FTSE MTIRS Index

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The FTSE MTIRS Indices are designed to accurately move in direct correlation to OTC Interest Rate Swaps market with a total of 45 indices covering the USD curve from 2 years to 30 years including spreads and butterflies. FTSE MTIRS Indices account for changes to both fixed and floating rates and are rebalanced daily.

Contents

The value of the FTSE MTIRS Indices change as the NPV changes and is mathematically rebalanced daily to ensure that the indices represent periods out of spot and remains at constant maturity. Composite market maker prices are used to calculate the FTSE MTIRS Index series and are used for rebalancing, supplying perfect correlation to OTC Interest Rate Swaps and effectively tracks fixed for floating Interest rates enabling the tracking of OTC Interest rate Swap exposure.

Structure

Day count: Fixed rate: 30/360 paid semi-annually modified following (UK business days) Floating rate: 3-month LIBOR act/360 quarterly modified following (UK business days)

Example

If a market participant had bought $100 million notional of the 10 year MTIRS index at 98.73, and then the 10-year swap rate moved down by say 5 basis points, the index will then trade at 99.10.

The MTIRS index position would then be worth $370,000 (=(99.10-98.73) x 100 mill / 100)

Underlying OTC Interest Rate Swap Market

An interest rate swap is an OTC agreement between two parties who agree to exchange a cash flow or stream of cash flows for another. In a vanilla fixed for floating Interest Rate Swap, one party receives fixed rate payments, usually semi annually and pays floating, usually 3 monthly based on LIBOR.

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Derivative (finance) Financial instrument

In finance, a derivative is a contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, and is often simply called the "underlying". Derivatives can be used for a number of purposes, including insuring against price movements (hedging), increasing exposure to price movements for speculation, or getting access to otherwise hard-to-trade assets or markets. Some of the more common derivatives include forwards, futures, options, swaps, and variations of these such as synthetic collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps. Most derivatives are traded over-the-counter (off-exchange) or on an exchange such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, while most insurance contracts have developed into a separate industry. In the United States, after the financial crisis of 2007–2009, there has been increased pressure to move derivatives to trade on exchanges. Derivatives are one of the three main categories of financial instruments, the other two being equity and debt. The oldest example of a derivative in history, attested to by Aristotle, is thought to be a contract transaction of olives, entered into by ancient Greek philosopher Thales, who made a profit in the exchange. Bucket shops, outlawed in 1936, are a more recent historical example.

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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).

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Swap (finance)

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An equity swap is a financial derivative contract where a set of future cash flows are agreed to be exchanged between two counterparties at set dates in the future. The two cash flows are usually referred to as "legs" of the swap; one of these "legs" is usually pegged to a floating rate such as LIBOR. This leg is also commonly referred to as the "floating leg". The other leg of the swap is based on the performance of either a share of stock or a stock market index. This leg is commonly referred to as the "equity leg". Most equity swaps involve a floating leg vs. an equity leg, although some exist with two equity legs.

Floating rate note

Floating rate notes (FRNs) are bonds that have a variable coupon, equal to a money market reference rate, like LIBOR 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 LIBOR +0.20%.

A basis swap is an interest rate swap which involves the exchange of two floating rate financial instruments. A basis swap functions as a floating-floating interest rate swap under which the floating rate payments are referenced to different bases.

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A property derivative is a financial derivative whose value is derived from the value of an underlying real estate asset. In practice, because individual real estate assets fall victim to market inefficiencies and are hard to accurately price, property derivative contracts are typically written based on a real estate property index. In turn, the real estate property index attempts to aggregate real estate market information to provide a more accurate representation of underlying real estate asset performance. Trading or taking positions in property derivatives is also known as synthetic real estate.

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An asset swap refers to an exchange of tangible for intangible assets, in accountancy, or, in finance, to the exchange of the flow of payments from a given security for a different set of cash flows.

An overnight indexed swap (OIS) is an interest rate swap over some fixed term where the periodic floating payment is generally based on a return calculated from a daily compound interest investment. Note that the swap term is not over-night; it is the reference rate that is an overnight rate. The swap exchanges a fixed term rate for the variable geometric average of the reference daily or overnight rate compounded over the term of the swap. The reference for a daily compounded rate is an overnight rate and the exact averaging formula depends on the type of such rate.

Strategy indices are indices that track the performance of an algorithmic trading strategy. The algorithm clearly and transparently specifies all the actions that must be taken. The following are examples of algorithms that strategies can be based on.

  1. Pairs trading strategy. This strategy examines pairs of instruments that are known to be statistically correlated. For example, consider Shell and Exxon. Both are oil stocks and are likely to move together. Knowledge of this trend creates an opportunity for profit, as on the occasions when these stocks break correlation for an instant, the trader may buy one and short sell the other at a premium.
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  3. Implied volatility against realized volatility . In a number of markets such as commodities and rates, the implied volatility, as implied by straddle prices is higher than the realized volatility of the underlying forward. One way to 'exploit' this is to sell a short expiry straddle and delta-hedging it until it is alive. The strategy makes money if at expiry, the sum of the premium received, the (negative) final value of the straddle and the (positive/negative) value of the forwards is greater than zero. A variation of this, and more common solution in equity, is to sell either a one-month or three-month variance swap – usually on the Eurostoxx 50E or S&P500 index – that pays a positive performance if the implied volatility is above the realised volatility at expiry; in this case there is no need to delta-hedging the underlying movements.

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