METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OFFSET MATCHING
The trading of interest rate swaps or other interest rate derivatives gives rise to mismatch exposure. This can be offset by a series of FRA trades. Rather than conducting a series of exposure neutral trades, FRAs can be bought or sold for the entire amount of a trader's reset exposure. To hedge the offset trades, a series of IMM FRA trades are conducted. The relative size of the IMM contracts will be determined by the distance in time from the IMM quarterly contract settlement date. A system is disclosed for performing offset trades and IMM hedges. The embodiments allow for non-neutral trading and subsequent hedging brings trading back to a neutral position.
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The present application is a continuation of Ser. No. 11/744,403, filed May 4, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to methods and systems for hedging positions arising from offset matches in trades such as interest rate swaps which give rise to an unpredictable risk over a long period of time.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTIONIn the interest swaps markets, it is commonplace to hedge mismatches using a reset system which reduces outstanding fixing risk. Reset systems buy and sell FRAs (Forward Rate Agreements). Known reset systems include FRA-Cross operated by ICAP Europe plc. FRA-Cross offers traders the possibility of reducing floating rate mismatch risk arising from interest rate swaps and other trades. A further known system is Tlfast, operated jointly by Tullet Liberty Securities and Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This system offsets with daily expiring 3-month futures trades rather than FRAs.
Whilst the known systems provide a degree of risk exposure management, we have appreciated that it is desirable to increase the amount of risk that can be offset through the reset process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention aims to provide a method and system which can provide improved risk management. One aspect of the invention provides a computerised method of reducing risk in derivative trades. The method comprises the steps of: identifying positions to be matched; and unilaterally performing a set of first offset trades to match the identified positions. A hedge is performed on the overall net position by performing a series of at least two corresponding FRA trades having a fixed settlement date. Such a hedge may be a series of IMM FRA trades.
Preferably, the unilateral offset trades are forward rate agreement (FRA) trades. The FRA trades may be offset matches corresponding to positions entered by a trader. Preferably, the IMM trades are calculated with reference to the date of the position to be hedged and the expiry date of IMM contracts, wherein two IMM contracts are traded in a ratio determined by the number of days between the expiry date of the position to be hedged and adjacent IMM settlement dates.
The positions to be hedged may result from mismatches in interest rate swap trades or any other instrument that uses reset. This may include interest rate options and FRA trading and other swaps markets.
A second aspect of the invention provides a computerised method for reset matching. The method comprises receiving positions to be matched from traders. The positions are matched at a match time by unilaterally performing an offset sale or purchase of a FRA corresponding to each position. The offset FRA trades are hedged by performing a series of two or more IMM trades.
Preferably, the method further comprises notifying traders of the unilateral matches and the IMM trades.
A third aspect of the invention provides a computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of: receiving positions to be matched from a trader; unilaterally performing a set of offset trades to match the received positions; and performing a series of hedges on the unilateral offset trades by performing at least two hedge trades having a fixed settlement date in a FRA market.
A further aspect of the invention provides a computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when run on a computer programmed to perform reset matching, cause the computer to perform the steps of: receiving positions to be matched from traders; matching the positions by unilaterally performing an offset sale or purchase of a FRA corresponding to each matched position; and hedging the net position resulting from the offset FRA trades by performing a series of two or more IMM trades.
A still further aspect of the invention provides a computerised trading system for reducing risk generated by derivative trades, in which traders input positions to be matched into the system, comprising: a matching engine for matching positions input from a plurality of trader input devices and unilaterally performing a set of first offset trades to match the identified positions; and a hedge trading engine for performing a series of two or more hedge trades on the net offset position by performing a series of FRA trades having a fixed settlement date.
A yet further aspect of the invention provides a computerised trading system for reset matching, comprising: a matching engine for matching positions received from traders at a match time by unilaterally performing an offset sale or purchase of a FRA corresponding to each matched position; and a hedge engine for hedging the offset FRA trades by calculating and performing a series of IMM trades, wherein the net offset FRA position is hedged by at least two IMM FRA trades.
