Media Features
Media Features
2007
December 14, 2007 — HedgeWorld.com
Citi Bailout May Signal End of 'Super' SIV Fund
By Emma Trincal
SIV issue, the lack of risk transparency and the assets that are not marked to market. "If the government steps in to guarantee the transparency of information and to ensure that investors know what they're buying, everyone wins and it's compatible with capitalism," says Olivier Le Marois, CEO of Riskdata, a Paris-based risk solutions provider. "After all, capitalism cannot survive without transparency."
December 13, 15, 2007 — France24
Riskdata featured on France24 Television Channel in the Face to Face program
December 1, 2007 — Buyside Technology
New Product: Riskdata rolls out latest version of HEDGiX
By Joel Clark
Riskdata, the Paris-based provider of risk management software for hedge funds, has released the latest version of HEDGiX, its flagship product. The latest version of HEDGiX will allow hedge fund risk managers to make more thorough analyses of the risks affecting their portfolios.
December, 2007 — A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN
EXTRA CREDIT: Parsing The Risks In Money Market Funds
By Michael A. Pollock
How to analyze risk in American money market funds? European experience may give a lead. Unlike in the U.S., French money market funds are marked to market, or revalued according to changes in market levels, at least weekly. That makes it possible to track changes in portfolio value on a timely basis, says Ingmar Adlerberg, chairman of Paris-based Riskdata, which markets risk-management products. An analysis of the performance of French funds suggests that at least 40% of the dynamic offerings were invested in sub-prime structured products, he says. The funds suffered losses when sub-prime issues they owned were downgraded by ratings agencies…
December 1, 2007 — BuySide Technology
Hedgix 3.0 Offers Two Distinct Methods of Risk Management
Riskdata’s latest Hedgix 3.0 risk management platform offers two distinct methods of risk management: the traditional Monte-Carlo and Value at Risk (VaR) model and the newer ‘risk profiling technique', which makes deeper simulations of what happens to a portfolio when market conditions change…
November 19, 2007 — HedgeWorld.com
The Systemic Crises in Hedge Funds: What Happened in August and How to Avert a Repeat By Raphael Douady, Riskdata
In August 2007, following the end of the spring sub-prime crisis, funds of hedge funds reported, on average, about two-sigma losses while several specific strategies—for example, equity market neutral, convertible arbitrage, emerging markets and high yield credit—reported an average loss above one sigma. In August, supposedly uncorrelated investment vehicles suddenly performed in the same bad direction
October 9, 2007 — MarketWatch
Hedge Funds Managers may misreport returns, study says Ellington reportedly the latest hedge fund to face valuation problems
By Alistair Barr
Some hedge funds may intentionally inflate returns to avoid reporting losses and keep investors on board. A study by Riskdata released in July shows that about a third of hedge fund managers studied smoothed their returns. If a security doesn't trade, a manager often has to ask several brokers to quote them a price. Because complex, illiquid securities are difficult to value, these estimates often vary, Olivier Le Marois, chief executive of Riskdata, explained in an interview.
November 9, 2007 — Technology Briefs
RiskData Releases HEDGiX 3.0
PARIS—Risk management solutions provider Riskdata has released version 3.0 of its alternative investment risk management software HEDGiX. The latest release has new capabilities to better analyze residual and active management risks, with enhancements in reporting, modeling data and technology… "Recent market events underscore how imperative it is for investors to understand risk and to plan for unexpected events," says Ingmar Adlerberg, president of Riskdata, in a statement. "Our mission is to support alternative investors and managers in producing robust, risk-transparent and differentiated performance by providing complete and continuously evolving risk solutions."
