Capital Market Risk Advisors (CMRA) is the pre-eminent financial advisory firm specializing in risk management, risk governance, derivatives, valuation, mbs, structured finance (including CDO's, CLO's, SIV's, ABCP, Auction Rate Preferred), hedge funds, best practice benchmarking, due diligence, and litigation support.

We offer practical solutions honed by the experience of servicing hundreds of clients.

CMRA was founded in 1994 by Leslie Rahl who has 35 years experience in the financial markets. Ms. Rahl was previously the Co-head of Citibank's Derivatives Group and served as a Director of ISDA for 5 years. As capital markets veterans with over seventy years combined experience, our principals have extensive expertise with respect to all types of derivatives, mortgage-backs, collateralized debt obligations and other complex and structured securities and transactions.  With support from a network of quants and market practitioners, we are well-equipped to handle large and complex engagements.

• Emerging Issues in Credit Default Swaps (CDS) 4/23/08 webinar
     Download CDS slides
• Article in Feb 08 AIMA journal re complexity, opacity and illiquidity
     Download article
• The Buy Side Risk Managers Forum published “Risk Principles for Buy Side Risk Management”
     “Click Here” for “Risk Principles for Asset Managers”
     “Click Here” for Press Release

• "Breaking the Buck". CMRA was an expert for a major asset management company which would have "broken the buck" in 1994 as a result of the mortgage backed "kitchen sinks" in their portfolio, had they not bailed out their funds.
• We don’t like to say we told you so, but, as you can see from the article we published in the AIMA Journal in 2005, Risk Management: An Evolution From “Gut” to “Quant” to “Wisdom”, the risk issues confronting the markets today were foreseeable and the mechanisms for dealing with them existed.

Selected Assignments

• Drafted and reviewed risk management policies and practices for numerous traditional and alternative asset managers and recommended improvements.
• Prepared expert reports and/or testified in numerous high-profile cases involving complex financial instruments and “meltdowns” including the Russian debt crisis, the “Columbus Day mortgage meltdown,” Sumitomo Copper, Minmetals, Askin, various market timing cases, etc.
• Served as independent consultant to major broken dealer appointed as part of SEC enforcement settlement.
• Click here to see more Selected Assignments.

Upcoming Speeches

• Future of Fixed Income- Lessons Learned About How to Think About and Model Fixed Income Credit Derivatives
  June 18th
• Valuing Assets When Liquidity Drives Up: Common Sense vs. Risk Analytics
  June 17th
  Gaim International – Monaco  
   
• Risk Budgeting: Evaluating Risk Allocations in an Endowment Portfolio
  June 12th
  JP Morgan – New York  
   
• Financial Risk – Known, knowns, known, unknowns and unknown unknowns…
  June 3rd
• What Lessons Hedge Fund Managers and Institutional Investors Should Learn From the Subprime Crisis
  June 5th
  Global Absolute Return Congress - London  
   
• Risk Practices for Asset Managers
  May 16th
  FundFire - New York