Saturday, August 4, 2012

How An Option Calculator Can Benefit Your Business

By Brad Wilson


All industries are regulated by numerous legal and compliance requirements that pertain specially to their specific industry . Few sectors require such sharp management practices as the financial industry, particularly those who look after the finance of their clients. Although financial markets have always been prone to wide fluctuations and have been somewhat volatile since their beginning, they are now even more so because of the events of the past few years. It is, therefore, obviously essential that such organisations invest in and rely on the most appropriate set of tools to manage such areas as foreign exchange, interest rate fluctuations and other financial risks effectively .

Financial Management - Option Calculator Technology

Technology plays a very pivotal and central part in financial management as it does in all areas of our lives . And, there can be the perception that the technology needed to manage finance must be very complex and expensive because financial management is, in itself, a highly technical and complex business . This does not necessarily follow, however. Much depends on the size of the organisation where technology may vary from the simple but effective spreadsheet for the small business to highly intricate systems for very large businesses . For those in between, the small to medium sized businesses (SME's), an effective in-between solution is likely to be required . Calculators are, of course, integral to financial management and an option calculator can prove invaluable for calculating risk in order for it to be effectively managed . So, when choosing an options calculator, what features should you look out for ?

An Option Calculator - Its Essential Features

Data needs to be captured first in order for it to be calculated . Your option's solution should allow you to input a number of useful parameters such as start and end dates, face value, strike rate and the option type i.e. whether it is a call or a put and a variety of currency pair options . Additionally, it should support multiple exercise styles such as European and American . On completing these parameters, the task of calculating an option's fair value according to its mark to market status, maturity date and its likely exposure to currency fluctuations should then be available at the touch of a button . Other beneficial features that should be included are :

The ability to provide reports. A clear picture of an option's position can be gained at any time through the insight offered by concise reports. In turn, this insight provides the basis on which good decisions can be made .

Industry compliant. In order to safeguard your own, your business's and your clients interests, ensure you choose an options solution that complies with accounting standards, audit requirements, current financial policy and any other industry regulations .

While different solutions with varying features are offered by individual technology suppliers, it is important to choose one who, in addition to understanding portfolio and risk management issues, is conversant with financial markets. By doing this, as well as reducing your risk, you are also ensuring their help will make your management and accounting processes run more smoothly .




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