November 5, 2007 — HedgeWorld.com
In August Crisis, Quants Good, Risk Models Bad
By Emma Trincal
“All quantitative models should not be lumped together just because some failed spectacularly during the first half of August”, says Raphael Douady, founder and head of research at Riskdata, a Paris-based firm that provides risk management software for the hedge fund industry. Dr. Douady, speaking last week at a Terrapinn conference in New York on hedge fund replication, suggested reexamining the foundations of risk. His main conclusion is that linear regression models, which underlie most risk management tools, fail to predict extreme events. And when an event such as the subprime crisis hits, returns suffer extreme losses
November 5, 2007 — Investment Dealers' Digest
Hedge Funds Ramp Up Risk Measures
By Jessica Papini
Hedge funds are placing greater emphasis on risk and using more sophisticated techniques to assess risk transparency, especially after poor returns in August. Hedge funds need to better understand risks and what risks they might have in their portfolio, says Raphael Douady, founder and head of research at Riskdata. Paris-based Riskdata, a provider of risk management tools, held an event "Risk Transparency for Hedge Fund Investors," last week… "Explaining risk is a way of protecting business," says Douady. "As recent market events show, hedge funds and hedge fund investors realize that old, traditional models need to be replaced with appropriate models that take into account important factors such as non-linear hedge fund returns and market correlation breaks."
November, 2007 — Absolute Return Magazine
The Valuation Conundrum
By Julie Dalla-Costa
Hedge funds that invest in structured credit may be the most prone to subjective valuations and most at risk of manipulation by managers, according to risk management solutions provider Riskdata. The firm found that 30% of the 1,000 hedge funds it surveyed that trade these illiquid securities are smoothing returns and, therefore, lowering perceived volatility. Investors using simplistic measures of valuation to decide whether to invest or to remain invested, such as Sharpe ratios or simple volatility measures, would view the fund as less risky than it is, says Olivier Le Marois, Riskdata's chief executive.
November, 2007 — La Lettre de tresorier, n.241 (Paris, France)
Financial losses suffered by some hedge funds could have been predicted
Riskdata’s in-depth analysis of risks-related behavior of 2000 French funds prior to July 2007 credit crunch.
November 1, 2007 — GlobalCustodian.com
RiskData Releases Next Version Of Hedge Fund Risk Solution
RiskData, provider of expert risk management applications for the alternative investment community, released an upgrade to their software HEDGiX. HEDGIX 3.0 is a complete risk management solution specifically developed for alternative investment strategies.
October 22, 2007 — Business WeekBear
Bets Wrong
By Matthew Goldstein & David Henry
Two Bear Stearns hedge funds imploded and helped set off a global credit market meltdown. A study this summer by Riskdata, a hedge fund risk consulting group, found that at least 30% of hedge funds that rely on illiquid trading strategies are "smoothing returns" to make a fund's performance appear less risky by evening out month-to-month volatility. The study, which was published in June, included the Bear funds among those it examined…
August 1, 2007 — Buyside Technology
Upgrade : Riskdata Offers 'Bias Ratio' to Detect Return Smoothing
Riskdata, the Paris-based provider of buy-side risk management systems, has enhanced its core offering to prevent hedge funds from 'smoothing' their returns. According to research undertaken by the vendor, 30% of hedge funds are engaged in smoothing – the practice of giving investors a net-asset value figure (NAV) not based on a mark-to-market process and therefore not genuinely reflective of market prices.
July 19, 2007 — The Economist
Bearing it All: the Perils of Derivatives and Fair Value Accounting
RiskData, a consultancy, studied more than 1,000 hedge funds and concluded that nearly a third of funds trading illiquid securities were smoothing the results of their models, so as to iron out too much volatility in their books.
July 17, 2007 — The Global Association of Risk Professionals Newsletter
Industry Risk - Findings on Funds Trading Illiquid Securities
Research by Riskdata into the behaviour of over 1,000 hedge funds reveals that at least 30 percent of hedge funds trading illiquid strategies are smoothing returns.
July 13, 2007 — Absolute Return Weekly
Substantial Minority of Hedge Funds Tend to Smooth Returns, Study Finds
Approximately 30% of hedge funds that trade in illiquid securities have a tendency to smooth out their returns, according to a study conduced by RiskData, a Paris-based risk measurement company.
