case-study
ATB Financial: Automating Hedge Effectiveness Testing with FINCAD

HIGHLIGHTS

Client: ATB Financial 

ATB_logo

Objectives

  • Eliminate manual work around hedge effectiveness testing 
  • Gain ability to run hedge effectiveness testing on complex portfolios

Requirements

  • Cloud-based solution
  • Solution provider with proven experience

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“We value FINCAD’s expertise and would not hesitate to contact them for future needs as they arise.”

Lisa Bradley, Vice President Finance, Corporate Controller, ATB

 


 

Background

Based in Alberta, Canada, ATB Financial is a world-class financial institution with over 300 branches and agencies, more than 5,000 team members and $55.1 billion in assets[1]. The financial services provider offers trusted retail and commercial banking, credit cards, digital banking, wealth management, and investment management services.

Challenges 

ATB’s challenges centered on hedge effectiveness testing. To handle this testing, a regression VBA macro in Excel was used that was designed by an external consultant. The problem was that the macro had been built 10 years prior, and was unable to handle two of the more complex portfolios.  As a result, ATB began their search for automated technology able to handle these unique portfolios, as well as future complex additions.

Solution 

ATB’s management spoke with their advisors who recommended FINCAD as a market-leading solution. “We were drawn to FINCAD because it is a cloud-based solution,” commented Lisa Bradley, Vice President Finance, Corporate Controller at ATB. “The Excel model we had been using was a resource drain and taxed our system to the point that we had to run the program overnight in order to be able to do our day jobs.”

Results 

Significant Time Savings: Hedge effectiveness testing once took two days of work to complete, but now it takes mere minutes using FINCAD. Plus, because FINCAD is an automated system, once it was set up for ATB, it was then able to run automatically without any impact on ATB’s workflow or technology systems.

Access to Expertise: Hedge effectiveness testing involves understanding statistics, which is an area that does not align with the accounting department’s primary expertise. Because of this, they have valued having access to FINCAD’s team of professionals for ongoing support. 

Staying Relevant: “We are confident that, as time goes by and new functionality and standards are introduced, and logic is enhanced, FINCAD will remain more relevant than the Excel model, which was built more than a decade ago,” said Bradley.

Looking Ahead

ATB is currently in the process of deepening their relationship with FINCAD. Plans are underway for adding new internal forecasting and risk assessment capabilities leveraging FINCAD. “We value FINCAD’s expertise and would not hesitate to contact them for future needs as they arise,” said Bradley.
 

 


[1] As of March 31, 2020