Fixed Income Flashcards
Fixed Income Spot Rates
are the yields on zero-coupon bonds
No coupons –> no reinvestment risk
Zero Coupon Bond Price
Pt = 1 / (1 + St)^T
YTM
Price today: Calculate the PV of the cash flows
Yield: Put everything into the calculator and solve
Example:
Calculate the price and YTM on a three-year, 4% annual-pay, $1,000 face. S1 = 5%, S2 = 6%, S3 = 7%
Price = 40 / (1.05) + 40 / (1.06)² + 1040 / (1.07)^3 = $922.64
Then use calculator
N = 3, PV = -922.64, PMT = 40, FV = 1,000 CPT I/Y = 6.94%
Return will be equal to the bond’s yield only when:
- Held to Maturity
- All payments are made on time
- All coupons are reinvested at the original YTM (least realistic since the YTM changes)
Forward Pricing Model (zero-coupon)
Based on arbitrage-free pricing; basically says that the same timeframe yields the same
Step One: Calculate discount factors for each
1 / (1 + r)^t
Step Two: Calculate Forward Price
F = Discount(long) / Discount(short)
Fixed Income: Implied Forward Rate
[(Rlong * t) - (Rshort * t)] / timplied
Example: S2 = 4%, S5 = 6%, calculate 3 year implied
Long: 6 * 5 = 30 Short: 4 * 2 = 8
30 - 8 = 22
22 / 3 = 7.33
Riding the Yield Curve
Purpose: Purchasing bonds with maturities longer than your investment horizon.
Think: I want a bond for 5 years, so I purchase a 30 year bond and then sell it in 5 years
Increases interest rate risk
AKA “rolling down the yield curve”:
What is a Swap Rate Curve?
Why do people use them?
Definition: One party makes a payment based on a fixed rate, the other makes a payment based on a floating rate
Formula: 1 = SFR / (1 + S1) + 1 / (1 + S1) Plug in for SFR
Used because:
- Reflects credit risk of banks (not governments)
- Not regulated (makes it easier to compare across countries)
- More maturity ranges
Swap Spread
Swap Spread = swap rate - treasury yield
I-spread
Definition: amount by which the yield on the risky bond exceeds the swap rate for the same maturity
Interpolation
Definition: finding a rate between 2 listed spot rates
Formula: Rshort + (Rlong - Rshort) * [(Xt - Tshort) / (Tlong - Tshort)]
Example: 2 year swap at 2.0% and 2.5 year swap at 2.3%
Calculate 2.2 year
.02 + (.023 - .02) * [(2.2 - 2.0) / (2.5 - 2.0)]
So = 2.12%
Z-spread
Definition: the spread over the entire spot rate curve. Should be added to each spot rate
Think: I need to add 50 bps to each spot to equal the risk for this particular bond
Cannot be used when a bond has options,
Used for corporate bonds and ABS
TED Spread
Formula: 3 Month LIBOR - 3 Month T Bill
- Seen as indication of the level of credit risk in the economy
Analysis: Higher = banks more likely to default on loans and lower liquidity
LIBOR-OIS Spread
OIS is the overnight indexed swap
Formula: LIBOR - OIS rate
LIBOR includes credit risk, OIS does not
Traditional Theories
- Unbiased (Pure) Expectations Theory
- Local Expectations Theory
- Liquidity (biased) Preference Theory
- Segmented Markets Theory
- Preferred Habitat Theory
Unbiased (Pure) Expectations Theory
- Investors expectations determine the shape of the yield curve
- Forward rates = expected future spot rates
- If yield curve is upward sloping, short-term rates are expected to rise
Local Expectations Theory
- Not every maturity strategy should have the same return
- Risk-neutrality is preserved for only short-term
Remember: only applies to short-term, does not work
Liquidity (biased) Preference Theory
- Forward rates reflect expectations plus a liquidity premium
a. If YC is flat, the liquidity premium would push it upward sloping - Longer-term bonds more sensitive to rate changes
Segmented Markets Theory
- Yield at each maturity is determined independently
(e.g. Banks have to play in short-term bonds
HF may like to play in the l/t bonds) - The supply and demand of each segment effects rates.
Preferred Habitat Theory
- Forward rates are expected future spot rates plus a premium
- Investors prefer a particular maturity but will jump to different segments
Modern Theory: Vasicek
- Vasicek Model: suggest that interest rates mean revert over time
a. Interest rates can become negative
b. Volatility does not increase as interest rates does
Duration
approximate change in value based on a 1% increase/decrease in interest rates