Quantitative Analyst Research Associate

Sara AghakazemJourabbaf, PhD

California, Mountain View

****.*********@*****.***

Tel: 289-***-****

Summary

Quantitative skills: Climate-related nancial risks modeling, climate scenario modeling, GHG accounting, low-carbon nance GHG avoided accounting, net-zero target setting, internal carbon pricing, private equity climate risk assessment, nancial risk modeling, derivative pricing, stochastic calculus and MC simulations

Business development: Developed and won proposals with complicated scopes for Canadian and US clients in sectors including pulps and paper, transportation, health care, EV production, nance, and private equity

Project management: Managed 10 projects for both Canadian and US clients and delivered high-quality work for business decision making and reporting (e.g., DISI, CDP and proposed SEC ruling)

Stakeholder engagement: Educated clients’ stakeholders on TCFD and climate risk through running work- shops. Presented sustainability topics to 50+ PwC experts including partners, directors, and managers

Programming skills: Pro cient in MATLAB, R, Excel, & Python. Familiar with GIS, Tableau and Alteryx Professional Experience

Anthesis, Canada Apr 2022{Current

Principal Consultant, North America TCFD and Climate Risk

Private equity methodology: Proposed a very well-received methodology for identifying portfolio companies through which a private equity rm can have the highest exposure to physical and transition risks

TCFD and ERM integration: Integrated ERM in climate risk assessment process. Built a climate screening survey completely aligned with all TCFD requirements leading to signi cant service improvement to US clients

TCFD and Net-zero projects: Developed net-zero targets and costs, facilitated educational workshops, and conducted climate risk assessment for US clients in EV productions, health care and food industries

Project Management: Led and advised on climate scenario and net-zero model developments, actively managed projects’ team with e ective delegation, technical direction and feedback, leading to optimized budget and team development

PwC, Canada Jul 2020{Apr 2022

Senior Associate, Sustainability and Climate Change

Climate materiality assessment: Conducted workshops and peers benchmarking to identify and prioritize the most material climate risks and opportunities in alignment with TCFD and international standards. The stakeholder engagement included internal and external stakeholders, and the materiality topics were sector based, used to inform reporting and strategy setting exercises

Climate scenario analysis: Built transition and physical risks scenario models aligned with TCFD, IEA, IPCC, and Bank of Canada reports to quantify material climate nancial risks and opportunities for clients in telecommunication, transportation, pulps and paper, and energy sectors. Aligned climate risks into ERM frameworks

Setting net-zero target: Built GHG reduction baselines for banks’ lending portfolios using PCAF and analyzed the nancial portfolio’s alignment with the IEA net-zero scenario, with SBTi temperature rating methodology, and PACTA.

GHG accounting: Quanti ed Scope 1, 2, & 3 emissions for retails and more than 7000 assets in real estate portfolios based on the GHG protocol. Results used for CDP disclosure and setting science-based targets

GHG & economic impact models: Validated banks’ taxonomy-based, low-carbon nance commitments. Quanti ed carbon avoidance and economic contributions of banks’ low-carbon nance projects. Results used for annual green bond reporting

Digital Accelerator: Selected as a digital accelerator to digitally enable the rm through the use of Alteryx, Tableau and Python

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Global Risk Institute, Canada Mar 2019{Jun 2020

Research Associate, Sustainable Finance

Mortgage & ood risk: Identi ed gaps in Canadian housing nance, initiated projects with external partners to address the gaps, and built models (panel & logistic regressions) to estimate ood-related mortgage default

Enhanced nancial models: Advised on constructing sustainable nance models developed by internal/external researchers, which enhanced accuracy & alignment with members’ needs

Produced TCFD primers for nancial institutions: Published 2 primers (200

+

downloads) on TCFD

and climate change and created steering committees to ensure alignment for research directions

Federal Government TCFD project: Provided consultations to Finance Canada to encourage crown corporations to disclose their climate risks

Strategy development activities: Participated in meetings with the CEO, renowned nancial risk re- searchers, & senior industry leaders to develop research strategies and plan and prioritize research activities CPP Investment Board, Canada Sep 2018{Feb 2019

Quantitative Analyst, Climate Risk and Portfolio Design

Motivated quantitative projects: Developed statistical hypotheses & estimated the impact of temperature rise on GDP growth. Developed a novel benchmark to cluster countries based on CPPIB’s investment goals

Analyzed time-series and panel data: Collected data (e.g., from Haver) & performed statistical tests

(non-stationary, Variance In ation Factor, serial correlation, endogeneity) to ensure accuracy of estimations

Explored models’ limitations: Developed new models (non-parametric panel regressions) that were deployed by CPPIB. Collaborated with multiple teams to ensure my approach was feasible and had broad support

Technical reports and presentations: Gave 3 presentations & wrote a technical report for the Portfolio Design team (20

+

diverse experts) describing my statistical models, ndings, & recommendations University of Waterloo, Canada Dec 2013{Dec 2018

Quantitative Researcher, Environmental and Financial Economics

Analyzed commodity market: Analyzed & de ated time-series futures data for copper & oil and found that volatile convenience yield drives the dynamics of commodity prices

Forecasted commodity prices: Modelled commodity prices, estimated risk-adjusted parameters, & fore- casted futures prices and validated the models using an out-of-sample analysis

Built nancial models: Developed risk-adjusted, stochastic valuation models to analyze the impact of mining waste clean-up policies on investment decisions & project values, under market uncertainty and credit risk

Presented at 10

+

conferences, received 6 travel grants: Example: received 3600 from Top 1 refereed conference (acceptance rate: 5%). My participation led to invite renowned speakers to Canadian universities

Tutorial leader for statistical economics and teaching assistant for for 10

+

courses

Awards & Scholarships

Doctoral Thesis Writing Award Special Graduate Student Entrance Award Graduate Experience Award International Doctoral Student Award International Masters Students Award Univ of Tehran Full Tuition Award UW Graduate Scholarship UW/Faculty of Arts Graduate Scholarship Economics Graduate Scholarship Education

Ph.D. in Applied Economics, University of Waterloo, Canada Sep 2011{Dec 2018

Courses: Financial modelling, Real options & investment under uncertainty, Advanced econometrics (I,II), Microe- conometrics II, Advanced micro & macro economics (I,II), Environmental Economics, International trade, Fundamentals of Writing

M.A. in Applied Economics, University of Waterloo, Canada Sep 2010{Apr 2011

Courses: Micro & macro economics I, Econometrics I, Microeconometrics I, Public economics, Financial economics, Labour economics, Research Methodology

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Professional Development

Fundamentals of University Teaching Certi cate Dec 2017

Issued by University of Waterloo, Canada, and accredited by Educational Developers Caucus Selected Publications

Leaving your tailings behind: Environmental bonds, bankruptcy and waste cleanup,with Margaret Insley, Journal of Resource and Energy Economics, June 2021

The current state of climate disclosure by nancial institutions, Global Risk Institute, 2019 Debrief for Canadian nancial institutions on COP25 outcomes, with Alyson Slater, Global Risk Institute, 2019 Page 3 of 3

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