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Custom-built performance
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VC funds clean up
Investment in clean energy technology is attracting new venture capital money even as the traditional investors, electric utilities, are withdrawing. In the first of a two-part series, Catherine Lacoursière investigates the latest financing trends in…
Credit model meltdown
Dealers are trading increasingly high volumes of bespoke tranches of synthetic credit risk with each other, yet there still appears to be little consensus on the application of credit models. Is there a danger the house of cards may come tumbling down?
Surveying risk management
How is risk management viewed in your company? Are there risks you would like to measure but don''t? Which methodologies are most commonly used? What should the discipline tackle next? Our latest survey reveals all
Distributors have their say
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A quiet revolution
Governments have traditionally kept their limited use of derivatives close to their chests. But some sovereigns are now broadening their mandates to encompass a wider array of risks and they are increasingly turning to the derivatives markets. By Navroz…
Bright forecast for weather derivatives
To attract more corporate end-users, purveyors of weather derivatives are creating new products in search of the perfect hedge, as Catherine Lacoursiere finds
Canada tightens the loopholes
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The plight of permanent capital
Permanent capital vehicles have been touted as a solution for alternative asset managers seeking stable long-term financing. However, the market has all but closed to new business, prompting deal sponsors to rethink the way these vehicles are structured…
Into the tempest
Natural catastrophe risk models suggest that insurers are significantly under-capitalised. Firms are tapping the capital markets for billions of dollars in additional reinsurance capacity, but it may not be enough to avoid damaging rating downgrades…
Burying a problem
As North American power generators prepare for a carbon-constrained world, new coal plants are being built with the option of installing carbon capture and storage technology. And the economics could be about to improve, finds Catherine Lacoursiere
UK market feels the strain
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Burnt by contango
Investors have poured tens of billions of dollars into commodity index products, but some claim the flood of capital has caused structural changes in commodity markets. And as spot prices fall, it could lead to an exodus of cash from these investments…
Kick-off for spot
After years of relying on long-term contracts, LNG suppliers are committing more volumes to the short-term market in hope of exploiting tight fundamentals. Oliver Holtaway explores this new trend
The ups and downs
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Return of a heavyweight
Sustained economic recovery in Japan will probably lead to the end of the country's zero interest rate levels in the third quarter of this year. What impact will this have on risk management and the use of derivatives? And how will it affect the…
A victory for common sense
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The German deficit dilemma
German municipalities are turning to the derivatives market to manage the interest rate risks on their massive deficits. Will these instruments relieve their problems or add to them? Rachel Wolcott investigates
After the storm
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End of the line for mass distribution?
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Life's perilous journey
Guaranteed variable annuity products generate huge profits for US life insurers, but have left firms massively exposed to exotic equity risk. Some companies are now laying off risk via long-dated, highly structured hedges. Not everyone is convinced this…
Commodities Count 2006
The recent swell in energy market participants means the battle for dominance has never been fiercer, but the increased competition means ever-more sophisticated product offerings, finds Stella Farrington
Avoiding prying eyes
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Getting flattened
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