Callan Associates will use RiskFirst’s web-based pensions risk analytics platform, PFaroe, to help institutional investors conduct asset allocation and asset/liability studies, as well as implement optimal investment strategies and de-risking solutions

Callan Associates – one of the largest independently-owned investment consulting firms in the United States – has adopted RiskFirst’s real-time analytics and reporting platform, PFaroe.  The system will be specifically used by Callan’s Capital Markets Research Group to help plan sponsors with their strategic planning, asset allocation and asset/liability studies, ultimately aiding the implementation of effective investment strategies and de-risking solutions, such as flight plans.

PFaroe will be used by Callan in conjunction with Winklevoss Technologies’ (WinTech) liability valuation software, ProVal, which Callan has used since 1995. RiskFirst formed a strategic partnership with WinTech in 2013.

“More and more of our clients are implementing de-risking flight plans and, in this respect, analytics are vital in enabling them to better monitor their funded status and decide when to execute changes in strategy,”says Jay Kloepfer, Executive Vice President and Director of Capital Market and Alternatives Research at Callan. “We view PFaroe as a major step forward in the analytics we can offer, allowing us to perform more frequent and deeper simulation modelling, so that we have a real handle on clients’ risk positions. This puts us in a far stronger position to implement solutions and then monitor their success.”

Matthew Seymour, Managing Director, RiskFirst, comments:

“Callan has an outstanding reputation as a market-leading and forward-thinking consultancy, and we are delighted to add them to our growing client list in the US, as we experience increasing demand for better pension risk analytics from consultancies, asset managers and pension plans.”

PFaroe’s capabilities will be used to complement Callan’s proprietary analytical platform, which has been managed in-house since the firm was founded in 1973.

Kloepfer adds:

“The breadth and depth of analytics provided by PFaroe, combined with its user-friendly interface, enables our clients to grasp the true enterprise-wide impact of their pension plans. In addition to the comprehensive suite of analytics, PFaroe is nimble enough to capture some of the more interesting aspects of capital market quirks that we are keen on simulating. PFaroe has ticked all the boxes for us.”

About Callan Associates  

Callan was founded as an employee-owned investment consulting firm in 1973. Ever since, Callan has empowered institutional clients with creative, customized investment solutions that are uniquely backed by proprietary research, exclusive data, and ongoing education. Today, Callan advises on nearly $2 trillion in total assets, which makes it among the largest independently owned investment consulting firms in the U.S. Callan uses a client-focused consulting model to serve public and private pension plan sponsors, endowments, foundations, operating funds, smaller investment consulting firms, investment managers, and financial intermediaries. For more information, please visit www.callan.com