It seems premature to describe VAR as "charlatanism." In spite of naysayers, VAR is an essential component of sound risk management systems. VAR gives an estimate of potential losses given market risks. In the end, the greatest benefit of VAR lies in the imposition of a structured methodology for critically thinking about risk. Institutions that go through the process of computing their VAR are forced to confront their exposure to financial risks and to set up a proper risk management function. Thus the process of getting to VAR may be as important as the number itself. These desirable features explain the widespread view that the "quest for a benchmark may be over.