Somerset,
NJ May 12, 2008 The Spaulding Group, Inc. (TSG) announced today that
Robert Mackay, Ph.D., will face off against David Spaulding at its
sixth annual Performance Measurement, Attribution and Risk (PMAR)
conference on May 21-22, 2008 in Philadelphia on the topic: Value
at Risk - Voodoo or Science.
"When
first approached by the team at The Spaulding Group I was a little
hesitant as I didn't know what to expect. But after speaking with
David Spaulding about the format and the goals of the conference I
was happy to 'throw my hat into the ring' and 'go to battle' over
a subject I am very passionate about, Value at Risk," said Dr.
Mackay. "Throughout the industry we see confusion over the proper
use of VaR and the true value of the measure. I hope to bring clarity
to the issue and explain the science behind it, and erase the 'voodoo'
perception that exists among some firms. I am looking forward to the
challenge."
Dr.
Mackay is a Senior Vice President at NERA Economic Consulting, specializing
in providing securities and financial markets litigation support and
risk management advisory services. He served as Project Advisor to
the Group of Thirty's Global Derivatives Study Group. The Study Group's
report, Derivatives: Practices and Principles, was the first comprehensive
study to recommend Value at Risk for derivatives dealers and end-users.
Before joining NERA, Dr. Mackay was Professor of Finance and Director
of the Center for Study of Futures and Options Markets at the College
of Business at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
He has also taught at the University of California at Berkeley, the
University of Maryland, and Tulane University. Dr. Mackay served as
Chief of Staff of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and
as a member of the Senior Staff of the President's Working Group on
Financial Markets following the stock market crash of October 1987.
In this role, he directed and coordinated the Commission's efforts
to address jurisdictional and regulatory issues involving swaps and
structured securities.
With offices in the New York City and Los Angeles metropolitan areas,
The Spaulding Group, Inc. is the leader in investment performance
measurement products and services. TSG offers consulting services;
publishes The Journal of Performance Measurement, a quarterly publication
we launched in 1996; and hosts the Performance Measurement Forum.
The firm also sponsors the annual Performance Measurement, Attribution
and Risk (PMAR) Conference as well as the annual Trends in Attribution
Symposium (TIA), which have come to be recognized as the leading performance
measurement conferences in the industry. TSG's Institute of Performance
Measurement offers performance measurement training, including an
introductory course on performance measurement, a course on performance
attribution, and CIPM exam preparation courses. Additional details
about TSG's services may be found on our website www.SpauldingGrp.com.
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