Feature
Volatility, correlation and skew too
Surviving skew
Credit Institute event: The outlook for high yield
June’s meeting of Credit Institute gave investors the opportunity to discuss the key themes affecting the high yield market, including the Eurozone sovereign crisis and refinancing risk.
Economic concerns keep credit trading activity flat
Normal service appears to be a long way from resuming in credit, as macroeconomic uncertainty continues to grip the financial markets.
German economy under pressure from bank losses and euro crisis
Bond investors have snapped up German Bunds in recent weeks, with Europe’s sovereign debt crisis triggering a flight to quality. But is Germany really the safe haven it appears? Credit explores potential vulnerabilities in the German economy and assesses…
German agency KfW maintains its €75bn issuance target for 2010
The head of capital markets at KfW, Horst Seissinger, explains how building long-term relationships with investors has helped the bank achieve its funding targets even during periods of extreme volatility in the financial markets.
ECB pins hope on new rescue measures to save Eurozone
The commencement of the ECB’s government bond purchase programme and the announcement of an EU loan facility for struggling peripheral countries resulted in an immediate tightening of spreads. Yet uncertainty remains as to whether beneficiaries will be…
Are US and Europe's economies at the point of divergence?
Strengthening fundamentals in the US and continued uncertainty over peripheral European economies have given rise to the notion that the US and Europe are undergoing a decoupling process. Credit looks at what this may mean for the US government bond and…
US Treasury yield movements betray deflation danger
Inflation often accompanies the end of the recovery after a crisis, but while US companies may fear high inflation, banks and investors increasingly see deflation as the more serious risk to the US economy.
Issuance slowdown raises refinancing fears for high yield borrowers
Corporate bond issuance plummeted in May, with issuers and investors wary of the effects of the ongoing sovereign crisis on the credit markets. Faced with an unprecedented refinancing wall, it may be high yield borrowers who suffer most.
BP crisis pushes Big Oil further into deep water
As thousands of barrels of oil continue to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, energy giant BP has seen its bond spreads widen to unprecedented levels. What will be the implications for Big Oil, and can investors factor in tail risks of this magnitude?
Corporates with emerging market operations prove attractive to bond investors
As growth in developing economies – particularly the Bric countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China – outstrips that of the developed world, companies with sizeable emerging market exposure are looking increasingly attractive to bond investors.
German recovery faces constraints
A constrained recovery
Italy’s new structured products landscape
The collapse of Lehman Brothers, a bank that had produced massive amounts of index-linked products for the Italian insurance sector, left retail investors weary of structured investments and led to a big regulatory shake-up. What role can structured…
ETFs: investors’ flexible friends
Exchange-traded funds have proliferated in Europe, offering institutional investors enormous investment choice and liquidity at a low cost. We find out how and why these products are attracting the interest of a diverse range of investors and look at the…
Seeking simplicity
As the Benelux region’s structured product market emerges shaken from the global financial crisis, a focus on education is needed to rebuild investor confidence and to make sure structured products are being sold in an appropriate manner. Clare Dickinson…