SAS Picks Up Energy Risk-Management Firm

SAS Institute Inc. made another move Tuesday to strengthen its vertical risk-management offerings with the acquisition of RiskAdvisory, a Canadian company that provides risk-management consulting and software for the energy industry.

The move comes six months after SAS acquired another risk management company, OpRisk Analytics, which specialized in operational risk management for the financial services industry.

By acquiring RiskAdvisory, Cary, N.C.-based SAS gets two software products, Energy BookRunner and TradeBlotter. These products will be added to SAS’ own risk management platform, SAS Risk Dimensions.

The Energy BookRunner solution is designed to handle both the financial and volumetric risks faced by both energy companies and energy trading desks. It includes support for front-office deal-capture and position-management, accommodates a range of trading instruments, and offers a variety of risk management and position tracking reports. TradeBlotter is an add-in, browser-based tool for tracking and trading energy. It allows users to rapidly capture deals, review real-time positions and mark-to-market information, SAS officials in Cary, N.C. said.

Users can choose what pieces of SAS RiskAnalytics they want and extend the platform to match their own needs.

SAS will establish a division that will operate from the current RiskAdvisory headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. RiskAdvisory’s four principals, all former energy traders, will join SAS and the division will manage RiskAdvisory’s general operations, consulting and software expertise including its 15 employees. SAS Canada will support Energy BookRunner and TradeBlotter, and both offerings will be renamed to fit within the SAS family of products.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. ´