What is Risk adjusted return on economic capital?

RAROC is a risk based profitability measurement for analyzing the risk-adjusted financial performance of the company and for providing a consistent view of the profitability across businesses. RAROC is usually used in banking parlance where companies have to handle the risk of losses.

In business enterprises, risk is traded off against benefits. RAROC is defined as the ratio of risk adjusted return to economic capital. The economic capital is the amount of money which is required to secure the survival of the organization in a worst case scenario; it is a buffer against expected shocks in the market values. Economic capital is a function of credit risk, market risk and operational risk and is often calculated by VaR (Value at Risk). This use of capital based on risk improves the capital allocation across the different functional areas of banks, insurance companies or any other business in which capital is placed at risk for an expected return above the risk-free rate.

Formula:

RAROC = Expected Return / Economic Capital or

RAROC = Expected Return / Value at Risk