Articles by Clive Davidson
Buy-side firms turn to tech vendors to address risk management failings
The past few years have shown the importance of robust risk management, but also highlighted shortcomings in the risk approaches of many buy-side firms.
The inflation pricing conundrum
Fear of a spike in consumer prices has created greater demand for inflation protection from a variety of participants. This has increased the need for inflation pricing and analytics tools – but it is not as simple as tweaking existing models used for…
Facing the Solvency II technology challenge
The final shape of Solvency II has not yet been decided, but it is clear that whatever the result insurers will need to upgrade their technology and data-gathering approach. Clive Davidson examines how Europe’s leading insurers are meeting this challenge
Tightening up
Building a robust liquidity risk management system is the top priority at many banks and insurance companies, ahead of the expected introduction of tough new liquidity risk regulations this year and the easing of government support for many financial…
Progress by the dashboard light
Increasing numbers of banks and vendors have built dashboards into risk management systems, designed to provide easy-to-comprehend, real-time indicators of risk. How do they work, what information do they provide and how effective are they? By Clive…
Loss leaders
Operational risk is potentially the biggest risk faced by insurers – and also one of the most difficult to model. However, as a number of loss data aggregation initiatives globally either emerge or mature, insurers are much better placed to quantify…
Exposing counterparty risk exposure
Banks have focused on improving counterparty credit risk management capabilities since the onset of the financial crisis. How are they changing systems to ensure accurate monitoring of exposures on a real-time basis?
Software survey 2010
Life & Pension Risk’s annual software survey brings together the leading global providers of technology to the insurance and pension sector.
Insurance sofware 2010 - Building defences
In times of increasing regulatory control, software suppliers are going to great lengths to provide insurers with not just efficient business management technology, but added tools to aid risk awareness and give clients more control than ever before…
Liquidity flow charting
New rules on liquidity risk from the Basel Committee and the UK Financial Services Authority have left banks scrambling to get the necessary risk and reporting systems in place. Clive Davidson looks at the challenges they face
Understanding policyholder behaviour is crucial to the success of ALM and replicating portfolio strategies
Born of interest rate volatility, dynamic policyholder behaviour is a variable no insurer can afford to ignore – yet modelling it is problematic. How are companies adapting to the new market conditions?
Replicating success
The financial crisis drummed home to many banks the advantages of quickly calculating exposures and executing hedges for complex portfolios. As a result, some banks are looking to the insurance sector and their use of replicating portfolios.
Model misgivings
The insurance-based nature of Danish pension provision means almost the entire sector will fall under the remit of Solvency II. And despite the Danish industry’s groundbreaking work in stochastically modelling its assets, the potential extension of this…
Risk technology rankings 2009
Financial institutions are under pressure to improve risk management processes, with a particular focus on liquidity risk, counterparty credit risk and enterprise risk management. It means many have had to turn to third-party vendors to upgrade their…
Replicating success
The financial crisis drummed home to many banks the advantages of quickly calculating exposures and executing hedges for complex portfolios. As a result, some banks are looking to the insurance sector and their use of replicating portfolios. By Clive…
Less complexity for pricing analytics
A number of software suppliers sprang up in the early part of the decade offering pricing and analytics software for ever more complex derivatives structures. In the new age of less complexity, how are these firms adapting? By Clive Davidson
Different degrees
Solvency II will require a massive upgrade in insurers’ technological capability. But as the deadline for implementation looms ever closer, not all in the industry have made the same level of progress.
Asia Risk technology survey 2009
Heavyweight technology companies with a long track record and scaleable systems capable of handling high levels of simple transaction flows performed well in Asia Risk’s 2009 technology rankings. Thomson Reuters ultimately emerged as the victor ahead of…
Data, data everywhere
Making sense of the vast streams of differently formatted data produced by the financial services industry every day is a recurring nightmare for risk managers and regulators. Efforts are now under way to standardise data formats, with Malaysia setting…
More speed, more efficiency
Banks are increasingly aware of the speed and efficiency that is required to process data when creating and dealing in structured products. Calls for transparency and liquidity mean it is vital to choose systems that can cope with the products'…
Risk technology rankings 2008
In unprecedented market conditions, Murex retained its top position in Risk's 2008 technology rankings. However, Thomson Reuters and Algorithmics are close behind, demonstrating that, despite the financial crisis, competition among software vendors…
Speed tests
Counterparty Credit Risk
Systems failure
Risk management