Here at FINCAD we are celebrating the end of a very productive year. Most of us are wrapping things up and getting ready for a well-earned holiday break full of relaxing family time and sipping eggnog.
But before we go, we’d like to do a year in review of our most popular blog posts of 2017. The below ten blogs were the most viewed of 2017, according to our analytics. Be sure to check them out if you missed them the first time, or have a reread of your particular favorite. Hope you enjoy these posts.
Our team at FINCAD extends best wishes to you for a magical holiday and healthy, prosperous New Year. See you in 2018!
1. 3 Trends Driving the Buy-Side to Multi-Asset Trading
In the quest to generate alpha and improve investment returns, more buy-side firms are diversifying their portfolios using multi-asset trading. In this post, guest blogger, David B. Weiss, Senior Analyst at Aite Group, discusses three major global trends driving this shift and their impact on requirements for portfolio and risk management. David’s findings are based on a recent Aite Group survey of global tier-1 and tier-2 firms. Read more.
2. MBS Modeling 101
In this post, guest blogger, Eknath Belbase, PhD, of Andrew Davidson & Co., Inc., gives a history lesson on the evolution of MBS modeling, including how practices have changed from its beginnings in the early 90’s until today. Eknath then reviews his top recommendations for how best to model MBS prepayments and defaults in the current market climate. Read more.
3. 5 Case Studies on Solving Valuation and Risk Challenges
This blog post features five very different FINCAD clients that are using our solutions to overcome a variety of valuation and risk challenges. Highlighted companies range from a big four audit firm using FINCAD to reduce valuation computation time, and reliance on internal development resources; to a large bank that was able to simplify Basel III CVA reporting using our solutions. Read more.
4. Modernize Your Risk System Using Microservices
Historically when firms built their risk systems, they would build them as large monolithic three-tiered applications that covered the full gamut of the organization’s needs. These systems would work well for a few years. But over time the requirements would change due to new regulations, changing business needs and other factors. This blog explains how embracing “microservices” in your risk systems framework gives you the flexibility to quickly and easily adapt to business, market and regulatory changes. Read more.
5. How to Solve Common Buy-Side Valuation and Risk Challenges
At FINCAD we work with many buy-side firms to help solve their difficult portfolio and risk management challenges. Every client situation is unique, but we’ve been able to identify some common problems they face, which are holding them back from realizing good profitability. This blog post covers two of these issues and reviews how a sophisticated portfolio and risk management solution can help firms overcome them. Read more.
6. 3 Firms Navigating Regulatory Complexity with FINCAD
Money managers today face a tall order of needing to meet compliance expectations, all while retaining a competitive edge. In many cases they struggle, as their infrastructure does not enable them to properly manage the risk and reporting requirements of regulations such as Basel III, Solvency II, EMIR and others. This blog post gives examples of three top-performing firms that have adopted innovative portfolio and risk management systems that are helping them to adapt quickly to changes in regulation, market practices and business demands. Read more.
7. Upcoming Event Explores Best Practice in Prudent Valuation
To meet requirements outlined in the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) Regulatory Technical Standards, financial institutions throughout Europe are working tirelessly to implement well-defined prudent valuation frameworks. This blog shares highlights of a presentation given by FINCAD’s, Christian Kahl, PhD, Director of Quantitative Analytics, on optimizing prudent valuation. Christian was voted top speaker at this event. Read more.
8. Going Where the Yield Is
To improve investment performance, buy-side firms are increasingly embracing multi-asset trading strategies. The problem for many firms is that their existing portfolio and risk systems cannot easily handle new asset classes and instruments, limiting their ability to implement new multi-asset strategies. As such, firms are now exploring solutions that will give them the freedom to expand readily into new asset classes now, and the flexibility to support alternative strategies in the future. This blog explains how to select the right portfolio and risk management solution for your current and future needs. Read more.
9. Driving Performance with Portfolio Analytics and Risk Technology
Thin investment returns, shifting regulations, and tight operating margins are forcing buy-side firms to modernize their investment technology to stay competitive. These firms’ major technology obstacles to growth include error prone spreadsheets, inflexible in-house software and disparate legacy systems. This post reviews highlights of a recent webinar we held exploring how top-performing buy-side firms are overcoming these challenges. Read more.
10. Key Considerations When Assessing a Valuation and Risk System
Investment managers today are being forced to look to new and emerging markets, and more sophisticated strategies to find returns. However, the reality is that many firms’ existing systems were simply not designed with a multi-asset world in mind. Thus, in order to use more sophisticated, yield-enhancing trading strategies, most firms will need to upgrade their valuation and risk technology. But, with numerous options in the marketplace, how do you know which valuation and risk system will help your firm succeed? Here we give important tips. Read more.
Hope you enjoyed our editorial “walk down memory lane.” Be sure to check back with our blog frequently, as we have a full calendar of exciting topics lined up for 2018.