CommodityPoint And seminel To Launch New Risk Management Study

Albuquerque, New Mexico—March 15th, 2009—CommodityPoint (www.commodity-point.com), a division of UtiliPoint International, Inc., is partnering with seminel (www.seminel.co.uk), the Energy Trading & Risk Management specialist consultancy, to undertake a new study around risk management at energy and commodity trading firms. The new study is a follow on to the recently completed Changes in Commodities Markets study – (http://www.utilipoint.com/rci/details.asp?ProductID=1176) which showed that risk management is the number one critical business issue facing commodity trading firms today.

“Risk management is now a key concern for commodity trading firms. Not just price risk but credit and counterparty risk, operatonal and regulatory risk,“ reports Dr. Vasey of UtiliPoint. “This new study will review risk management requirements in commodity trading firms.“

According to Paul McLean-Thorne of seminel, “Companies are spending vast amounts of time and money assessing their requirements, both current and anticipated, against the capabilities of the available systems. This study aims to help expedite these processes.“

The study will undertake a detailed review of risk analytics deployed by commodity and energy trading firms and their value to traders under current market conditions. Additionally, the effort will assess the software systems employed to perform those analytics; assess the most important aspects of risk management (not limited to price risk but including regulatory, operational and credit risk) required by traders under current and future market conditions; and assess where the practice of risk management is headed for commodity and energy trading in the future and the subsequent impact on risk management systems vendors and products.

About CommodityPoint
CommodityPoint is a division of leading energy and utilities analyst and consulting firm, UtiliPoint International, Inc. CommodityPoint provides Commodity Trading & Risk Management (CTRM) research, analysis and consulting services. Our services bring insight into business issues, trends, processes and technology, to utilities, energy companies, banks, brokers, funds, investors and vendors that enhance their competitive position and support critical business decisions. CommodityPoint has been formed to bring focus and clarity to the broad array of issues surrounding the wholesale trading of commodities. Our team provides expert analysis of market trends and, in particular, the technologies and applications supporting those that participate in regional or global commodity markets. Our principal analysts, Dr. Gary Vasey and Patrick Reames, bring years of practical experience to their roles. With offices in Europe and the US, and backed by an experienced research team, our organization provides an unparalleled view of the marketplace.

About UtiliPoint® International, Inc.
UtiliPoint is a leader in providing analysis and consulting services to the energy and utility industry. Our 73-year history and over 500 clients worldwide have led us to currently operate as an energy and utility consulting and issues analysis firm. Our staff is comprised of leading utility and energy experts with diverse backgrounds in utility generation, transmission & distribution, retail markets, mergers and acquisitions, new technologies, venture capital, information technology, outsourcing, renewable energy, regulatory affairs, and international issues.

About seminel
seminel is a specialist Energy Trading & Risk Management (ETRM) business and IT consultancy that works with companies in the Energy Industry to unlock the value in their IT systems. The company is involved in ETRM strategy, package analysis and solution implementations as well as providing specialist advice to companies embarking on implementing ETRM solutions.

seminel enables companies in the Energy market to optimize expenditure by helping them link their business needs and goals to their processes and systems. seminel also partners with technology companies to enable their systems to deliver maximum benefit to their users. Consequently seminel has unrivalled first-hand experience of the ETRM market, assisting both users and package vendors as well as generalist IT consultancies in a variety of situations.

Paul McLean-Thorne, a Director at seminel, will be participating in the project. Paul has been involved with ETRM for over 20 years at many levels: from developing ETRM strategies and visions to the hands-on evaluation and deployment of ETRM solutions. Paul speaks at Energy Industry conferences and seminars and also publishes white papers on the Energy market and IT e.g.
http://www.seminel.co.uk/documents/Energy%20risk%20article%20energy%20tr...

A prospectus for the study is available on request from Gary Vasey at gvasey@utilipoint.com or Paul McLean-Thorne at pmt@seminel.co.uk.