Embodiments of the invention have the advantage that offset trades can be performed which fully offset the traders' positions without the need for the offset trades to remain neutral. This is made possible by the use of FRA trades having a fixed settlement date, preferably IMM trades, which are used to hedge the net offset position. In most cases, two IMM contracts will be traded, one for the contract before the offset date and one for the period after. The relative size of the two contracts will depend on the proximity of the IMM contract date to the offset date. The IMM FRA market is extremely liquid making it an ideal vehicle for the hedge. Embodiments of the invention have the advantage that they enable traders to offset risk, for example generated from interest rate swap mismatches or other mismatches, more completely that is possible with prior art methods and systems. Embodiments of the invention have the further advantage of allowing for non-neutral trading with subsequent hedging bringing trading back to a neutral position.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In order to understand the invention it is useful to understand the nature of trading risk that can be generated by a trader's activities. One type of commonly traded derivative is the interest rate swap. A standard vanilla swap trades a fixed interest rate against a floating rate and is used to alter exposure to interest rate fluctuations.
A trader will enter into many deals over a trading day and will have a large number of open deals at any one time. Consider the case where the two traders A and B enter into an opposite deal to that of figure the next day, as illustrated in
It would be possible for the traders to hedge out all the cash flows that are generated by these trades. This could be done by buying a series of FRAs (forward rate agreements) to hedge up each mismatch. However, the prices offered for FRA trades towards the end of the deal will be very poor and this is an unattractive option to the trader.
Systems exist which enable traders to hedge out their reset risk efficiently and cheaply. These systems buy and sell mismatches. One known system is FRA-Cross which was operated by ICAP Europe Ltd. In this system every few weeks, a matching run is performed for each currency on the system. The frequency depends on the currency of the FRA with US$ being matched every week, EUR, JPY and GBP every two weeks, and smaller currencies every three weeks. Positions are entered into the systems by traders manually or by pasting from spreadsheets.
The two deals described have been taken in isolation to explain the nature of the mismatch risk which arises, for example, from interest rate swap trades. As traders execute many deals, they will expose themselves on a large number of deals and can construct a table of cash flows that will become due in the future.
The reset matching process operates on the basis of buying and selling FRAs. It is important that the offset process is kept neutral. In other words the traders buy and sell the same amounts. This is illustrated in
However, the process of buying and selling FRAs can give rise to yield curve risk. Curve risk may be understood from
The risk involved may be mitigated by buying International Monetary Market IMM FRAs. This is a hedging process which cushions against risk. The FRAs are opposite to the underlying trade so that a buy trade is hedged by selling IMM FRAs and vice versa. IMM FRAs are a very liquid traded FRA product and are similar in risk profile to interest rate IMM futures that are an exchange-traded product and can be used to hedge against curve risk. Thus, a hedge is performed which hedges the FRA trades against a series of IMM FRA contracts. IMM contracts are FRAs which have a settlement date that corresponds to the standard settlement day for futures traded at the IMM, which in the case of 3 month contracts is on the third Wednesday of March, June, September and December. The IMM trades required are calculated by the system provider based on generated curve risk and that risk is then offset with a series of IMM trades. The IMM trades always match the amount bought with the amount sold. Taking the earlier example, if d, were, say, 31st May, it falls between the March and the June contract dates and two IMM contracts will be bought, one expiring in March and the other in June. The amount of each contract in relation to the overall amount to be hedged may be proportionate simply to the distance to the two contract dates.
The purpose of the hedge trades is to remove risk. Going back to the offset calculation shown in
The IMM hedges thus protect the trader by eliminating curve risk and insulate against the effect of interest rate changes. By providing a series of hedges, the trader is protected by a movement in interest rates between the setting of the RESET curve and the delivery of the trades back to the trader the next day. By trading out of the fixing positions the trader is protecting himself from the movement of short term rates.
In the examples given, the offset hedging applied adhered strictly to the principle that the trader's balance over the period selected must be exactly the same after the offset hedging had been applied. Thus, in the
The effect of this additional hedge is to bring the position back to zero or near zero, so maintaining the requirement that the trader's position must be squared. This approach has the advantage that more risk is removed from the trading book. In the
This approach of unilaterally offsetting the positions has the effect of pushing all the reset risk onto the IMM dates. Graphically, this change in risk is illustrated in
The embodiment described with respect to
The manner in which the required IMM hedge trades are calculated may be better understood from the following worked example and
Thus, to hedge the 500 Buy FRA there must be a Dec IMM sell for 192 Million and a March IMM sell for 296 Million. It will be noted that the total of the IMM trades is 498 M which is not exactly equal to the amount of the FRA being hedged.
