SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 14, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- In a continuing effort to provide clients with sophisticated tools and services, Wilshire Analytics, a worldwide leader in providing innovative portfolio analytics and a business unit of Wilshire Associates Incorporated, a leading global investment services firm, today announced the release of the newest version of the Wilshire Axiom(sm) that includes expansion for Emerging Market Debt, enhanced functionalities and a new Treasury Equivalent Returns Variance Model(sm).
"This new version of the Wilshire Axiom reflects the input of our clients from around the world and offers a single integrated system for global fixed income analytics, performance attribution, risk management, scenario analysis and portfolio optimization," noted Peter Matheos, PhD, managing director and head of Wilshire Fixed Income Analytics, a division of Wilshire Analytics. "One of the functionalities our clients are particularly pleased with is the expansion of emerging market debt (EMD), now available for the Wilshire Axiom Global Credit Risk Model(sm). The EMD expansion includes risk factors for external and local currency denominated debt in emerging markets, resulting in enhanced estimates of systematic and issuer/issue specific risk for emerging market debt."
In addition to the EMD expansion, "Our full currency expansion is now available in the Wilshire Axiom Global Credit Risk Model for both developed and emerging markets. This provides a more precise estimation of factor returns and historical covariance effects for all currencies in Wilshire Axiom reports," Dr. Matheos said. Another notable development, according to Dr. Matheos, is the new Treasury Equivalent Returns Variance Model. "The model is a returns-based performance attribution model that decomposes excess return over the entire treasury term structure into grouped allocation and selection management effects that can be tailored to match individual investment processes. The Treasury Equivalent Returns Variance Model is part of our continuing development of models for returns-based performance attribution."
Other major release highlights include:
* New asset types, including collateralized debt obligations,
credit default swap indices and total return swaps.
* New Analytics Override option to load user-defined
security-level analytics throughout Wilshire Axiom, including
basic reporting and all analytics-based calculations.
* New sub-indices from Wilshire, JP Morgan, iBoxx, Merrill
Lynch, Swiss Exchange, Salomon/Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.
* New futures contracts from Hong Kong, Chicago Mercantile
Exchange, Korea, Malaysia, Sweden and Singapore.
* New data items for the Wilshire Axiom Menu Report(sm),
allowing additional security-level details for portfolio
reporting.
* Support for long portfolio names.
* Enhanced support for CUSIP and SEDOL check digits for
several Wilshire Axiom reports.
* Enhanced cash flow discounting model for ARMs, hybrid ARMs
and non-ARMs for improved valuation and analytics.
Wilshire Analytics develops and provides sophisticated risk management, portfolio analysis, asset allocation and performance measurement solutions to fund managers, banks, insurers, consultants and other institutional investment organizations around the world.
About Wilshire Associates
Wilshire Associates is a leading global investment technology, investment consulting and investment management firm with four business units: Wilshire Analytics, Wilshire Funds Management, Wilshire Consulting, and Wilshire Private Markets. The firm was founded in 1972, revolutionizing the industry by pioneering the application of investment analytics and research to investment management for the institutional marketplace. Wilshire also is credited with helping to develop the field of quantitative investment analysis that uses mathematical tools to analyze market risks. All other business units evolved from Wilshire's strong analytics foundation.
Wilshire developed the index now known as the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index(sm), the first asset/liability models for pension funds, the first U.S. equity style metrics work and many other "firsts" as the firm grew to nearly 350 employees serving the investment needs of institutional and high net worth clients around the world.
Based in Santa Monica, CA, Wilshire provides services to clients in more than 20 countries representing in excess of 600 organizations with assets totaling more than $12.5 trillion. With nine offices on four continents, Wilshire Associates and its affiliates are dedicated to providing clients with the highest quality counsel, products and services. Please visit www.wilshire.com for more information.