The leader in business solutions for the investment management industry, DSTi implemented the Value at Risk (VAR) system to meet Suncorp Investment Management’s business need to measure the financial risk of an asset, portfolio, or exposure over specified periods of time.

Suncorp Investment Management has adopted a market-leading position with the implementation of DSTi's HiRisk solution and has set itself apart from other Australian fund managers whom typically do not use a VAR system across the management of all asset classes. As part of its strategic improvement towards its risk management framework, Suncorp Investment Management will be employing HiRisk for a total portfolio perspective across a wide range of asset classes including Australian equities, Australian fixed interest, international equities and fixed interest, listed property trusts, cash and derivative securities.

Suncorp Investment Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of Australia's sixth largest bank and one of the leading four general insurance groups, Suncorp-Metway Ltd. Suncorp Investment Management is responsible for the wholesale investment management activities of the Suncorp Group, which has total assets of $40 billion and more than $11.5 billion funds under management.

The web-based HiRisk platform gives Suncorp Investment Management a system for powerful, flexible and clear reporting of market risk to increase business performance. It has enabled the company to firmly entrench value at risk in its investment processes and provide a more thorough form of investment risk management for its investors.

Suncorp Investment Management now has greater ability to help clients develop or review client mandates using a value at risk approach. Clients can consider the amount of risk implied in their investment mandate, resulting in a better understanding of risk versus return.

"This implementation breaks new ground in the Australian funds management marketplace, with Suncorp the first to work with DSTi on a system that puts value at risk at the heart of its daily investment processes," DST International Chief Executive Officer Australia and New Zealand Ian Mathieson said.

"The HiRisk solution sets Suncorp apart from other funds managers by providing a centralised and structured framework to support its risk management operations. It is now able to effectively measure, evaluate and report risk both on an absolute basis and against client mandated benchmarks."

Suncorp Investment Management can produce a broad range of risk measures that can be tailored to any investment strategy. It captures the characteristics of both the normal and abnormal market behaviour, assisting analysis of both expected and unexpected risks.

The system sets and monitors value at risk limits on a daily basis to ensure Suncorp trades within its risk tolerance levels and provide patterns or indicators of risk for individual portfolios.

"HiRisk is central to a new value at risk culture in our business," Suncorp Investment Management General Manager Maurice Kluge said. "It has given us a common and consistent approach to measuring, managing and controlling risk across a wide range of asset classes from a total portfolio perspective to improve the reporting and communication of risk."

"The new system allows us to improve risk measurement on behalf of our customers in a highly disciplined and quantitative manner across our portfolio of investments and securities. It has the flexibility to respond quickly and easily to change, and is a robust solution our customers can rely on to perform to their expectations."

The solution enables scenario-based analysis of investment portfolios based on sophisticated risk models including both user defined and/or historical, Monte Carlo and deterministic-based scenarios, such as stress testing for scenarios including the October 1987 crash or the Asian Bond market crisis.