BUY-SIDE TECHNOLOGY AWARDS: Best buy-side risk/portfolio analytics product: Algorithmics

Risk management has, since the credit crisis and ensuing global recession, become one of the most prominent business processes that needs to be managed by all buy-side organizations, regardless of their location and the complexity of the trading and investment strategies they employ. Traditionally, specialist buy-side-oriented risk applications have been “retrofitted” sell-side offerings—great for functionality and breadth-of-product coverage, but a real handful to manage when it comes to their invariably lengthy implementations. Back in early 2007, Algorithmics introduced its Algo Risk Service to the market, hosting the application for buy-side firms and taking care of all the heavy lifting when it came to extrapolating all the required risk measures.

Needless to say, with the Toronto-based vendor’s third consecutive win in this category—a category that received no fewer than 13 entries, making it the second-most competitive award after “Best newcomer”—and a client list totaling some 80 buy-side firms, ranging from bulge-bracket long-only shops to the most sophisticated hedge funds, this strategy has been hugely successful.

Enhancements to the Algo Risk Service rolled out over the past 12 months include: Algo Risk Inside, allowing the redistribution of risk analytics through Algorithmic’s clients who act as advisors or asset servicers to other users in order to provide packaged reporting addressing a variety of services; and “front-office deployment,” enabling traders to deploy client-specified analytics, data sources, valuation methodologies, and scenarios in order to engrain risk analytics more tightly into their investment process. —VBA

JUDGE'S COMMENT
What gave the Algo Risk Service the edge, to my mind, is its   extensive risk measures and analytics, which are constantly being updated and improved.

ALGORITHMICS REACTION
“We are proud to win the award for best buy-side risk/portfolio analytics product for the third year running, particularly at a time when the buy side continues to radically review its approach to risk management. As a managed service, the strategy behind Algo Risk Service since its inception has been to avoid a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to risk reporting and to provide a risk management platform that can be tailored to each of our clients’ unique requirements. During 2010, based on demand from our clients, we have enhanced Algo Risk Service to offer even greater customization capability and packaged extensions that incorporate risk analytics, traditionally associated with the banking sector. These expanded capabilities span a number of risk areas including counterparty credit risk, liquidity risk, portfolio replication, advanced risk reporting, and custom scenario analysis. I thank all our clients who supported us in winning this award.”
—Andrew Aziz, executive vice president, buy-side business, Algorithmics