Does anybody know about the "Vasara" risk platform and the team around it? Is it a good team to join internally, from either the tech or the quant side?
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Quagmire.
@rn PK is the one I am thinking of.
@rn any more info on this?
@qc wondering - what level is the one you speak of? Below the actual owner of the program?
Well I doubt the bank ever got their data systems together, mide | mode |phoenix and data platforms standardized. Still probably using SSIS. If they can't get their data systems together what makes you think they can get their disparate risk systems into one cohesive, cross-asset platform. Yup its a train wreck that most of the smart people have gotten off a few years back --like SH and MR. check their LinkedIn... they are having a productive time. Looks like WF is stuck with DEI hires: TK, BE, and SVB. i predict WFC will hit 70's before 100's.
@d8+1khs6t1bf More than “a bit” for anyone who’s ever met him.
The Vasara project has been going on under different names for 10+ years and many executives have inherited it and then passed it off to another after discovering it's going nowhere fast. Everyone I know on the team talks about it like it's a joke that they know will never get resolved. I think that you might have good job security there because the project just seems to linger around forever. If you have any ambition you'd probably hate the spot but if you wanna just coast and work on an unsolvable problem, might be a good spot, but with the cuts in risk who really knows. Ah also the senior manager on that team is a bit of a autistic pr--k...
Ah yes, vāsara – the Sanskrit word for "day" or "cycle." How fitting that Wells Fargo named a platform after an endless loop of days. Five years in, ten more to go – it's not a migration, it's a cyclical process of perpetual monitoring and re-assessment.
The ancient wisdom of vāsara truly captures the essence: why finish in one day when you can stretch it across thousands of days? Risk management isn't just about managing risk anymore – it's about managing the risk that this project might actually end and we'd all have to find something else to do.
Job security through linguistic prophecy. Namaste. 🙏
They've been "migrating" to Vasara for over 5 years. Maybe itll be completed in another 10
Its a bottomless well of time and resources so you should have job security for a very long time.
Yes, Vasara is Wells Fargo's next-generation strategic risk platform for their Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) division. It's an ambitious greenfield initiative designed to consolidate the bank's disparate risk systems into one cohesive, cross-asset platform
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Key capabilities of Vasara include:
Front-line risk management capabilities for trading desks
Risk calculations for second-line functions
'Books and records' valuations and P&L explanations for Finance
Ticking P&L and risk reporting for trading desks and management
Advanced market risk calculations including full-revaluation VaR
Capital calculations for internal risk management and regulatory requirements like FRTB-SA
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The platform is being developed as a joint venture between Technology and Quantitative teams, with an emphasis on being asset-agnostic to achieve maximum consistency and reusability across different derivative products (rates, FX, credit, equities, commodities)
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- It's comparable to other major banks' platforms like Athena (J.P. Morgan), SecDB (Goldman Sachs), and Quartz (Bank of America)
o evaluate whether it's a good team to join, here are key questions you should ask:
About the Team & Culture:
What's the team size and structure (tech vs. quant split)?
What's the team's reputation internally and their track record?
Who leads the team and what's their background?
What's the work-life balance and on-call expectations?
Technical/Quant Aspects:
What tech stack/methodologies does the platform use?
What types of risk models are you building (market, credit, operational)?
How much greenfield vs. maintenance work?
What's the learning and growth potential?
Strategic Questions:
How critical is this platform to the firm's strategy?
What's the roadmap for the next 1-2 years?
How does this team interact with other parts of the organization?
What resources and budget does the team have?
Career Development:
What are typical career progression paths?
How visible is the team's work to senior leadership?