Counterparty Radar
Choppy Q1 precedes big Q2 for US rates books
Interest rate and inflation swaps hit notional records, filings show, while mutual funds pile into Euribor and Sonia swaptions
Ucits funds ramped up macro trades in latest data
Counterparty Radar: FX forwards and rate swaps set records last year, with inflation and index CDS books also booming
On buy side, equity index options tilted bullish in Q1
Counterparty Radar: Share of notional in short positions hit new low for US life insurers; mutual funds also reported smaller short books
Goldman gobbles up credit options
Counterparty Radar: Q1 surge comes as US mutual funds and life insurers pile into index CDSs
US buy side flocked to FX forwards and options in Q1
Counterparty Radar: Pimco led $187 billion rise in forwards notional among funds, while TIAA drove insurer activity
US funds become fixed-rate payers in swap market
Counterparty Radar: Since 2021, receiver swaps have dominated US mutual fund positions; in the latest data, the sector’s book flips round
MSIM retools renminbi options wager
Counterparty Radar: US manager rebuilds USD/CNH call book to $15.7bn with strikes closer to spot and cheaper premiums
How Pimco, Capital Group funds bet on falling US rates
Counterparty Radar: Inflation hedge would soften impact for Capital Group; Pimco’s swaptions structures targeted modest decline
SocGen FX forwards trading rockets with US fund managers
Counterparty Radar: Surge in French bank’s FX forward volumes propels it to second spot in Q1 2026
BlackRock uses options to rewire AI bets
Counterparty Radar: Global Allocation Fund shifts from net short to net long derivatives as equity allocation falls
Small bond fund breaks ranks with bumper sovereign CDS bets
Counterparty Radar: Boston Management and Research builds sizeable protection-heavy positions across narrower set of issuers
Mutual funds are trading inflation like it’s 2022 again
Counterparty Radar: USD CPI notionals hit record levels even before March’s jump in energy prices
Two fund managers behind surge in ETF options
Counterparty Radar: New data shows notional for the instrument rivals that of equity index options
Franklin Templeton closes $5bn yen options book
Counterparty Radar: Asset manager’s bets on USD/JPY soured as yen weakened through Q4
Pimco slashes short dollar forwards at year-end
Counterparty Radar: EUR/USD cuts drive $86.5 billion reduction
US mutual funds slash short euro positions at record pace
Counterparty Radar: Pimco cut $4.6bn of EUR/USD puts in Q3 amid changing stance on dollar direction
US insurers turn to short-dated FX forwards as notionals rise
Counterparty Radar: Trades under three months make up nearly 60% of total positions, up from just a third in 2022
Pimco piled into euro put options in Q2
Counterparty Radar: EUR/USD buying spree takes Pimco’s FX options book to $7 billion
Crypto ETFs gatecrash the US Treasury repo market
Counterparty Radar: Volatility Shares tapped $13 billion in repo funding in Q2
ANZ’s FX forwards surge with Pimco
Counterparty Radar: Australian bank becomes top counterparty to the asset manager after huge jumps in cable and EUR/USD
Niche FX crosses pop up in mutual fund options activity
Counterparty Radar: Fund filings reveal unusual FX options crosses – some never repeated, many with unclear strategies