Talk about a company with the right product at the right time: Quic Financial delivers software programs that help financial institutions calculate investment risk. As banks and insurers face intense pressure to justify risk, this little Vancouver company has found itself in huge demand from the giants of global finance.
Computer calculations for risk have been around since the days of IBM punch cards, but Quic Financial’s innovation lies in developing a platform that allows mathematicians to apply their formulas quickly and efficiently to the financial environment. As CEO Nigel Cairns explains, the result is supercomputer performance from a desktop computer.
Founded in 1998 as Quadrus Financial Technologies, the company received early funding from National Research Council Canada, which at the time deemed it a breakthrough technology for Canada.
What makes Quic products particularly hot today are regulatory requirements that financial institutions keep capital on hand corresponding to the risk of their investments. More specific and timely calculations can decrease the required amount of capital, and with the high cost of capital today that can mean huge savings. Apparently, the financial giants concur: clients include HSBC, Credit Suisse, ABN Amro, Lloyds of London and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
