CMS BONDEDGE LAUNCHES PORTFOLIO CREDIT
RISK CAPABILITIES
Integrates RiskMetrics Group's CreditGrades Product into Offering
Los Angeles, November 20, 2002
CMS BondEdge, an operating division of Interactive Data Corporation
(Nasdaq: IDCO) and a leading provider of fixed income portfolio analytics,
today announces the release of a new Credit Risk reporting module in
its BondEdge product. A series of credit risk reports now available
to BondEdge clients combines information from RiskMetrics Group's CreditGrades
product with proprietary CMS BondEdge data to help managers more effectively
evaluate credit risk at the individual security level, as well as compare
portfolio credit exposure versus a benchmark.
Laurie Adami, president of CMS BondEdge, comments, "Given the level
of defaults and rating downgrades in the current economic environment,
our clients are eager for us to deliver additional tools to them that
will assist them with the early detection of credit problems. Integrating
robust credit risk measurement tools within the BondEdge platform provides
the market with a more complete picture of the risks inherent in their
portfolios."
The new Credit Risk reports in the BondEdge system include theoretical
credit default spreads and default probabilities for debt issues of
publicly traded corporations, provided daily by RiskMetrics Group. This
information is combined with recent pricing histories on these bonds.
Additional statistics are then calculated, such as standard deviations
and moving averages. All of this information is incorporated into a
series of new Credit Risk Reports that indicate default risk for each
bond. Exposures are also aggregated to summarize default risk at the
industry level and to permit comparisons between the portfolio and a
benchmark.
Teri Geske, senior vice president of product development for CMS BondEdge,
adds, "The synthesis of RiskMetrics' theoretical model output with
actual market trends provided by CMS BondEdge afford clients a more
balanced view of their credit risk profile. One of the notable advantages
to the credit default risk measures provided by RiskMetrics Group is
the transparency of all the assumptions made by the underlying model.
We've created a toolset which not only allows clients to monitor potential
credit risk, but to fully understand the rationale behind that assessment
as well."
For further information please contact:
Lisa Herbert, CMS BondEdge
Tel: (310) 479-9715
Email : lisa.herbert@be.ftid.com
John Roderick, for
RiskMetrics Group
Tel: (212) 255-8455
Email: john@rosengrouppr.com
About CMS BondEdge:
For over 20 years, CMS BondEdge has been recognized as a leader in fixed
income analytical software. Long known for the BondEdge system, CMS
BondEdge is trusted as an independent source of research, analytics
and valuation tools by over 550 institutions in the U.S. and Canada.
CMS BondEdge is an affiliate of FT Interactive Data and division of
Interactive Data Corporation (Nasdaq:IDCO), a leading global provider
of financial and business information to institutional and individual
investors. More information on CMS BondEdge is available at www.cmsbondedge.com.
Corporate information on Interactive Data Corporation is available at
www.interactivedatacorp.com.
About Risk Metrics
Group:
RiskMetrics Group empowers institutions and their clients around the
world to make better investment decisions. RiskMetrics Group's risk
management and wealth management systems, services, and data are used
by hundreds of leading financial institutions, multinational corporations
and many of the world's central banks.
Formerly a division
at J.P. Morgan, RiskMetrics Group was spun-off as a separate company
in 1998. The company has seven offices around the world, including New
York, London, Tokyo, and Singapore.