Chapter TwentyThree

Risk Management: An Introduction to Financial Engineering

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Key Concepts and Skills Understand the types of volatility that companies can manage Understand how to develop risk profiles Understand the difference between forward contracts and futures contracts and how they are used for hedging Understand how swaps can be used for hedging Understand how options can be used for hedging

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Chapter Outline Hedging and Price Volatility Managing Financial Risk Hedging with Forward Contracts Hedging with Futures Contracts Hedging with Swap Contracts Hedging with Option Contracts

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Example: Disneys Risk Management Policy Disney provides stated policies and procedures concerning risk management strategies in its annual report
The company tries to manage exposure to interest rates, foreign currency, and the fair market value of certain investments Interest rate swaps are used to manage interest rate exposure Options and forwards are used to manage foreign exchange risk in both assets and anticipated revenues Derivative securities are used only for hedging, not speculation

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Hedging Volatility Recall that volatility in returns is a classic measure of risk Volatility in day-to-day business factors often leads to volatility in cash flows and returns If a firm can reduce that volatility, it can reduce its business risk Instruments have been developed to hedge the following types of volatility
Interest Rate Exchange Rate Commodity Price

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Interest Rate Volatility Debt is a key component of a firms capital structure Interest rates can fluctuate dramatically in short periods of time Companies that hedge against changes in interest rates can stabilize borrowing costs This can reduce the overall risk of the firm Available tools: forwards, futures, swaps, futures options and options

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Exchange Rate Volatility Companies that do business internationally are exposed to exchange rate risk The more volatile the exchange rates, the more difficult it is to predict the firms cash flows in its domestic currency If a firm can manage its exchange rate risk, it can reduce the volatility of its foreign earnings and do a better analysis of future projects Available tools: forwards, futures, swaps, futures options

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Commodity Price Volatility

Most firms face volatility in the costs of materials and in the price that will be received when products are sold Depending on the commodity, the company may be able to hedge price risk using a variety of tools This allows companies to make better production decisions and reduce the volatility in cash flows Available tools (depend on type of commodity): forwards, futures, swaps, futures options, options

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The Risk Management Process Identify the types of price fluctuations that will impact the firm Some risks are obvious, others are not Some risks may offset each other, so it is important to look at the firm as a portfolio of risks and not just look at each risk separately You must also look at the cost of managing the risk relative to the benefit derived Risk profiles are a useful tool for determining the relative impact of different types of risk

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Risk Profiles Basic tool for identifying and measuring exposure to risk Graph showing the relationship between changes in price versus changes in firm value Similar to graphing the results from a sensitivity analysis The steeper the slope of the risk profile, the greater the exposure and the more a firm needs to manage that risk

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Reducing Risk Exposure

The goal of hedging is to lessen the slope of the risk profile Hedging will not normally reduce risk completely
Only price risk can be hedged, not quantity risk You may not want to reduce risk completely because you miss out on the potential upside as well

Timing
Short-run exposure (transactions exposure) can be managed in a variety of ways Long-run exposure (economic exposure) almost impossible to hedge, requires the firm to be flexible and adapt to permanent changes in the business climate
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Forward Contracts
A contract where two parties agree on the price of an asset today to be delivered and paid for at some future date Forward contracts are legally binding on both parties They can be tailored to meet the needs of both parties and can be quite large in size Positions
Long agrees to buy the asset at the future date Short agrees to sell the asset at the future date

Because they are negotiated contracts and there is no exchange of cash initially, they are usually limited to large, creditworthy corporations

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Figure 23.7

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Hedging with Forwards

Entering into a forward contract can virtually eliminate the price risk a firm faces
It does not completely eliminate risk unless there is no uncertainty concerning the quantity

Because it eliminates the price risk, it prevents the firm from benefiting if prices move in the companys favor The firm also has to spend some time and/or money evaluating the credit risk of the counterparty Forward contracts are primarily used to hedge exchange rate risk
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Futures Contracts Forward contracts traded on an organized securities exchange Require an upfront cash payment called margin
Small relative to the value of the contract Marked-to-market on a daily basis

Clearinghouse guarantees performance on all contracts The clearinghouse and margin requirements virtually eliminate credit risk
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Futures Quotes
See Table 23.1 Commodity, exchange, size, quote units
The contract size is important when determining the daily gains and losses for marking-to-market

