Managing Directors if they are unsure, unclear or uncomfortable about something.  We need to challenge ourselves and each other to continue to be a trusted advisor.

To make Quant Foundry a success, we are all required to be a role model for ethical behaviour, fairness and integrity.

Our Value

Who we are and how we behave matter to our people and the many stakeholders that have an interest in our business.  We have a responsibility to build a company that is strong and successful.  Our ambition is to be world-class in our relationships with our clients, and on the delivery of world-class analytics and services. 

Every day we need to live up to our set of values based on trust.   We must earn it, in all of our activities.   Trust is hard to obtain and easy to lose.  We cannot build strong relationships amongst ourselves or with our clients without it.  

We are only as good as our last success.  Clients should benefit from our successes and recognise that what we say, we do.  We must deliver excellence as standard.  We must believe that whatever we do today will be done better next time.  Our clients and stakeholders must trust us how we conduct business, as much as for the products and services that we deliver.  Each of us has a personal responsibility to live up to our values and build trust with each other, our clients and the many stakeholders that have an interest in the Quant Foundry.

Ethical Dilemmas

veryone knows when they are faced with an ethical dilemmas as we all get a funny knot feeling in our stomachs.  Don’t ignore it.  It is usually the reaction to a dilemma that will get the company in trouble.

Ask some of the following questions:

  • Are these actions legal, fair and honest?
  • How would I feel about myself afterwards?
  • How would this issue look if the media got involved?
  • Would I be comfortable explaining this in court?
  • How would I feel if my family and friends knew about my actions?

Listen to the conversations around you. If you find yourself hearing or saying phrases like the ones below, you may well be facing an ethical dilemma:

  • “No one will ever know.”
  • “It doesn’t matter how it gets done as long as it gets done.” 
  • “Everyone else does it, so it must be OK.”
  • “Don’t worry; it’s the way we do things around here.”
  • “I don’t want to know.”

If you are in doubt, then you are more than likely to be facing an ethical dilemma.  Once you have realised what is going on, the clock has now started to tick, and you need to escalate to one of the Managing Directors. Watergate.  Nobody ever remembers the original crime, it is always the cover-up that lingers.

Trust in Our People

The future success of the Quant Foundry is to attract and retain talent. We hire people we trust otherwise we will not expand as we will spend too much time making amends..

Trust entails the responsibility to take a course of action that might not be expedient but in the long run right. We trust our teams to treat each other openly, honestly and courteously.

We do not tolerate bullying, harassment or unlawful discrimination of any kind and encourage employees to take action about any instance which they experience or observe. We value the diversity of background, perspectives and views. We promote equal opportunities for all employees in a workplace free from unlawful discrimination.

We recruit and develop everyone that works under the Quant Foundry banner irrespective of their race, colour, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. We appreciate employees’ commitments outside of the workplace and support our employees in achieving a balance between work and home life.

As a manager of teams, we make decisions about the recruitment, selection and development of employees based on objective criteria, including qualifications, skills and experience. We hire people that can make us proud to be part of the Quant Foundry

Rewards

We reward our employees fairly and in most parts formulaically. We celebrate and compensate each individual’s contributions to the performance of the business. We avoid finger-pointing and ttake collective responsibilities in resolving individual errors.

We believe in providing frequent, objective, constructive, clear and actionable feedback. We invest in training, education and the skills of our employees and the capability of Quant Foundry to improve

Collaborations

We founded Quant Foundry as a specialist provider. We do not solve all problems for our clients. We need to build long-term relationships with clients, other service providers and those that provide services to use.

Our outlook is focused on a functional level but broad in the type of people we collaborate. For Quant Foundry to continue operating, we need to treat everyone we come into contact with the utmost respect and courtesy. We also resolve disputes quickly and fairly.

The decision on whether or not to join a trade union is an individual choice. We respect the relevant processes and laws on collective representation and consultation in the countries where we work.

Continuous Improvement

At the Quant Foundry, we recognise that we are not perfect in the way we are building our business and deliver value to our clients. We will continue to learn and strive to be better the next time, and we will never stop learning or being complacent.

Our Intellectual Property

The commercial value of Quant Foundry is based on our ability to build sustainable income streams from our clients and also our intellectual property. The models we build provide the functional basis for the model we build tomorrow. Information on our models is a vital asset for Quant Foundry and protect them from unauthorised use and disclosure.

We take individual responsibility for the proper use of our business and customer property, including IT systems, materials, facilities and equipment. We do not tolerate the use of our systems to access, copy, store or transmit any information or data considered to be offensive, obscene or inappropriate.

Confidentiality

At the Quant Foundry, we will protect information in our possession that is confidential or proprietary to other parties, including customers, suppliers, joint ventures and other partners. We do not obtain competitive intelligence by obtaining information by unethical means and we do not read or use competitor informationn that we should not have.

We do not solicit, acquire, read or use the confidential or proprietary information of other parties that we know to be proprietary or restricted from disclosure.

When working with governments, we will not seek unnecessary or unauthorised access to material and we will handle client classified or proprietary marked information in accordance with the appropriate legislation, policies and processess.

We respect the personal privacy of our people in line with applicable laws and company policies. We collect and process personal information solely to meet necessary business needs and legal requirements, and we keep such information secure.

Corruption

We have zero tolerance for bribery and corruption. We do not use the companies’ money to pay to political parties or etentertain politically exposed people. If in any doubt, the answer will be to not proceed.

Conflicts of Interest

We avoid any relationship, influence or activity that will impair our ability to make fair and objective decisions when performing our jobs. Any potential for a conflict of interest must be escalated to either Managing Director.

We will not use any non-public information about our clients for buying or selling shares, other securities or financial instruments for personal gain. Nor will we pass on such information to anyone else. No employee is allowed to buy or sell shares in the client that they are currently working for without prior signoff from either Managing Directorr.

Competition

We believe that what and how we do things for our clients at Quant Foundry speaks for itself. We believe in open and fair competition. We conduct business in an honest and diligent way.

Managing Directors as of February 2019

Dr Chris Cormack, chris.cormack@quantfoundry.com

David K Kelly, david.kelly@quantfoundry.com