In early October, as financial markets swung wildly — and mostly downward — software company Axioma set out in a new direction. Known for a decade as a supplier of portfolio-analysis and optimization systems to major financial institutions, the New York–based firm announced its first foray into the risk management market with a product dubbed Robust Risk Models.

That may strike a responsive chord with prospective investment management customers at a time when risk concerns are clearly front and center. The company also has the luxury of a financial cushion: $22.5 million raised in a financing led by New York private equity firm Salmon River Capital at the end of last year. But how much hope does Axioma or any other seller have, considering that the community of buyers is hopelessly depressed?

TABB Group, a Westborough, Massachusetts–based research firm focused on financial...