Advanced analytics for private investors

Double-digit declines in the leading equity indexes since early 2000 have left investors scrambling for tools to measure their risk – and the growing popularity of structured investment products means those tools have to be increasingly sophisticated. Clive Davidson reports

Private investors have learned about risk the hard way. While return was moreor less their only consideration in the mid- to late 1990s, that all changedwith the downturn in the markets and the persistent volatility since then. “Withthe way the markets have been behaving over the past three years, our clientsare much more aware of risk, and realise that if they are looking for a returnthat exceeds that of cash or government bonds, there is risk associated withit,” says Philip Dillnutt