How It Began
Glossary
Conservative bias
A tendency to take safer options even though riskier options would have resulted in better overall returns.Behavioural ecology
The study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behaviour, and the behaviour that enables an animal to adapt to its environment.
Our expertise in psychological risk profiling comes from years of ground-breaking scientific research in behavioural ecology, behavioural economics, risk psychology and human decision-making. Our vast knowledge in these fields is coupled with practical commercial experience gained from delivering consultancy services. We have developed risk tolerance tools for the financial sector and worked with some of the world’s foremost experts in risk analysis and decision-making. This experience has added significantly to our proficiency in risk profiling and has enabled us to develop Oxford Risk Rating.
The Oxford Risk Rating behavioural analysis was devised by Professor Alex Kacelnik, one of Oxford Risk’s founders. The behavioural analysis was initially created for scientific research at the University of Oxford and is based on cognition experiments that assess the ability of animals to make choices that rely on meta-memory. Meta-memory is the ability to ‘know what you know’, and is a hallmark of human cognition. For instance, a sensible person who knows they cannot swim will not be inclined to jump into deep water. The behavioural analysis has evolved into a risk profiling tool that, despite its underlying complex mathematics and rigorous scientific method, is simple to administer and easy to understand.