Markets
There aren’t many people who exclusively trade derivatives these days – buy-side execution desks increasingly work across product silos. As a title that has spent most of its life focusing on derivatives, Risk.net has had to broaden its coverage.
This category is home to trading and execution coverage that ventures beyond derivatives, but retains a focus on interesting, structural issues. Among other topics, you’ll find articles here on repo and funding, bonds and yield curves, front-office technology, operational efficiency, clearing and margining.
FX disruption template paused due to Isda definition clash
GFMA’s close-out framework put on hold as Isda reviews 1998 FX derivatives rule book
Shhh, don’t tell: the struggle to keep skew under wraps
Liquidity recycling by clients has made it more difficult for banks to keep skews quiet
Citi’s single-name CDS book with retail funds doubled in Q1
Counterparty Radar: New trades with PGIM totalling $2.4 billion return Citi to top of dealer rankings
Fleeting volatility vexes trend followers
Jumpy markets give quant firms the jitters as tried-and-tested strategies struggle in 2023
Global Atlantic’s swaptions book surges
Counterparty Radar: KKR-owned firm exploits lower volatility in Q1 as swaptions market for US life insurers grows 17%
PGIM trades reinforce Citi’s credit options stronghold
Counterparty Radar: US retail funds’ aggregate notional drops to lowest levels since late 2020 in Q1
Allianz Life triples index CDS book
Counterparty Radar: US life insurer market’s notional volume doubles in Q1
Pimco returns to sold index CDS growth
Counterparty Radar: Market for US retail funds sheds $5.2 billion in volume in Q1
Deutsche Bank’s swaptions trading with US retail funds soars
Counterparty Radar: Space grows 6% in Q1 as Citi’s book of business also surges
MSIM revived RMB options activity in Q1
Counterparty Radar: Investment firm added $2 billion in dollar/renminbi options, mainly with JP Morgan and StanChart
MassMutual maintains lead in IR swaps market for life insurers
Counterparty Radar: Bank of America heads dealer rankings as sector’s notional drops 1%
Fidelity FX forwards trades propel BofA to top dealer spot
Counterparty Radar: Bank of America leads dealer rankings in Q1 for the first time
Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan lead Risk’s first Dealer Rankings
Dealer Rankings 2023: Analysis of more than 1,000 cuts of Counterparty Radar data offers rare glimpse of sell-side pecking order
IR swaps market for US funds rebounds in Q1
Counterparty Radar: Notional traded by mutual funds, ETFs bounces back to early-2022 levels
MassMutual drives JP Morgan’s FX forwards surge with insurers
Counterparty Radar: Bank’s total values rise 72% in Q4 to crack top 10 dealer rankings for first time since Q2 last year
Fast LPs accuse rivals of maxing out last look response times
Firms with sub-10ms checks complain of losing volumes to slower rivals, prompting one to ditch ECNs
US life insurer index options market hits $1trn mark
Counterparty Radar: Lincoln Financial emerges as top player in Q4 with $43 billion portfolio increase
Allianz Life halves index CDS book in Q4
Counterparty Radar: Move by US market behemoth pushes life insurers’ notional down by almost 40%
Isda survey explores refresh of FX derivatives rule book
Lawyers agree updates to definitions are needed, but some areas of focus may prove controversial
Citi becomes top single-name CDS dealer for US life insurers
Counterparty Radar: New York bank bests Barclays as sector contracts by $340 million at the end of 2022
State Street triples repo book to become top US fund dealer
Counterparty Radar: Pimco trades boost Boston bank as sector volumes hold steady in Q4
Hedge funds’ use of barrier options comes under spotlight
Former traders say Glen Point CEO’s arrest highlights compliance gulf between funds and dealers
Citi catapults to top credit options dealer spot for US funds
Counterparty Radar: Market for mutual funds, ETFs continues to shrink in Q4 as Pimco, PGIM further cut exposures
Some investors see value in beaten-down AT1s
CoCos are trading at a discount on fears that European issuers won’t call the bonds. But buy-siders say this risk is overstated