Market Risk Systems features explained
for Risk Management
Every feature we track for Market Risk Systems products, with a description of what each one means.
Asset Coverage
Comprehensive support for diverse asset classes and complex instruments.
- Asset Class Extensibility
- Support for user/administrator-driven addition of new instruments.
- Commodities
- Supports commodity spot, forwards, future contracts and options.
- Complex Derivatives
- Covers exotic options, swaps, and other non-vanilla derivatives.
- Crypto & Digital Assets
- Capability to assess risk on digital tokens and crypto derivatives.
- FX Products
- Handles spot, forward, and options in foreign exchange trading.
- Fixed Income Instruments
- Coverage for government, corporate, municipal bonds and their derivatives.
- Listed Equities
- Direct support for global equities and related derivatives.
- Number of Asset Classes
- Total number of distinct asset classes covered.
- Private Assets
- Integration of private placements, PE, VC positions if relevant.
- Structured Products
- Ability to analyze custom and structured notes, CLNs, etc.
Governance & Audit
Features supporting compliance, regulatory reporting, auditability, and risk governance.
- Change Management Logging
- Full record of changes to risk models, parameters, and hierarchy.
- Complete Audit Trails
- Logs all key events, calculations, and user actions within the system.
- Configurable Approval Workflows
- Custom workflows for approving risk limits or overrides.
- E-Signature Integration
- Supports regulatory or audit e-signature approval for key risk or limit changes.
- Historical Snapshots
- Ability to retrieve full risk and exposure reports from any past date.
- Model Governance & Validation
- Tools for model validation, governance reporting, and sign-off workflows.
- Permissions Audit Reports
- Generate reports detailing user access and permission changes.
- Regulatory Compliance Checks
- Automated validation against regulatory rules or internal guidelines.
- Risk Limit Monitoring
- Configurable limits with real-time alerts/breach notifications.
- Role Segregation Enforcement
- Separation of duties and enforced workflow for key governance steps.
Integration & APIs
Capabilities for integrating with upstream and downstream systems, and supporting automation.
- Authentication Integration
- Single-sign-on (SSO) integration with directory services (LDAP, Active Directory).
- Batch File Interfaces
- Process bulk data loads or exports via flat files (CSV, XML, JSON).
- Custom Adapter Toolkit
- APIs or SDKs for building connectors to proprietary or legacy systems.
- Data Mapping and Transformation Tools
- Flexible engine for mapping and transforming inbound/outbound data formats.
- Event-driven Hooks
- Automated workflows and responses triggered by system events or external calls.
- Open APIs
- RESTful or SOAP APIs available for inbound/outbound data and process integration.
- Real-time Messaging Interfaces
- Supports real-time streaming integration via message buses (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ).
- Risk Data Push/Pull
- Can proactively push or allow pulling of results for external systems (PMS, CRM, custom analytics).
- Third-party Analytics Integration
- Plugin or interface for advanced analytics tools (e.g., MATLAB, R, Python).
- Trading Platform Connectivity
- Out-of-the-box links to major trading and order management systems.
Market Data Integration
Facilitates seamless ingestion and processing of real-time and historical market data from multiple sources for accurate risk assessment.
- Data Cleansing Capabilities
- Systematically corrects and fills gaps in market data for improved reliability.
- Data Storage Capacity
- The maximum volume of historical market data the system can store and process.
- Event-based Data Triggers
- Ability to process data update triggers based on market events (e.g., circuit breakers, corporate actions).
- Historical Data Support
- Enables handling of large volumes of historical data for backtesting and scenario construction.
- Latency
- The time taken to update the system with new data.
- Market Specific Data Parsing
- Recognizes and appropriately parses data from asset class-specific feeds (FX, rates, equities, commodities).
- Multiple Data Source Integration
- Allows integration with various market data providers (e.g., Bloomberg, Reuters, ICE, proprietary).
- Normalization Engine
- Ensures all data inputs are standardized for downstream analytics.
- Real-Time Data Feeds
- Supports automated, real-time streaming of prices and quotes from exchanges and OTC sources.
- Reference Data Management
- Supports mapping and enrichment of assets with reference and master data (e.g., ISIN, CUSIP, sector).
Model Management & Validation
Features for managing, validating, and documenting all risk models in the system.
- Independent Model Review Support
- Enables external or independent model validators to access models securely.
- Model Approval Recording
- Logs dates and sign-offs for all major model changes.
- Model Decommissioning Tools
- Formal process and workflows for retiring obsolete models.
- Model Documentation
- Attach supporting documentation for each model in use.
- Model Performance Reporting
- Automatic reports on model accuracy and predictive power.
- Model Validation Workflow
- Formal workflow for model validation, sign-off, and periodic review.
- Model Versioning
- Tracks all versions of risk models, with rollback capability.
- Number of Models under Management
- The total number of risk models the system can version and track.
- Out-of-sample Testing
- Support for model validation using out-of-sample data.
- Parameter Sensitivity Analysis
- Tools for analyzing model behavior as parameters change.
Performance & Scalability
Ensures robust computation and system capabilities for large and complex portfolios.
- Batch Processing Capabilities
- Allows overnight or scheduled risk computations for all portfolios.
- Cloud-native Capabilities
- Optimized for deployment and scaling in cloud environments.
- Computation Time per VaR Run
- Average time needed to compute VaR for a given portfolio.
