How to use the site

Risky Finance is based around the interactive data visualisation tools accessible from the top menu bar. Currently there are five such tools available to subscribers: – banking, sovereigns, corporate bonds, equities and UK municipals. Others are currently in development.

Use the controls to change the type of chart, and filter the data in other ways.
Use the controls to change the type of chart, and filter the data in other ways.
Click on the top menu to reach the visualisation pages
Click on the top menu to reach the visualisation pages
Every visualisation tool has a chart window, explanatory text, and a set of controls at the bottom.
Every visualisation tool has a chart window, explanatory text, and a set of controls at the bottom.
Choosing a chart

Once you have loaded a visualisation page, the choice of chart is important. Do you want to look at a single bank, or compare a single metric across a sample of banks? Do you want to compare different countries’ sovereign debt ratios, or look at the borrowing costs of a single country at different maturities? Are you interested in the high-yield bond performance within a sector, or across sectors?

Histograms group the performance of index members in buckets, coloured according to sector. Mousing over the chart provides further detail.
Histograms group the performance of index members in buckets, coloured according to sector. Mousing over the chart provides further detail.
Riskmaps provide an overview of complex institutions like banks, showing hierarchies of risks and exposures along with their relative size.
Riskmaps provide an overview of complex institutions like banks, showing hierarchies of risks and exposures along with their relative size.
Treemaps give an overview of an index, arranged by sectors, sizes according to market capitalisation and colours denoting a metric such as price change or yield.
Treemaps give an overview of an index, arranged by sectors, sizes according to market capitalisation and colours denoting a metric such as price change or yield.
Choosing data and how to filter it

For the larger datasets in equities or credit, you will need to choose an index containing the data you want to view. For displays that require a lot of data points, further filtering might be necessary, such as industry sector, company, or country. Some controls are only activated after higher level filtering has been chosen.

For a quick comparison of a metric across institutions, use a column chart, selecting either a single point in time, or percentage change between dates.
For a quick comparison of a metric across institutions, use a column chart, selecting either a single point in time, or percentage change between dates.
For yield curves, first you need to choose an index and then a sector (for credit) or a country (for sovereign).
For yield curves, first you need to choose an index and then a sector (for credit) or a country (for sovereign).
Keep refining the filtering choices to compare the credit curves of particular companies, using individual bond data, or compare the curves of a single issuer at different times.
Keep refining the filtering choices to compare the credit curves of particular companies, using individual bond data, or compare the curves of a single issuer at different times.
Export your data

As a paying subscriber, you have the ability to export the data for a chart once you have selected it. Look for the ‘CSV download’ button next to the chart.

Want to find out more?

If you aren’t yet a subscriber, visit our plan page and get started. If you are already a subscriber and have further questions, contact us.