What is a “Risk Utility℠” Anyway?

A utility is always ready when the user needs it.  You expect a wall outlet to always deliver electric current and a land line to always have dial tone. The concept behind ATA RiskStation™ is that questions about portfolio risk can arise at any time so timely and current answers need to always be available on demand.

Unlike an ad hoc risk solution that offers risk analytics when the program is activated by the user for a selected portfolio as of a particular point in time, the ATA RiskStation™ “Risk Utility model is a fully automated, structured yet highly customizable daily risk oversight process that always delivers current and actionable risk insights.

The Risk Utility℠ model includes processes for the automated nightly harvesting of the required client data, processing all client positions against customized scenarios and delivering daily risk reporting and triggering risk alerts when certain client-defined conditions are met.  The Risk Utility℠ model saves all the processed data for every client, reporting level, scenario and position.  The accumulation of all this saved data provides the ability to offer a view of risk trends over time and allows the checking of nightly risk levels against client risk tolerances.

There is no software for clients to buy, learn and maintain. No daily action by clients is required to support daily processing.

While the Risk Utility model requires a great deal of standing infrastructure, advanced technology and deep integration with data sources, from the client’s perspective, all that is required is an Internet connection, a web browser and the ability to receive e-mail.

Why Do We Process Daily?

  • Markets and market relationships change over time
  • Portfolio asset mix evolves over time
  • Relationships between portfolio components change over time
  • Volatility is a constantly moving target
  • Firmly held assumptions can prove untrue at the worst possible time
  • The risk profile for a client or portfolio allocation is not static – periodic meetings are only snapshots
  • No advisor or portfolio manager has time to monitor risk for every client or portfolio allocation every day
  • ATA RiskStation™ runs daily and can send out risk alerts as needed to trigger timely advisor/client conversations
  • Daily processing allows confirmation of alignment between current client portfolio risks and recently expressed client risk tolerances