- Concurrent Users
- Maximum number of users who can access/run risk calculations simultaneously.
- Data Archiving & Retention
- Automatic archiving of risk results and source data.
- Failover and Redundancy
- Systems are designed with redundancy for high-availability and disaster recovery.
- Horizontal Scalability
- System can scale across multiple servers or cloud instances as load increases.
- Parallel Computation Support
- Leverages multi-threading and distributed computing for large-scale calculations.
- Resource Utilization Monitoring
- Tracks CPU/memory/network resource usage during calculations.
- Transactional Data Throughput
- Volume of position/trade updates processed per second.
Portfolio Aggregation and Hierarchy
Advanced portfolio management capabilities ensuring accurate risk at all levels (position, account, firm).
- Cross-Currency Consolidation
- Automated FX conversion and reporting currency selection for all holdings.
- Dynamic Hierarchy Management
- Allows dynamic creation/modification of portfolio or client hierarchy.
- Legal Entity Views
- Organizes exposures by legal entity/subsidiary.
- Maximum Hierarchy Levels
- Defines the number of portfolio levels supported.
- Multi-level Aggregation
- Aggregates risk at trade, account, desk, portfolio, and firm levels.
- Portfolio Customization
- Flexible portfolio and sub-portfolio definitions by user.
- Real-time Exposure Aggregation
- Instant updating of risk exposures upon data or trade changes.
- Segregated and Consolidated Views
- Toggle between consolidated and segregated risk views at any hierarchy level.
- User-defined Groupings
- Flexible grouping of accounts or trades for specialized analysis.
Reporting & Analytics
Tools to generate, export, and automate complex risk reports and analytics.
- Ad-hoc Query Tool
- On-demand analytics and query capabilities for risk managers.
- Audit Trails for Reports
- Tracks who accessed, generated, or modified reports.
- Automated Report Distribution
- Automated emailing and secure distribution of reports to end-users.
- Custom Report Builder
- User-driven creation and scheduling of custom risk reports.
- Drill-down Reporting
- Ability to generate reports from aggregate to transaction level.
- Interactive Analytics
- Online analytics with filters and scenario sliders.
- Multi-format Export
- Exports to Excel, PDF, CSV, XML, etc.
- Regulatory Compliance Reports
- Configurable templates for regulatory submissions (Basel, SEC, etc.).
- Schedule-based Reporting
- Supports automated scheduling of recurring reports.
- Standard Risk Reports
- Pre-built regulatory, executive, and detailed risk reports.
Risk Methodologies
Supports comprehensive methods for quantifying market risk including VaR, stress tests, and scenario analyses.
- Backtesting Capabilities
- Compares predicted risk measures with actual outcomes to validate models.
- Confidence Level Setting
- Customizable VaR confidence intervals (e.g., 95%, 99%).
- Expected Shortfall (ES)
- Calculation of Expected Shortfall (CVaR) to supplement VaR.
- Incremental and Marginal VaR
- Calculates risk contribution or reduction by portfolio components.
- Model Performance Metrics
- Built-in analytics to report and monitor risk model accuracy.
- Multi-Factor Risk Models
- Integrates systematic risk factors across asset classes.
- Number of Models Supported
- Number of distinct risk modeling methodologies supported.
- Scenario Analysis Framework
- Create and run hypothetical or historical scenarios across portfolios.
- Stress Testing Tools
- Configurable stress testing for idiosyncratic and systemic events.
- VaR Horizon Customization
- User-defined horizons (e.g., 1-day, 10-day) for VaR computation.
- Value at Risk (VaR) Models
- Supports parametric, historical simulation, and Monte Carlo VaR calculation methods.
Security & Resilience
Ensures confidentiality, integrity, and availability of risk data and system processes.
- Audit Logging of Security Events
- Detailed logging of all access and security events.
- Business Continuity Planning
- Redundant infrastructure to ensure service during outages.
- Data Anonymization
- Built-in data masking and anonymization tools where applicable.
- Data Encryption At Rest & In Transit
- Encryption protocols for stored and transmitted risk data.
- Disaster Recovery Procedures
- Documented and tested disaster recovery process.
- Intrusion Detection Integration
- Links to organization security tools for threat detection.
- Marketplace Certification
- Compliance with security certifications (SOC 2, ISO, etc.).
- Multi-factor Authentication
- Support for MFA to secure access to sensitive risk data.
- Penetration Testing & Vulnerability Assessments
- Regularly scheduled security assessments.
- User Session Timeout
- Automatic session expiration for inactive users.
User Experience & Accessibility
Covers end-user features for usability and accessibility across teams.
- Accessibility Compliance
- Adherence to standards (e.g., WCAG) for users with disabilities.
- Customizable Dashboards
- End users can tailor dashboards and layouts to personal preferences.
- Help and Training Support
- Contextual help, tutorials, and knowledge base.
- Mobile Compatibility
- Accessible and functional on tablets and smartphones.
- Multi-language Support
- System interface available in multiple languages.
- Notification and Alerting System
- Automated, configurable alerts for threshold breaches or data anomalies.
- Rich Visualization Tools
- Interactive charts, heatmaps, and risk distribution graphics.
- Role-based Access Controls
- Granular user permissions and access settings for different teams/roles.
- Search & Drill-down Functionality
- Powerful tools to locate, filter, and drill into risk data.
- Web-based Interface
- Accessible via browser with no client installation required.