The Basics of Insurance Linked Securities
(Jul 2013)
Financial innovation is typically associated with banks, but lately we've seen a number of new financial products developed and sold by insurance companies. Some of the most interesting products are known as insurance-linked securities, or ILS.
In the broadest sense, ILS transfer risk from insurance companies to investors. The largest segment of the ILS market is in catastrophe bonds (or 'cat bonds' for short), whose interest and principal payments depend on a specifically defined natural...
Regulators Impose Record Fine for Brokerage Firm's Supervisory Failures
(Jul 2013)
Yesterday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that FINRA and several US exchanges fined the brokerage firm Newedge USA, LLC $9.5 million over alleged failures to adequately restrict automated client trading activity that "sought to manipulate U.S. markets for nearly four years." The trading activity took place on several exchanges including NYSE Euronext, NASDAQ OMX, and BATS Global Markets according to the WSJ article. FINRA's press release can be found on the FINRA website.
Newedge...
VelocityShares' New Volatility ETFs
(Jul 2013)
You've heard it here before: hedging equity exposure with volatility derivatives is very tricky.
While the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) and the S&P 500 are negatively correlated suggesting a possible hedging opportunity, you cannot invest in the VIX itself, you have to invest in derivatives (futures or options) linked to the VIX. The simple fact is that this indirect exposure to the VIX does not behave like the VIX itself, making it in the end a rather poor hedge to equities .
But issuers of...
Reverse Convertibles and Event Risk
(Jun 2013)
Reverse convertibles are short-term debt securities issued by banks whose return of principal at maturity is contingent upon the returns of the linked stock. Although these notes typically pay relatively high coupons, they expose investors to losses on the underlying asset, especially if those losses are beyond the trigger level. Academic research shows that these coupons are not adequately compensating the investor for the market risk that they are bearing by investing in the notes. For...
Alternative Ways to Gain Municipal Bond Exposure
(Jun 2013)
We've been covering municipal bonds, with a focus on markups, this week on the blog. So far we've discussed some basics, given an example of an excessive markup and introduced SLCG research on excessive markups in municipal bonds . Given that retail investors may be charged excessive markups when purchasing municipal bonds directly, it may make sense for them to purchase municipal bonds indirectly.
Jason Zweig has written a great follow-up to his coverage of the muni markups issue with a...
SEC Commissioners Vote Unanimously on Money-Market Reform Measures
(Jun 2013)
The SEC voted on Wednesday on changes to rules governing money market funds (MMFs). As we discussed on Tuesday, MMFs are considered low risk, low return investments similar to bank accounts, but experienced 'runs' during the financial collapse of 2008 that helped freeze financial markets. The SEC's new rules hope to prevent such runs by changing how MMFs report their assets.
As widely suspected, the changes target MMFs favored by large institutional investors (dubbed 'prime funds'). While...
SEC to Vote on New Money Market Fund Rules
(Jun 2013)
Tomorrow, the Securities and Exchange Commission will vote on new rules pertaining to the $2.6 trillion money market fund (MMF) industry. The SEC hopes that the new rules will safegaurd against future runs on MMFs, such as those that occurred during the financial crisis after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. A "run on" MMFs occurs when many investors (or a few very large investors) attempt to redeem their shares in near unison, resulting in significant liquidations of MMF holdings.
A money...
SEC Charges South Miami with Defrauding Investors
(May 2013)
Yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the City of South Miami with defrauding investors over the tax-exempt status of some municipal offerings.
In 2002, the City of South Florida obtained access to tax-exempt financing through a pooled conduit municipal bond issued by the Florida Municipal Loan Council (FMLC) to fund the construction of a mixed-use retail and parking structure in the city's commercial district.* The 2002 FMLC bond offering can be found online. The...
Higher Expected Returns Only Come from Higher Risk: The Case of 130/30 Strategies
(May 2013)
JP Morgan recently released an "Investment Insight" that puts the spotlight on 130/30 strategies, which are used by several mutual funds and ETFs from a variety of issuers. A 130/30 strategy involves selling short 30% of the assets in a portfolio and using the proceeds to leverage the long securities to 130% of initial assets. The securities that are shorted are expected by the portfolio manager to depreciate during the holding period (overvalued) while the assets that are purchased are...