To hedge the second FRA will require March and June IMM FRAs to be bought. The amount of the March IMM required is 46 days (the time between 5 May and 20 June)/91 days×500=252 M Buy. Similarly the amount of June is 47/91×500=258 M Buy. Here, the total about bought is 510M.
Thus there is a requirement to sell 192 December, to sell 296 March, to buy 252 March, and to buy 258 June. Thus, the net requirement is Sell 192 December, Sell 44 March and Buy 258 June. Over the period there is a net buy of 22M. Prior Reset matching would require that the buy and sell amounts were equal so that the amount of the buy could only be 236M. Thus, the embodiment described allows a further 22M of risk to be hedged.
The system described may be implemented as a computerised system with traders communicating with a central system via a telecommunications network such as the internet or a dedicated network. In one embodiment the positions are emailed or faxed by traders to the central system. The central system as shown in
The manner in which the system operates may be further understood from
Thus the system described enables traders to reduce mismatch risk by buying or selling FRAs unilaterally for the entire amount of their exposure. These FRAs are then hedged by purchasing two or more IMM FRAs. The result is a synthetic future which hedges the mismatch risk.
The embodiment described may be modified in many ways without departing from the invention which is defined in the following claims. For example, the embodiment may be used with instruments other than the vanilla interest rate swaps described. The embodiment is suitable not only for use with other types of interest rate swaps such as floating—floating swaps or any other instrument the trading of which gives rise to a mismatch resulting in an exposure risk to the trader. The system is suitable for use with any instrument with which reset is used, for example, but not limited to, FRA trading and interest rate options trading.
Claims
1. A computerised method of reducing risk in derivative trades, comprising the steps of:
- identifying positions to be matched;
- unilaterally performing a set of first offset trades to match the identified positions; and
- performing a series of hedge trades on the unilateral offset trades by performing at least two corresponding trades having a fixed settlement date in a FRA market.
2. A computerised method according to claim 1, wherein the offset trades are forward rate agreement (FRA) trades.
3. A computerised method according to claim 2, wherein the FRA trade is an offset match to a corresponding position entered by a trader.
4. A computerised method according to claim 1, wherein the hedge trades are IMM FRA trades.
5. A computerised method according to claim 4, wherein the series of IMM FRA trades comprises two IMM FRA trades each trade having a different settlement date.
6. A computerised method according to claim 4, wherein the series of IMM trades is calculated with reference to the date of the position to be hedged and the expiry date of IMM contracts, wherein two IMM contracts are traded in a ratio determined by the number of days between the expiry date of the position to be hedged and adjacent IMM settlements dates
7. A computerised method according to claim 1, wherein the positions to be hedged result from mismatches in trades in reset markets.
8. A computerised method according claim 7, wherein the positions to be hedged result from trades in interest rate swap markets.
9. A computerised method for reset matching, comprising: receiving from traders, positions to be matched;
- matching the positions at a match time by unilaterally performing an offset sale or purchase of a FRA corresponding to each position; and
- hedging the unilateral offset FRA trades by performing a series of two or more IMM FRA trades.
10. A computerised method according to claim 9 comprising notifying traders of the unilateral matches and the IMM trades.
11. A computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of:
- receiving from a trader positions to be matched;
- unilaterally performing a set of offset trades to match the received positions; and
- performing a series of hedge trades on the unilateral offset trades by performing two or more corresponding trades having a fixed settlement date in a FRA market.
12. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the offset trades are forward rate agreement (FRA) trades.
13. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 12, wherein the FRA trades are offset matches to corresponding positions entered by a trader.
14. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the hedge trade comprises at least two IMM FRA trades.
15. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the at least two IMM FRA trades each have a different settlement date.
16. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the series of IMM trades is calculated with reference to the date of the position to be hedged and the expiry date of IMM contracts, wherein two IMM contracts are traded in a ratio determined by the number of days between the expiry date of the position to be hedged and adjacent IMM settlements dates
17. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the positions to be hedged result from mismatches in trades in reset markets.
18. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the positions to be hedged result from mismatches in interest rate swap trades.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 10, 2014
Publication Date: Aug 7, 2014
Applicant: ICAP MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED (London)
Inventor: Mark Andrew Weingard (Lugano)
Application Number: 14/249,935
International Classification: G06Q 40/04 (20120101);