Why HQS?

We reveal the story behind your data -- to drive better business decisions by bridging the gap between it and your business processes and strategies.

We create initiatives (and provide the quantitative tools) to answer senior management concerns, leverage unused data, and provide strategic solutions.

With our years of experience at major financial institutions, we deeply understand what problems quantitative processes can best solve and how to implement strategies to improve business effectiveness and efficiency.

We have proven success in translating regulatory guidance into the policy and designing, implementing, and maintaining model risk management framework for both the second (risk) and the third lines (audit).

Through hands-on management of over 100+ financial models used in risk management and investment, we have board perspectives and provide a holistic modeling process.

With HQS, you will now have access to the expertise and tools that the very largest financial institutions routinely use, and will be tailored to your institution's needs.

Meet the Founder

Jenny Yu is a financial modeling executive with over 25 years of successful global experience in helping senior management make better business decisions using her expert analysis and recommendations. Having worked with major global financial institutions, Jenny has the unique ability to reveal the real story behind the data, bridge the gap between data/algorithms and business processes, and leverage this insight to provide strategic solutions for the stakeholders. Jenny concentrates her practice on model risk governance and financial modeling. Jenny previously served as the director of model risk management at the Federal Home Loan Bank Pittsburgh, where she was responsible for designing and implementing a model risk management framework from the ground up. She led the development of validation models and automated in-house benchmarking processes that have increased benchmarking coverage from less than 5% to full coverage on the balance sheet. She expanded the frequency from every three years to annually or quarterly, or as needed. The framework substantially improved business effectiveness, efficiency, transparency (understanding black boxes), and flexibility while reducing risk and cost. Prior to that, Jenny built the team from scratch and established the model risk audit program covering hundreds of models used in investment strategies and risk management at BNY Mellon. The framework included testing highly impacted models and communication with the recommendations and model risk/limitation to key stakeholders. Jenny was the 2013 global innovation winner for her idea of connecting the dots and balancing risk and return. Before BNY Mellon, Jenny had been a statistician for seven years at PNC. She developed and validated quantitative models used in credit risk management, investment analysis, and corporate strategy. Jenny has a master's degree with double majors in Quantitative Finance and Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Team Experience and Success Stories

High interest rate modeling challenge

A bank usually uses a model to estimate the expected return when purchasing a fixed-income instrument. We identified the critical model assumptions and their impact on model output including the expected returns. The returns from different interest rate models diverge dramatically due to the rapid increase in interest rates. We communicated the finding with management and proposed solutions, such as considering a model risk cushion in the pre-trade guideline.

Award-winning idea to help increase profitability

Created an award-winning idea to help the business increase profitability. Most banks have estimated sophisticated risk measurement for regulatory requirement. We were able to help one bank to connect the dots, balance risk/cost and return/profit, improve business efficiency and profitability, and won the 2013 BNY Mellon “Global Innovation Award".

True stories
behind data

Revealed the true stories behind data: what data can tell us and what it cannot. The bank did not have sufficient mortgage default data by itself, so it used nationwide data. The model from the national data could reasonably help the bank rank-order the riskiness of loans. But when the bank estimated credit loss CECL, it needed to tune the probability of default or loss given default to ensure they reflected bank's portfolios. There is a similar application for mortgage prepayments.

“In addition to her exceptional technical skills in modeling and quantitative analytics, I’m impressed by Jenny’s people skills. She has used her excellent communication and relationship-building abilities to build high-functioning teams and achieve outstanding results in three major financial institutions."

Shaheed Dil

Senior Managing Director

Protiviti

Advisory Team

Dedication. Expertise. Passion.

Our advisory team comprises seasoned financial experts who possess a wealth of experience in the industry. With a strong commitment to integrity and professionalism, we provide our clients with comprehensive and personalized financial solutions to help them achieve their long-term financial goals.

Dawne Hickton

Dawne Hickton is the Chair and CEO of Cumberland Additive, Inc., an innovative specialty metals additive manufacturing company specializing in new technologies for printing hard metals for aerospace, space and defense. She is also former Jacobs Corporate Executive Vice President & President of Critical Mission Solutions focused on providing support to NASA and other aerospace entities. Prior to joining Jacobs, Dawne served as the CEO of Pittsburgh-based RTI International Metals working with the metal industry and unions to provide titanium to the government and private companies. During her time as CEO at RTI International Metals, Inc., she was twice recognized by STEMconnector, a consortium of businesses that connects thought leaders on issues related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). She was named one of the top 100 CEO's in STEM and, separately, she was named one of the top 100 Women in STEM. She is the founder of the international organization, Women in Titanium which provides mentoring and scholarships to young women in the material sciences. Dawne is a Trustee for the University of Pittsburgh and is a past Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Dawne earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh and is a graduate of the University of Rochester. She is married with six children and resides in Pittsburgh, PA.

Sharon Feng

Dr. Sharon Feng is the Director of Corporate Science and TechnologyPPG Industries, a leading global manufacturer of high performance materials. In her current role, she leads the global flagship R&D center in the US as well as a network of labs across Europe, Asia and South America. Her responsibilities include developing and executing innovation strategies that enable differentiated business growth and ensure sustainable technological leadership in targeted market segments. Recently, she has been responsible for the digital transformation of R&D functions by strategically applying AI and Machine learning to improve innovation efficiency as well as speed to market. In addition, she has been a member of the board of directors for Koppers Holding LLC, a publicly traded mid cap carbon material company for 13 years, where she chairs the Sustainability Committee and serves as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance committee as well as the Management Development and Compensation Committee.

Before joining PPG, Sharon had more than 20 years of leadership experience working in the materials industry with diverse roles in R&D, marketing, business development, open innovation and other corporate functions in multi-nationals such as Covestro and Lanxess. Between 2012 and 2018, she also served as the executive director and Sr. Associate Dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Lab. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from MIT.

Steve Lackey

Mr. Lackey is a retired executive with BNY Mellon whose career focused on institutional clients, risk management, M&A and shareholder relations. He spent one third of his time working overseas, including six years managing the Bank’s activities in Asia as Chairman of BNY Mellon in Asia Pacific. . He also served on the Board and Audit Committee of Wing Hang Bank.

In retirement he has focused on education, particularly related to global issues. He is an adjunct

professor with Chatham University teaching Global Business. He serves on the national board for the World Affairs Councils of America, the board of The Neighborhood Academy and chairs the board for the Cooper Siegel Library.