Case Study: Virginia Commonwealth University teaches financial risk analysis with Palisade @RISK

Students at Virginia Commonwealth Use @RISK to Analyze Amazon and FedEx’s Financial Risk

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) used Palisade’s @RISK software in its “Managing Financial Risk” course to help students analyze financial risk in real-world companies such as Amazon and FedEx. The challenge was to teach students how to apply Value at Risk (VaR), stress analysis, and sensitivity analysis to balance-sheet and income-statement data, while also understanding the role of statistical distributions and correlation in risk modeling.

Palisade’s @RISK enabled students to fit historical data to distributions, run Monte Carlo simulations, and compare correlated versus uncorrelated inputs to identify the most damaging drivers of net income and net worth. The result was a clearer understanding of key risk factors—such as property, plant and equipment, revenue, and cost of goods sold—and how they affect company risk profiles. The analysis also supported qualitative risk mapping and classroom debate, giving students a practical, measurable framework for enterprise risk management.

Virginia Commonwealth University

Etti Baranoff

Associate Professor, Insurance and Finance