# Risk Monitoring - Referential Labs

Risk controls that work when you need them. Not after the fact in a post-mortem—but in real-time, before small problems become large losses.

## The Problem

Algorithmic trading systems can lose money faster than humans can react. Without proper risk controls:

- **Runaway losses:** A bug or market dislocation compounds before anyone notices
- **Position concentration:** Correlated bets accumulate across strategies
- **Leverage creep:** Gradual increases in risk exposure go unmonitored
- **Stale kill-switches:** Manual intervention takes too long when it matters
- **Blind spots:** Aggregate risk across strategies isn't visible

## Our Approach

Systematic risk monitoring with configurable alerts and automated response. The platform enforces limits; your team defines what the limits should be and refines them over time.

### Drawdown Monitoring

Track drawdowns at strategy and portfolio level. Alert and act when thresholds are breached.

### Position Limits

Enforce position size, concentration, and sector exposure limits. Prevent drift before it becomes a problem.

### Kill-Switch Integration

Automated response when limits are breached. Halt trading, flatten positions, or disable strategies instantly.

### Anomaly Detection

Statistical detection of unusual behavior. Catch issues that don't trigger hard limits but still warrant attention.

## Configurable Alerts

Set up alerts that match your risk tolerance:

- **Threshold alerts:** Trigger when a metric crosses a defined level
- **Rate-of-change alerts:** Trigger on rapid changes even if absolute levels are acceptable
- **Correlation alerts:** Trigger when strategies become more correlated than expected
- **Anomaly alerts:** Trigger on statistically unusual behavior
- **Heartbeat alerts:** Trigger when expected updates don't arrive

## Automated Response

When alerts fire, take action automatically:

- **Notify:** Send alerts to Slack, email, PagerDuty, or custom webhooks
- **Throttle:** Reduce order frequency or position sizing
- **Halt:** Stop new orders while allowing existing positions
- **Flatten:** Close all positions for a strategy or portfolio
- **Disable:** Take strategies offline entirely

## Risk Dashboards

Real-time visibility into your risk exposure:

- Portfolio-level P&L, drawdown, and exposure
- Strategy-level breakdown with drill-down
- Position-level detail with Greeks (for options)
- Historical trends and limit utilization
- Alert history and response audit trail

## Setting the Right Limits

The platform enforces limits—but setting the right limits requires judgment:

- Limits too tight trigger unnecessary halts and missed opportunities
- Limits too loose don't provide meaningful protection
- Different market regimes may require different limits
- New strategies need limit calibration based on observed behavior

We help you establish initial limits based on your risk tolerance and strategy characteristics, then refine them as you gather real-world data. Risk management is an ongoing practice, not a one-time configuration.

### Get Started

Build risk controls that match your actual risk tolerance. We'll help you configure limits and refine them based on how your strategies behave in practice.

[Contact Us](/content/contact/index.html)

## Frequently Asked Questions

**What risk metrics do you track?**  
We track portfolio-level metrics (drawdown, VaR, exposure, leverage) and strategy-level metrics (P&L, position sizes, concentration, correlation). All metrics are configurable—we help you determine which metrics and thresholds are appropriate for your specific strategies and risk tolerance.

**How does kill-switch integration work?**  
When risk thresholds are breached, we can trigger automated responses: halt new orders, flatten positions, or disable strategies. Integration works via API callbacks to your execution layer or direct broker connections. We help you test kill-switches before you need them in production.

**Can I set different risk limits per strategy?**  
Yes. Each strategy can have its own risk limits, alert thresholds, and kill-switch triggers. You can also set portfolio-level limits that aggregate across strategies. Finding the right limits for each strategy requires observation and refinement.

**Do you support real-time P&L tracking?**  
Yes. We calculate real-time P&L using live market data and your position data. P&L is broken down by strategy, asset, and time period with attribution. Accurate P&L depends on correct position data and market data—we help you validate both.