Pension funds face intraday margin calls from anxious clearers

Some banks stick with T+1 margin posting, but others balk at funding cost and counterparty risk

What is a clearing bank to do when some of its biggest customers become one of its biggest headaches? Large pension funds use huge volumes of interest rate swaps to hedge rates volatility, making them valuable clients for any trading desk. But they are now facing their first sustained cycle of rate rises since the advent of clearing mandates following the 2008 financial crisis.

In the UK, monetary tightening was compounded by alarm over fiscal policy to produce turbulence in gilt markets