01:10 PM
Marathon Asset Management Selects Imagine for New Fund
New York-based Marathon Asset Management has selected Imagine Software's completely integrated Derivatives.com service for use with its new FX fund. Imagine Software is a provider of real-time portfolio and risk management solutions worldwide.
Founded in 1998, Marathon has US $11 billion in assets under management and operates several funds encompassing global equities, global debt, emerging markets, special opportunities, structured finance, and real estate. In May 2006, Marathon first implemented Imagine's cross-asset solution for use in its New York office to support equity volatility and fixed-income trading activities. Recently, the firm utilized Imagine's easy scalability to expand usage to its Singapore office, bringing its total seat count to 12.
According to chief risk officer John Duddy, several years ago the company resolved to improve the quality and consistency of its risk management practices. "We recognized the key importance of risk controls for our business activities, the need for which recent market conditions amply underscore," he said in a press release. Duddy, who joined Marathon in 2004, realized the firm's current and future business needs dictated a migration to reliable, high-performance systems with advanced functionality, audit trails, broad instrument support, easy extendibility to support additional funds and users, plus other attributes considered essential at institutional banks. "Simply put, we wanted robust risk management, with rigorous controls in place to support our business operations in a secure manner," he said.
"Imagine provides many powerful risk tools to perform portfolio stress tests, "what if" scenarios, VaR analysis, etc. But one I find particularly useful for my own purposes is the Projection Tool. It can report P&L across a range of volatility and helps me pinpoint hidden gamma risk. Quite useful indeed. We are careful about implementing new technology, but based upon our experience so far with Imagine, I see opportunities for expanding our usage of the system to interest-rate derivatives, swaps, and additional options. We're quite pleased," added Duddy in the release.
"Marathon's insight into the importance of strong risk capabilities is one that prudent firms should emulate, especially in today's market conditions. We are privileged to serve their needs today and moving forward," said Yvonne Dahl, director of sales and marketing at Imagine, in the press release.