Ahead of the Curve

Join our host Scott Sobolewski as he interviews Roland Stamm, Partner within Acadia’s Quantitative Services division on the important topic of model validation both for ISDA SIMM and complex internal models. Roland stresses the importance of model governance and how it is crucial for firms to be able to prove to regulators that their model is fit for purpose. Packed with sound advice and insights, this podcast is a must for firms that are embarking on backtesting and benchmarking projects.

Listen time: <25 min

In this latest episode of Ahead of the Curve, our host Scott Sobolewski chats with James Mac Hale – Head of Acadia Market Data about the monumental task of creating a centralised market data library of over fifty thousand different types of daily curve inputs as part of the Acadia hosted service to support firms in their risk and pricing calculations. The podcast provides tips and advice for firms that are using or thinking of using the Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) and highlights the importance of putting in the time and effort into planning the inputs into your risk engine to reap automation benefits down the line.

Listen time: 25 minutes

Scott O’Malia, CEO at ISDA returns for a ‘threepeat’, his 3rd time on the podcast. He joins John Pucciarelli, Head of Industry Engagement at Acadia for a special 30th episode of Ahead of the Curve. Their discussion ranges from the benefits and adoption of the Common Domain Model (CDM) across the industry, reflections on the advocacy and impact of the latest capital reforms including Basel III end game. Scott and John also discuss the latest regions to adopt Uncleared Margin Rules in 2024, and the role that ISDA plays in ensuring industry standards are maintained globally. The interview ends with Scott’s views on geopolitical risk and its potential impacts on the OTC derivatives market– it is a podcast not to be missed!

Listen time: 30 minutes

In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, John Pucciarelli – Head of Industry Engagement and Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development discuss the paper issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervison (BCBS) on the Proposed Guidelines for Counterparty Credit Risk Management. They provide an insight into the guidelines and share their perspectives on the why the regulators felt more stringent controls are required in the wake of the Archegos default.

Listen time 25 mins

The paper referred to can be found here:

Guidelines for counterparty credit risk management (bis.org)

Join our host Roland Stamm, Partner at Acadia’s Quantitative Services team alongside his colleague Joey O’Brien (Senior Consultant) as they explore the topic of Backtesting of Future Risk Factors. This discussion is inspired by a recent client engagement, focusing on the utilization of the Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) library within a counterparty credit risk framework and the process of validating exposure simulation models. The whitepaper discussed can be found here (https://www.acadia.inc/insight/backtesting-of-future-risk-factors-march-2024-an-open-source-approach-to-validation-case-study) for more details.

 The conversation shifts to the broader regulatory landscape, touching on recent developments from the Bank of England and the increased scrutiny following high-profile defaults like Credit Suisse in 2022 and Archegos. They discuss the implications of Basel III and FRTB on standardized model and how ORE is placed to aid in this challenge, alongside the cost benefits of using open-source software within the Internal Models Method (IMM).

Listen time: 20 mins

Our host Devin Cook is joined by Alexis David, both Senior Consultants within Acadia’s Quantitative Services team. They discuss the merits of Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) and explain the myriad of resources available to assist in implementing the software. They share nuggets of information which will be useful to anybody that wanting to use ORE for the first time, or looking to expand their knowledge to understand its latest capabilities.

Listen time: 21 mins

Eric Ehlers, Principal Consultant at Acadia makes his debut hosting Ahead of the Curve podcast alongside his colleague Zeyu (Jerry) Shen.
They share their expertise in explaining how to speed up crucial processing time for running complex calculations in Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) by utilizing GPGPU (General purpose computing on graphics processing units). 

The tutorial mentioned in the podcast will soon be available on the official ORE repo:

 https://github.com/opensourcerisk/engine

 In the meantime you can find the tutorial here:

 https://github.com/eehlers/Engine/blob/tutorials/tutorials_index.md

Listen time: 11 mins

Join our host Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development and Scott Sobolewski, Co-Head of Quantitative Services as they discuss the merits of using open-source software. 
Reviewing the incredible journey of Linux supported by Red Hat and comparing this to Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE), the Acadia-sponsored derivatives risk management and pricing software which is freely available and being utilized by over 150+ firms in the industry today. 
Scott shares some use cases of ORE and explains the power and extendibility of the software and how it is shaping the future of risk management.

Listen time: 17 mins

John Pucciarelli, Head of Industry and Regulatory Strategy and Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development at Acadia sit down to discuss the regulatory outlook for 2024. The pair dig into a 10 year look-back on SIMM and moving forward with the model, an update on Basel III Endgame and what the FINRA 4210 rule means for the US and wider market.

Listen now to understand the implications of the regulations and what needs to be done to get ready.

Listen time: 27 minutes

 John Pucciarelli, Head of Industry and Regulatory Strategy and Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development at Acadia spend time in the studio discussing the potential impact of Basel III on banks and the broader macro economy.  An honest, open discussion filled with clear examples provides an insight into the implications of the new Basel regulatory recommendations. A thoroughly informative and enjoyable listen.

Listen time: 26 mins

Produced and recorded at the Lansons studio.