Delivery month
Open price, daily high, daily low, settlement price, change from previous settlement price, contract lifetime high and low prices, open interest The change in settlement price times the contract size determines the gain or loss for the day
Long an increase in the settlement price leads to a gain Short an increase in the settlement price leads to a loss

Open interest is how many contracts are currently outstanding

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Hedging with Futures

The risk reduction capabilities of futures is similar to that of forwards The margin requirements and marking-to-market require an upfront cash outflow and liquidity to meet any margin calls that may occur Futures contracts are standardized, so the firm may not be able to hedge the exact quantity it desires Credit risk is virtually nonexistent Futures contracts are available on a wide range of physical assets, debt contracts, currencies and equities

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Swaps A long-term agreement between two parties to exchange cash flows based on specified relationships Can be viewed as a series of forward contracts Generally limited to large creditworthy institutions or companies Interest rate swaps the net cash flow is exchanged based on interest rates Currency swaps two currencies are swapped based on specified exchange rates or foreign vs. domestic interest rates

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Example: Interest Rate Swap

Consider the following interest rate swap
Company A can borrow from a bank at 8% fixed or LIBOR + 1% floating (borrows fixed) Company B can borrow from a bank at 9.5% fixed or LIBOR + .5% (borrows floating) Company A prefers floating and Company B prefers fixed By entering into the swap agreements, both A and B are better off then they would be borrowing from the bank and the swap dealer makes .5%

Pay Company A Swap Dealer w/A Company B Swap Dealer w/B Swap Dealer Net
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Receive 8.5% LIBOR + .5% LIBOR + .5% 9% LIBOR + 9.5%

Net -LIBOR -9% +.5%

LIBOR + .5% 8.5% 9% LIBOR + .5% LIBOR + 9%

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Figure 23.10

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Option Contracts
The right, but not the obligation, to buy (sell) an asset for a set price on or before a specified date
Call right to buy the asset Put right to sell the asset Exercise or strike price specified price Expiration date specified date

Buyer has the right to exercise the option, the seller is obligated
Call option writer is obligated to sell the asset if the option is exercised Put option writer is obligated to buy the asset if the option is exercised

Unlike forwards and futures, options allow a firm to hedge downside risk, but still participate in upside potential Pay a premium for this benefit
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Payoff Profiles: Calls

Sell a Call E = $40
Buy a call with E = $40
70 60 50 Payoff 40 30 20 10 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 Stock Price

0 -10 0 -20 Payoff -30 -40 -50 -60 -70 Stock Price
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20

40

60

80 100

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Payoff Profiles: Puts

Sell a Put E = $40
Buy a put with E = $40
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 Stock Price

0 -5 0 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 -45

20

40

60

80 100

Payoff

Payoff

Stock Price
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Hedging Commodity Price Risk with Options

Commodity options are generally futures options Exercising a call
Owner of call receives a long position in the futures contract plus cash equal to the difference between the exercise price and the futures price Seller of call receives a short position in the futures contract and pays cash equal to the difference between the exercise price and the futures price

Exercising a put
Owner of put receives a short position in the futures contract plus cash equal to the difference between the futures price and the exercise price Seller of put receives a long position in the futures contract and pays cash equal to the difference between the futures price and the exercise price

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Hedging Exchange Rate Risk with Options May use either futures options on currency or straight currency options Used primarily by corporations that do business overseas US companies want to hedge against a strengthening dollar (receive fewer dollars when you convert foreign currency back to dollars) Buy puts (sell calls) on foreign currency
Protected if the value of the foreign currency falls relative to the dollar Still benefit if the value of the foreign currency increases relative to the dollar Buying puts is less risky

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Hedging Interest Rate Risk with Options

Can use futures options Large OTC market for interest rate options Caps, Floors, and Collars
Interest rate cap prevents a floating rate from going above a certain level (buy a call on interest rates) Interest rate floor prevents a floating rate from going below a certain level (sell a put on interest rates) Collar buy a call and sell a put
The premium received from selling the put will help offset the cost of buying a call If set up properly, the firm will not have either a cash inflow or outflow associated with this position

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Quick Quiz What are the four major types of derivatives discussed in the chapter? How do forwards and futures differ? How are they similar? How do swaps and forwards differ? How are they similar? How do options and forwards differ? How are they similar?

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