Uses cloud to address compute power and big data demands of real-time risk analytics

NEW YORK, May 21 — Numerix, a leading provider of cross-asset analytics for derivatives valuations and risk management, has enabled Numerix Portfolio on Windows Azure, providing customers the ability to burst complex pricing and risk calculation processes to the cloud. To increase performance and address real-time demand for risk analytics, Numerix has taken advantage of Windows Azure and HPC to provide a seamless, cost-effective, and time saving solution to solve quantitative, computational and technological challenges associated with calculating advanced risk measures.

Managing risk and valuing complex derivative portfolios on a daily basis has proved challenging and computationally intensive. Traders, risk managers and insurers face inconsistent operational silos for different asset classes across the enterprise and continue to grapple with new regulations that demand tougher standards of risk management, stress testing and capital control. Financial institutions need to be able to assess risk daily in near real-time. This greatly increases the frequency of valuations and the amount of calculations required.

"The need to establish consistent pricing and risk calculations daily, in real-time, has fueled huge growth in compute power demand; but the reality is traditional on-premise deployments alone are no longer a timely or cost effective answer," said Denny Yu, Product Manager of Risk for Numerix. "However, with a burst-to-cloud scenario, clients now have a fast, easy and low cost way to harness the massive compute power and Big Data resources needed to address real-time trading and risk."

As a powerful front and middle office application, Numerix Portfolio provides clients with an intuitive interface for uniform pricing and managing risk in a single platform. The latest release of Numerix Portfolio is now enabled on Windows Azure, as well as Windows HPC Server. This scalable, fast and reliable solution uses powerful grid-computing to speed valuations of large, computationally intensive derivative portfolios. Clients can also better meet regulatory demands and new accounting standards for accurate, timely, and consistent pricing, risk, and reporting measures enterprise-wide.

"As total cost of ownership pressures mount and financial services firms compare the cost of cloud versus on-premise deployments, Windows Azure- and Windows HPC Server-enabled solutions such as Numerix Portfolio afford users the flexibility to adopt either public or private cloud environments to meet their unique needs," said Karen Cone, general manager, Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft. "In a burst-to-Azure deployment scenario, clients get the best of both worlds: they get the most from their existing infrastructure and capitalize on cloud innovations to meet mission-critical business computing demands."

"With Numerix Portfolio enabled on Windows Azure and Windows HPC Server, traders are no longer constrained by the compute power limitations of their individual desktops or local server farms. Financial institutions can save significant time and money as they respond more quickly and accurately to changing market dynamics, and insurers can achieve the consistent valuation and analytical capabilities they need," said Steve O'Hanlon, President and COO of Numerix. "Our clients now have a more flexible, cost effective way to confidently tap the virtually unlimited compute power they need to manage risk in real time across a consistent valuation framework."

About Numerix

Numerix is the award winning, leading independent analytics institution providing cross-asset solutions for structuring, pre-trade price discovery, trade capture, valuation and portfolio management of derivatives and structured products. Since its inception in 1996, over 700 clients and 75 partners across more than 25 countries have come to rely on Numerix analytics for speed and accuracy in valuing and managing the most sophisticated financial instruments. With offices in New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Stockholm, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, South Korea, India and Australia, Numerix brings together unparalleled expertise across all asset classes and engineering disciplines. For more information, visit www.numerix.com.

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Source: Numerix