Risk management
Know your trade types
An accurate and clearly communicated classification of the types of trade a company carries out brings a better understanding of risk methodologies and where they are best used across the enterprise, says Greg Keers
The CRO road
A company-wide understanding of risk has never been more important for energy firms. Kevin Foster talks to three chief risk officers about their role and how it is changing
The three-way knock-on effect
Peter Nance and Lin Franks look at the interplay between market, credit, and operational risks and consider how firms might approach implementing an integrated company-wide system to tackle them
Untangling the web
Ruling out the need for a major software infrastructure project, web-based concepts make perfect sense for enterprise-wide risk management systems, says Martin Chavez
Keeping EAR simple
Brett Humphreys discusses how trading groups can be captured within earnings-at-risk and cashflow-at-risk models. He suggests taking a top-down approach instead of a bottom-up approach based on actual positions
Managing risk under SMD
Scott Greene, Mark Niehaus and Pankaj Sahay examine the impact of Ferc’s proposed standard market design on power risk management
Clear in present danger
Energy companies are crying out for clearing solutions to reduce their counterparty credit risk. James Ockenden looks at new initiatives from London-based power exchange UKPX and German firm Clearing Bank Hannover
Keeping an eye on the long-term
Brett Humphreys discusses the problems with standard credit risk limits and proposes limits that may work better
Var too far
The energy industry has shown tremendous commitment to value-at-risk (Var) methodologies. But use of Var has been misguided, as James Ockenden discovers
What’s the worst that could happen?
Brett Humphreys discusses how using a standard credit value-at-risk measure may be misleading for credit risk decisions
The value of volatility
Brett Humphreys and Tim Essaye seek out the best method for calculating volatility by comparing different measures, and find that complex approaches aren’t necessarily the best ones to use
Tools for the trade
Ken Nichols examines the mechanisms available for incorporating credit risk management into an energy company’s portfolio
Avoiding over-exposure
Eurof Thomas finds the European energy market is increasing its focus on credit risk mitigation in the wake of Enron’s demise
Higher or lower?
Kevin Foster looks at how credit rating agencies assign a rating to companies in the energy sector and what kind of factors are taken into account
A whole new ball game
Enron’s bankruptcy has changed the playing field for credit risk in the energy sector. Kevin Foster reports on the renewed significance of assessing credit quality
Proper procedures
Rajiv Arora examines the processes necessary for effectively measuring, managing and hedging credit risks
A cure for Enron flu
Brett Humphreys discusses recent events in the energy sector and the role risk managers can play in improving the industry
Keeping score
This month Brett Humphreys and Zach Jonasson show how energy trading firms can compare performance using publicly available corporate information
Covering the threat
Since September 11, energy companies have had to re-assess the threat of terrorist attack. Despite the insurance industry introducing new terms and products, some companies remain unprotected, as Joel Hanley discovers
Building blocks for complex probability distributions
Brett Humphreys demonstrates how to construct more accurate return distributions and use them to price options
Counterparty concerns
Following the California crisis and the fall of Enron, energy firms are finally paying more attention to credit risk. Here Fred Cohen, Satyan Malhotra and Rafael Cavestany present some overarching issues senior management must address in implementing an…
Clearing the way?
The German over-the-counter market has been growing quickly in recent years, but a series of shocks has sparked fears of credit risk exposure. Can trading regain recent highs and save the OTC market from credit-wary traders, asks Joel Hanley
Controlling power
Maggi Shippy-Ksionsk and Stefan Ulreich explain how portfolio risk management gives a company control over its energy procurement