The monolith and the markets
Getting $15 trillion in assets on to a single risk-management system is a huge achievement. Is it also a worrying one?
EAST WENATCHEE, in Washington state, is known for its apples, not for its financial services. But in a data centre nestled between the orchards and hills, a cluster of 6,000 computers oversees the assets of over 170 pension funds, banks, endowments, insurance companies and others. Whirring around the clock, the machines look at what interest-rate changes, or bank collapses, or natural disasters could mean for trillions of dollars of assets. Around the world, 17,000 traders have the computers’ assessments of these risks at their fingertips when they buy or sell assets.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "The monolith and the markets"
From the December 7th 2013 edition
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