 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2008) |
The term asset swap has a number of different meanings:
In financial accounting, an asset swap is an exchange of tangible assets for intangible assets or vice versa. Since it is a swap of assets, the procedure takes place on the active side of the balance sheet and has no impact on the latter in regard to volume. As an example, a company may sell equity and receive the value in cash, thus increasing liquidity.
A company often utilizes this method when in need for money to invest (internal financing) or to pay off debts.
In finance, the term asset swap has a particular meaning. [1] When one refers to an asset swap, one has in mind the exchange of the flow of payments from a given security (the asset) for a different set of cash flows. An example of this is where an institution swaps the cash flows on a U.S. Government Bond for LIBOR minus a spread (say 20 basis points). Such swaps usually have stub periods in order to bring the chronology of the cash flows into line with that of the underlying bond.
An asset swap enables an investor to buy a fixed rate bond and then hedge out the interest rate risk by swapping the fixed payments to floating. In doing so the investor retains the credit risk to the fixed-rate bond and earns a corresponding return. The asset swap market was born along with the swap market in the early 1990s, and continued to be most widely used by banks which use asset swaps to convert their long-term fixed rate assets to floating rate in order to match their short-term liabilities (depositor accounts). [2] The asset swap market is over-the-counter (OTC), i.e., not traded on any exchange.
An asset swap is the swap of a fixed investment, like a bond that will yield guaranteed coupon payments, for a floating investment, i.e. an index. It has a similar structure to a plain vanilla swap, but the underlying of the swap contract is different. [3]
There are several variations on the asset swap structure with the most widely traded being the par asset swap. Other types include the market asset swap and the cross-currency asset swap. The most common and standard one is par asset swap.
A par asset swap is really two separate trades:
This transaction is shown in Figure 1. The fixed spread to Libor paid by the asset swap seller is known as the asset swap spread and is set at a break-even value so the net value of the sale of the bond plus the swap transaction is zero at inception.
For the purpose of the following, we assume we have constructed a market curve of Libor discount factors where z(t) is the price today of $1 to be paid at time t.
From the perspective of the asset swap seller, they sell the bond for par plus accrued interest ("dirty price"). The net up-front payment has a value 100-P where P is the full price of the bond in the market. Both parties to the swap are assumed to be AA bank credit quality and so these cash flows are priced off the Libor curve. We cancel out the principal payments of par at maturity. For simplicity we assume that all payments are annual and are made on the same dates.
As is standard for swaps, the break-even asset swap spread A is computed by setting the present value of all cash flows equal to zero.
1. From the perspective of the asset swap seller the present value is:
2. We then solve for the asset swap spread A such that the present value is zero.
On a technical note, when the asset swap is initiated between coupon dates, the asset swap buyer does not pay the accrued interest explicitly. Effectively, the full price of the bond is at par. At the next coupon period the asset swap buyer receives the full coupon on the bond and likewise pays the full coupon on the swap. However, the floating side payment, which may have a different frequency and accrual basis to fixed side, is adjusted by the corresponding accrual factor. Therefore, if we are exactly halfway between floating side coupons, the floating payment received is half of the Libor plus asset swap spread. This feature prevents the calculated asset swap spread from jumping as we move forward in time through coupon dates.
In the market asset swap, the net upfront payment is zero. Instead the notional on the Libor side equals the price of the bond and there is an exchange of notionals at maturity.
In corporate transactions, an asset swap refers to a deal where two companies swap businesses of equivalent value with each other.
In 1995, the British house building and construction companies Tarmac and Wimpey announced an asset swap whereby Wimpey acquired all of Tarmac's housing, and in return, Tarmac received Wimpey's construction and minerals divisions. [4]
In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more markets – striking a combination of matching deals to capitalise on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which the unit is traded. When used by academics, an arbitrage is a transaction that involves no negative cash flow at any probabilistic or temporal state and a positive cash flow in at least one state; in simple terms, it is the possibility of a risk-free profit after transaction costs. For example, an arbitrage opportunity is present when there is the possibility to instantaneously buy something for a low price and sell it for a higher price.
In finance, a bond is a type of security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder (creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to provide cash flow to the creditor. The timing and the amount of cash flow provided varies, depending on the economic value that is emphasized upon, thus giving rise to different types of bonds. The interest is usually payable at fixed intervals: semiannual, annual, and less often at other periods. Thus, a bond is a form of loan or IOU. Bonds provide the borrower with external funds to finance long-term investments or, in the case of government bonds, to finance current expenditure.
In finance, an interest rate swap (IRS) is an interest rate derivative (IRD). It involves exchange of interest rates between two parties. In particular it is a "linear" IRD and one of the most liquid, benchmark products. It has associations with forward rate agreements (FRAs), and with zero coupon swaps (ZCSs).
