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Estimation of
the European
Equity Model

European Bond
and Currency Markets
in Anticipation of
Monetary Union


Volatile Markets
BARRA Models

Part One:
The Case for
the Market Neutral

BARRA announces new
managing director of
research

The BARRA Brainteaser
for Winter 1999

Solution for the Fall 1998
Brainteaser

BARRA announces new managing director of research

A strong commitment to excellence in quantitative research and analysis has always been at the core of BARRA’s business. Since the departure of Ron Kahn, we have searched for a replacement who would strengthen our commitment, and maintain a focus on investment issues of practical concern. During this search, I have acted as the company’s head of Research. Now, I am very pleased to announce that we have appointed Nicolo Torre as BARRA’s new managing director of Research.

Nicolo joined BARRA in 1990 after earning a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Initially Nicolo worked primarily on client consulting projects, and in 1993 was appointed manager of Special Projects. In this role, he conducted a range of advanced research projects for both the equity and fixed income departments at BARRA, which included leading the effort to adapt the US equity model to the modern post-industrial economy. Nicolo was also involved in analyzing the role of Treasury Inflation Protection Securities (TIPS) in strategic asset allocation strategies, where he was able to assess the risk characteristics of a novel asset class which had no track history. Most recently, Nicolo has led the effort to develop BARRA’s Market Impact Model, which provides a forecast of transaction costs prior to trading. The range and scope of these projects amply illustrate the depth and creative insight which Nicolo has brought to BARRA's research. He has a clear appreciation of our clients’ viewpoint, and insight into how BARRA technology is practically applied.

Nicolo inherits a world-class research team that draws on more than twenty years of investment research experience. Together they will continue to offer seasoned, innovative and practical insights into the investment problems facing institutional investors.