Equity derivatives
Putting the smile back on the face of derivatives
Cross-asset quadratic Gaussian models have been limited in the scale of their implementation by the difficulty in ensuring the correct drift conditions to omit arbitrage. Here, Paul McCloud shows how to exploit the symmetries of the functional form to…
The index artists
The past 12 months have posed a new set of challenges for the indexing and exchange-traded fund markets. But as delegates to the Art of Indexing Summit USA in New York heard on October 28, providers are adapting to the changed landscape. Now it is simply…
Open for hedges
India’s insurance sector has long been hamstrung by its inability to use equity derivatives. This is about to change with the country’s insurance regulator set to relax the rules on derivatives. But are India’s insurers ready for synthetic instruments?…
Sponsored statement: Sunrise brokers - a winning formula
Launched in 1991, Sunrise Brokers is a dominant force in the derivatives space. In this year's Risk interdealer rankings, Sunrise takes first place - for the third year running - in equity derivatives and dominates structured derivatives. Claude Amar,…
Equity derivatives house - UBS
The past 12 months have been unfeasibly tough for UBS, as they have for nearly all financial institutions in Asia. But the bank has distinguished itself during this period by constantly striving to improve client service, no matter how hostile the…
A state of flux
Efforts to improve the risk architecture for the derivatives business in Asia appear more muted than elsewhere, with many regulators in the region taking a wait-and-see approach towards central counterparty. But, as Duncan Wood reports, there are some…
Editor's letter
This issue marks the fifth anniversary of Structured Products magazine. To commemorate this landmark, we have looked back over every issue since our launch and constructed a timeline featuring some of the most interesting stories and events, as well as…
Power to the investors
Bruised investors are finally calling the shots in the hedge fund market as they seek to reallocate capital. With many now demanding greater liquidity, transparency and security, more of the business is likely to migrate to managed accounts. By Peter…
The end for ETNs?
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers has hammered home the importance of counterparty risk, fuelling dire predictions for the future of exchange-traded notes. But while some product issuers are retreating from the area, others remain optimistic. By Mark…
Structural shifts
The volume of structured products has declined dramatically over the past 12 months. With equity prices collapsing, some of those that are still investing are focusing on capital-guaranteed, income-generating structures. But do these products represent…
Vanilla option replication for ALM shortfall risk
Technical papers
Smile dynamics III
In two articles published in 2004 and 2005 in Risk, Lorenzo Bergomi assessed the structural limitations of existing models for equity derivatives and introduced a new model based on the direct modelling of the joint dynamics of the spot and the implied…
Gambling on dividends
Dividends have caused sizeable losses for dealers and investors over the past few months, as a precipitous fall in expectations has hit structured product issuers and those who participated in dividend swaps. Mark Pengelly investigates
Higher and higher
Volatility