In finance, a forward rate agreement (FRA) is an interest rate derivative (IRD). In particular it is a linear IRD with strong associations with interest rate swaps (IRSs).
In finance, an interest rate cap is a type of interest rate derivative in which the buyer receives payments at the end of each period in which the interest rate exceeds the agreed strike price. An example of a cap would be an agreement to receive a payment for each month the LIBOR rate exceeds 2.5%.
In finance, a convertible bond, convertible note, or convertible debt is a type of bond that the holder can convert into a specified number of shares of common stock in the issuing company or cash of equal value. It is a hybrid security with debt- and equity-like features. It originated in the mid-19th century, and was used by early speculators such as Jacob Little and Daniel Drew to counter market cornering.
The yield to maturity (YTM), book yield or redemption yield of a fixed-interest security is an estimate of the total rate of return anticipated to be earned by an investor who buys it at a given market price, holds it to maturity, and receives all interest payments and the capital redemption on schedule.
In finance, a swap is an agreement between two counterparties to exchange financial instruments, cashflows, or payments for a certain time. The instruments can be almost anything but most swaps involve cash based on a notional principal amount.
Fixed income refers to any type of investment under which the borrower or issuer is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule. For example, the borrower may have to pay interest at a fixed rate once a year and repay the principal amount on maturity. Fixed-income securities can be contrasted with equity securities that create no obligation to pay dividends or any other form of income. Bonds carry a level of legal protections for investors that equity securities do not: in the event of a bankruptcy, bond holders would be repaid after liquidation of assets, whereas shareholders with stock often receive nothing.
Rational pricing is the assumption in financial economics that asset prices – and hence asset pricing models – will reflect the arbitrage-free price of the asset as any deviation from this price will be "arbitraged away". This assumption is useful in pricing fixed income securities, particularly bonds, and is fundamental to the pricing of derivative instruments.
Bond valuation is the process by which an investor arrives at an estimate of the theoretical fair value, or intrinsic worth, of a bond. As with any security or capital investment, the theoretical fair value of a bond is the present value of the stream of cash flows it is expected to generate. Hence, the value of a bond is obtained by discounting the bond's expected cash flows to the present using an appropriate discount rate.
In finance, the duration of a financial asset that consists of fixed cash flows, such as a bond, is the weighted average of the times until those fixed cash flows are received. When the price of an asset is considered as a function of yield, duration also measures the price sensitivity to yield, the rate of change of price with respect to yield, or the percentage change in price for a parallel shift in yields.
The current yield, interest yield, income yield, flat yield, market yield, mark to market yield or running yield is a financial term used in reference to bonds and other fixed-interest securities such as gilts. It is the ratio of the annual interest (coupon) payment and the bond's price:
Floating rate notes (FRNs) are bonds that have a variable coupon, equal to a money market reference rate, like SOFR or federal funds rate, plus a quoted spread. The spread is a rate that remains constant. Almost all FRNs have quarterly coupons, i.e. they pay out interest every three months. At the beginning of each coupon period, the coupon is calculated by taking the fixing of the reference rate for that day and adding the spread. A typical coupon would look like 3 months USD SOFR +0.20%.
The price of a bond is the present value of its future cash-flows. To avoid the impact of the next coupon payment on the price of a bond, this cash flow is excluded from the price of the bond and is called the accrued interest. In finance, the dirty price is the price of a bond including any interest that has accrued since issue of the most recent coupon payment. This is to be compared with the clean price, which is the price of a bond excluding the accrued interest.
The Z-spread, ZSPRD, zero-volatility spread, or yield curve spread of a bond is the parallel shift or spread over the zero-coupon Treasury yield curve required for discounting a pre-determined cash flow schedule to arrive at its present market price. The Z-spread is also widely used in the credit default swap (CDS) market as a measure of credit spread that is relatively insensitive to the particulars of specific corporate or government bonds.
In finance, inflation derivative refers to an over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivative that is used to transfer inflation risk from one counterparty to another. See Exotic derivatives.
In finance, bootstrapping is a method for constructing a (zero-coupon) fixed-income yield curve from the prices of a set of coupon-bearing products, e.g. bonds and swaps.
The Zero-Coupon Inflation Swap (ZCIS) is a standard derivative product which payoff depends on the Inflation rate realized over a given period of time. The underlying asset is a single Consumer price index (CPI).
In finance, a zero coupon swap (ZCS) is an interest rate derivative (IRD). In particular it is a linear IRD, that in its specification is very similar to the much more widely traded interest rate swap (IRS).
