Do you use Bloomberg for Risk Measurement?

Bloomberg is holding a Market Risk Seminar this month. But before the details, here are my comments.

I've attended Bloomberg seminars before and there is usually a sales pitch somewhere. Looking at the event's lineup of speakers, 4 out of 5 speakers are from Bloomberg (an Algo risk solution is embedded in Bloomberg). Although the topics may sound relevant, they're just intro material to Bloomberg functionalities and add-on services. For those looking for risk management solutions for their organization and looking to comply with Basel II, Bloomberg will present itself as a viable option in this seminar. Bloomberg would more likely say: "Since you are already Bloomberg users, why not leverage on your subscription and use our built-in risk solutions (at an added cost of course)?"

Generally, practitioners I know would trust Bloomberg in a majority of the raw figures that they give out. But when it comes to calculations, some would take them with a grain of salt. Personally, I find the risk solutions of Bloomberg to be less than adequate for the following reasons:

• Limited instrument coverage
• Not flexible
• Lack of transparency (Black Box)

But of course, it would never hurt to sit in a Bloomberg seminar and learn best practice (if ever they are presented) and to discover some new things that our beloved system has to offer.

And now for the seminar details.

Topics:

• Importance of Market Risk Management
• Risk measures for fixed income securities and derivatives
• Reliable data for your risk management systems
• Market risk management in alignment with Basel Accord
• Algo Risk on Bloomberg - a pre-integrated, real time market risk solution

Speakers:

• Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. - Deputy Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
• Seet Kok Leong - Head of Algo Risk (Asia Pacific), Algorithmics
• Jiten Bhanap - Product Specialist, Bloomberg L.P.
• Ivan Koh - Regional Data Solutions Manager, Bloomberg L.P.
• Neo Siang Noi - Trading Systems Sales Specialist, Bloomberg L.P.

Date:

15 August 2006

Venue:

Makati Shangri-la Manila, Ayala Avenue corner Makati Avenue, Makati City 1200, Philippines

Time:

9:30am - 2:00 pm

Registration:

BU on Bloomberg

email: awang@bloomberg.net

tel: +63 2 849 7100 loc. 4794

*Lunch will be served

Tags: finance derivatives market risk risk management bloomberg seminars courses