Why Clients Choose CMRA
For over 30 years, we have offered almost 500 clients unique perspectives based on years of hands-on experience in the evolution of derivatives, risk management, hedge funds, risk governance, structured securities and other complex financial instruments and capital markets issues. CMRA’s global practice has serviced hundreds of clients on six continents. We have worked closely with many of the world’s leading law firms on a wide range of challenging assignments and have advised a full array of buy-side and sell-side financial institutions in addition to non-financial corporations, governments, and industry groups.
The synergy between our advisory and litigation practices helps us provide advisory clients with insight about what can and does go wrong and provide litigation clients with insight about prevailing industry standards.
Banks & Broker Dealers
CMRA has consulted to many banks and brokers/dealers around the world on both proactive projects and investigation/litigation support matters. Projects for banks and broker/dealers have ranged from risk management, to governance, to valuation, to capital market strategy. The breadth of our client base (including hedge funds, money managers, funds of funds, investment banks, commercial banks, derivatives companies, institutional investors) as well as geographic diversity (we have clients on 6 continents) gives us a unique cross industry perspective.
CMRA's principals have been involved on the front line of every facet of the banking, broker/dealer, and insurance company businesses – from trading to risk management to new product development to origination to documentation to legal issues.
Insurance Companies
CMRA has assisted many insurance companies on issues ranging from corporate strategy planning and analysis to risk budgeting. Other services include: risk attitude and appetite statements, asset liability advisory, new product risk assessment, and variable annuity hedging.
Asset Managers
CMRA has advised traditional asset managers on issues spanning the gamut from best practices, risk management and risk governance, and due diligence to portfolio construction, stress testing, valuation, and quantitative modeling. CMRA has published literature on both traditional and alternative asset management in a wide range of publications.
CMRA has consulted to many mutual fund complexes and traditional asset managers on issues ranging from best practice to risk branding to VAR to valuation.
CMRA helped create "Risk Practices for Mutual Fund Trustees (2010)" , "Risk Principles for Asset Managers (2009)", and "Risk Standards for Institutional Investors and Investment Managers (1996)."
+ Selected Assignments
- Review of risk management and risk governance for a large asset manager
- Advised Mutual Fund Directors Forum on "Risk Principles for Fund Directors"
- CMRA assisted the Mutual Fund Directors Forum in the creation of "Risk Principles for Fund Directors"
- Conducted Risk Governance Survey of 140 financial institutions
- Advised the Buy-Side Risk Managers in the creation of "Risk Practices for Asset Managers", published February 2008.
- Co-chaired the IAFE's Investor Risk Committees Best Practices group
- Conducted a Fund of Funds Best Practice review for The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA)
- Conducted a multi-client study on buy-side risk management.
- Served as Technical Advisors and Coordinators to the Risk Standards Working * Group in the development and release of the Risk Standards for Institutional Investment Managers and Institutional Investors
- CMRA has written expert reports and testified on best practices in derivatives, repos, MBS and governance
Hedge Funds
CMRA has advised hedge funds on issues ranging from best practices and risk branding to stress testing and valuation. CMRA is an active member of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Ms. Rahl was on the Board of 100 Women in Hedge Funds for its first three years and chaired its Philanthropy Committee.
Law Firms, Legal Departments, REgulators
For more than 20 years, CMRA has been called upon by many of the world’s leading law firms, legal departments, and regulatory bodies to provide expert services in investigations, litigation, and pre-litigation disputes. As true experts who have extensive hands on experience and whose practice is balanced between sharing our expertise with clients who are trying to avoid/solve problems and those who are litigating/investigating problems, we are uniquely qualified to provide advice and testimony.
CMRA has been involved in investigations and disputes arising from most of the financial meltdowns in the past 20 years. We have prepared expert reports and/or testified in numerous high profile litigation matters involving complex financial instruments and have also participated in several high profile investigations.
Institutional Investors
CMRA has worked with many plan sponsors, endowments and foundations on a wide range of issues from risk budgeting to creation of investment policies to manager selection to due diligence. Ms. Rahl was a trustee of the $10B MIT Endowment and a member of the Advisory Board of the $120B NYS Common Retirement Fund.
+ Selected Assignments
- Risk Budgeting
- CMRA has advised Institutional Investors on all aspects of Risk Budgeting.
- Leslie Rahl is the editor of Risk Budgeting, a New Approach to Investing published in 2000.