forward look, inc.

Research >>>
Current Initiatives
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Our Research

forward look, inc.'s research focuses on the deep structure of securities and cash transactions. Our objectives are to better understand the sources and management of implementation shortfalls, operational risk (especially under Basel II & III and MiFID), and support the ongoing development of our service Frameworks. Please see our Current Initiatives section for an overview of our research program.

Upcoming and recent activities include:

Our milestone paper summarizing a decade of observations on the impact of investment operations on portfolio performance (Fall 2011 Journal of Investing)

Presenting updated research results on the measurable contribution of investment operations quality to institutional portfolio performance at the Semtech 2010 Conference (June 2010 in San Francisco CA (US))

Presenting our research results on the measurable contribution of investment operations quality to plan performance at the 13th International Conference on Information Quality in November 2008, and previously at the October 2007 Plan Sponsor & Consultant Circle Summit in San Francisco CA (US). These research outcomes formed the basis for a new service offering from forward look, inc. : RiskForecast™ (Click here for more information)

Our March 2007 presentation on the impact of mismanaged investment data on both product marketing and implementation shortfalls at the joint DAMA International Symposium and Wilshire Metadata Conference (... listen to the audio)

Our Nov 2006 presentation on Measuring the Impact of Transactional Data Quality on Operational Risk and Capital Adequacy for Global Investment Banks at the MIT Information Quality conference (... view the presentation)

Our Fall 2005 white paper on recent trends in algorithmic trading

In 2005, we began work on O R O™ (Operational Risk Offset) which enables an investment bank's proprietary desk to offer cost-effective hedges for operational risk exposures stemming from securities and cash transactions undertaken by asset managers and hedge funds in the normal of course of business (eg, corporate actions not processed correctly by a fund's custodian). Though the financial impact per-incident may be relatively small, their cumulative effects are material.

Firms purchase options over-the-counter to offset peril-specific operational risk losses (in whole or in part). These options draw on a specialized portfolio created by the investment bank to expressly finance trading liabilities. This approach leverages contingent capital strategies in lieu of more costly traditional insurance, and provides asset managers with effective alternatives to minimize their working capital requirements (... click here for more information)

Our invited commentary on corporate actions automation in the Spring 2005 newsletter of the Venture Financial Systems Group

Our 2004 Industrial Track paper presented at the IEEE Conference on Data Engineering in Boston MA (US). The initial outcomes were first published in a 2003 Research Note (and accompanying Diagram) presented at the ACM Electronic Commerce Conference in San Diego CA (US).

We are active participants and supporters of industry associations and their initiatives in financial services:

FpML/ISDA Commodities Trading Working Group

International Association of Financial Engineers

Data Management Association

Association for Computing Machinery; and

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Click here for additional resources on operational analytics and transaction management in the global securities industry.