July 2014 – Volume II of FinRisk Young Professionals Journal Now Available

 

“Shaping the Future of Risk Management”: what does this entail? We asked and searched deep to find our answers to bring about the needed changes. While we focus on the immediate “risk and regulatory hot topics” and “building the next generation”, we know that there is much more beyond these. Nonetheless, pragmatism requires that we focus on areas like these where we can supplement the efforts of many others in the industry seeking to address these same challenges. One of our initiatives is this FinRisk Young Professionals Journal.

We received helpful feedback and encouragement, especially about the value and quality of the articles for our inaugural March 2014 issue of our FinRisk Young Professionals Journal. We are privileged to continue to ob- tain strong support from key leaders in the industry to contribute excellent articles for this July 2014 issue. We ap- preciate greatly their support and contribution. While this is a good start, we hope to use this and other channels to promote greater Young Professionals activism in the Financial Risk & Regulatory industry and build this as a platform where Young Professionals will increasingly use to develop and hone their skills, and share their insights.

In this issue, we remember the late Mr. Graham Strong, one of the founding members of The Financial Risk Institute. Graham has been a great mentor to students and young professionals alike, and his services and passion in reaching out to them have moved many of us. His recent departure is indeed a sad and sudden loss to us and many of the Young Professionals, especially those in the Washington DC area. Many will remember his fa- therly style of nurturing the young and building their readiness to deal with the complex challenges in this industry. Graham’s selfless dedication and unbridled willingness to share his experience and knowledge is a strong encouragement for many at FinRisk to aspire to do the same.

We included in this issue one of Graham’s recent articles on “Quantifying Sustainable Investments”, which is highly insightful; weighing the macro picture and encouraging us to think beyond the transitional pricing of securities. While not specifically mentioned, it also alludes to key factors that drive investment as well as trading decisions, and provides useful insights for those of us seeking to examine these in light of the bigger picture implications of such decision making process on the economy and policy actions.  We have also included Frank Morisano’s article on the “Management of Liquidity”, an area not well appreciated and understood by even large companies, as evidenced in the massive and widespread liquidity crunch experienced by many in the 2008 crisis. As we examine the fallouts of the 2008 crisis, it is not surprising to see the inevitability of government interventions, with their intended and unintended consequences.  Alex Pollock very aptly discussed these in his brief article on “The Financial Crisis as Soap Opera”.  David Rowe opined in his short article “Optimal currency areas and the Euros”, one of key challenges confronting economies in the EU, especially in the wake of the 2008 crisis that has largely crippled policy options available to struggling economies seeking to stabilize outward flow of capital and resources.  Peter Wallison’s article on “If You’re Big and Move Money, Watch Out” expresses his concern that “unless Congress acts, the feds will say that all large financial firms pose a ‘systemic’ risk and need bank-like regulation.”

We hope you will find this publication helpful. Please give us your comments and suggestions via email to info@finrisk.org.  We are planning much more this coming year. We encourage all readers to learn more about this and other FinRisk initiatives at our website: www.finrisk.org.

Steven P. Lee
Chair, FinRisk Founding Committee