July 12, 2007 — International Herald Tribune
Investors struggle to assess value of mortgage-backed bonds
By Caroline Salas and Mark Pittman
On Wall Street, where the $800 billion market for mortgage securities backed by sub-prime loans is coming unhinged, traders are belatedly acknowledging that what they see isn't what they get. At least a third of hedge funds that invest in asset-backed bonds pick and choose values for their investment that help mask wide swings in performance, according to a survey of 1,000 funds worldwide by Riskdata, a Paris-based risk management firm for money managers…
July 11, 2007 — Wall Street Market & Technology
Risk Indicator Detects When Hedge Funds Trading Illiquid Securities Are Smoothing Returns
With the near collapse of two hedge funds last month at Bear Stearns Asset Management from investments in complex mortgage backed securities, risk management experts are pointing out the hazards of valuing illiquid securities. Recent research by Riskdata, into a sample of over 1,000 hedge funds reveals that at least 30 percent of hedge funds trading illiquid strategies are smoothing returns…
July 9, 2007 — Bloomberg.net
Return Smoothing Rampant Among ABS/MBS Hedge Funds. Total Securitization.
By Caroline Salas and Mark Pittman
At least 30% of hedge funds investing in illiquid strategies, such as those involving mortgage- and asset-backed securities, are smoothing
returns, according to a survey by Riskdata, a Paris-based risk management provider. This may be happening in the relatively illiquid sectors (compared to markets such as equities) because using subjective pricing methods is more common, says Olivier Le Marois, CEO of Riskdata…
July 6, 2007 — Hedge Fund Daily
Smoothing May Explain Bears' Bumpy Ride
Just in time to help explain what went wrong with Bear Stearns’ hedge funds, Riskdata has published a study indicating that 30% of funds that trade illiquid securities smooth their returns to make them look better.
July 3, 2007 — Dow Jones Capital Markets Report
Risk Manager Markets Method To Monitor Hedge Fund Results
By Michael A. Pollock of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Dow Jones Capital Market Reports gives a detailed account of Riskdata study of of 1,011 hedge funds and market indexes using its latest risk-management application FOFiX.
July 3, 2007 — HedgeWorld.com
Some HFs Embellish Returns From Illiquid Strategies
By Emma Trincal
A research report by Paris-based risk management provider firm Riskdata, shows that 30% of the funds trading illiquid securities smooth their returns. This conclusion is revealing in light of two hedge funds run by Bear Stearns that are now near collapse.
July 2, 2007 — The Wall Street Journal
Ahead of the Tape
By Scott Patterson
Riskdata study of hedge funds is discussed by the Wall Street Journal in its analysis of derivatives in the sub-prime market crack up.
July, 2007 — Investment Advisor Magazine
Overlay Uses 101
By Jeff Joseph
“Overlay” as an investment tool to neutralize the market exposure and use it as a hedge can also be considered part of the risk management strategy…
June 29, 2007 — Pensions & Investments Daily
Study Looks at Hedge Hund Smoothing
Riskdata study of hedge fund industry using its new risk indicator - the bias ratio, which detects the presence of illiquid securities in a portfolio and manipulation of the fund’s net asset value through misevaluation of illiquid securities. Over 1.000 hedge funds were examined; at least 30% are not properly valuing illiquid holdings, such as asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities…
June 29, 2007 — Structured Finance Watch
Study Sees Smoothing By Hedge Funds With Illiquid Strategies Informa Global Markets
A study of over 1,000 hedge funds revealed that at least 30% of hedge funds trading illiquid strategies are "smoothing" returns.
“The challenge for us was to get an aggregated view of the fund risk profile while tracking the specific risk of each underlying strategy. We think Riskdata is able to address both of these issues simultaneously. Moreover, we can monitor the impact of any portfolio allocation on the fund risk profile.”
Philippe Uzan,
CDC IXIS Multi-Strategy Fund
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