Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger 18-1 Chapter 18 Futures Contracts and Forward Rate Agreements Websites:

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger 18-2 Learning Objectives Consider the nature and purpose of derivative products Outline features of futures contracts and forward rate agreements and market operating procedures Identify why participants use derivative markets and how futures are used to hedge price risk Explain how using derivatives to manage one risk may create a new risk exposure Explain and illustrate the use of an FRA for hedging interest rate risk

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger 18-3 Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.9 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging Using Futures Contracts Futures contracts and FRAs are called derivatives because they derive their price from an underlying physical market product Two main types of derivative contracts –Commodity (e.g. gold, wheat and cattle) –Financial (e.g. shares, government securities and money market instruments)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging Using Futures Contracts (cont.) Derivative contracts enable investors and borrowers to protect assets and liabilities against the risk of changes in interest rates, exchange rates and share prices Hedging involves transferring the risk of unanticipated changes in prices, interest rates or exchange rates to another party

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging Using Futures Contracts (cont.) A futures contract is the right to buy or sell a specific item at a specified future date at a price determined today The change in the market price of a commodity or security is offset by a profit or loss on the futures contract

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging Using Futures Contracts (cont.) Example: A farmer wants to sell wheat in a couple of months, but is concerned that the price is going to fall in the meantime. How can the farmer hedge this price risk? –Solution  Enter into a wheat futures contract to sell If wheat prices fall, the futures contract will rise in value, offsetting the loss in the physical market from the fall in the wheat price If wheat prices rise, the futures contract will fall in value, offsetting the gain in the physical market from a rise in the wheat price

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger 18-8 Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.9 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Main Features of Futures Transactions Although futures contracts are highly standardised variations between countries exist due to –The types of contract being based on the underlying security traded in that country  SFE (Sydney Futures Exchange) Commonwealth Treasury bonds; CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) US Treasury bonds –Differences in the quotation convention  Clean price bond quotation in US and European markets— present value of a bond less accrued interest  Yield to maturity bond quotation in Australian markets

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Main Features of Futures Transactions (cont.) Orders and agreement to trade –Futures contracts are highly standardised and an order normally specifies  Whether it is a buy or sell order  The type of contract (varies between exchanges)  Delivery month (expiration)  Price restrictions (if any) (e.g. limit order)  Time limits on the order (if any)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Main Features of Futures Transactions (cont.) Margin requirements –Both the buyer (long position) and the seller (short position) pay an initial margin, held by the clearing house, rather than the full price of the contract –Margins are imposed to ensure traders are able to pay for any losses they incur due to unfavourable price movements in the contract

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Main Features of Futures Transactions (cont.) Margin requirements (cont.) –A contract is marked-to-market on a daily basis by the clearing house  i.e. repricing of the contract daily to reflect current market valuations –Subsequent margin calls may be made, requiring a contract holder to pay a maintenance margin to top-up the initial margin to cover adverse price movements

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Main Features of Futures Transactions (cont.) Closing out of a contract –Involves entering into an opposite position –Example  Company S initially entered into a ‘sell one 10-year treasury bond contract’ with company B  Company S would close out the position by entering into a ‘buy one 10-year treasury bond contract’ for delivery on the same date, with a third party, e.g. company R The second contract reverses or closes out the first contract and company S would no longer have an open position in the futures market

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Main Features of Futures Transactions (cont.) Contract delivery –Most parties to a futures contract  Manage a risk exposure or speculate  Do not wish to actually deliver or receive the underlying commodity/instrument and close out of the contract prior to delivery date –SFE requires financial futures in existence at the close of trading in the contract month to be settled with the clearing house in one of two ways  Standard delivery—delivery of the actual underlying financial security  Cash settlement

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Main Features of Futures Transactions (cont.) Contract delivery (cont.) –Settlement details, including the calculations of cash settlement amounts, for each contract traded on the SFE are available on the exchange’s website at

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.9 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Instruments Futures markets can be established for any commodity or instrument that –Is freely traded –Experiences large price fluctuations at times –Can can be graded on a universally accepted scale in terms of its quality –Is in plentiful supply, or cash settlement is possible

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Instruments (cont.) Examples –Commodities  Mineral—silver, gold, copper, petroleum, zinc  Agricultural—wool, coffee, butter, wheat and cattle –Financial  Currencies—pound sterling, euro, Swiss franc  Interest rates Short-term instruments—US 90-day treasury bills, 3-month eurodollar deposits, Australian 90-day bank-accepted bills Longer-term—US 10-year T-notes, Australian 3-year and 10- year Commonwealth Treasury bonds Share price indices — All Ordinaries

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Instruments (cont.)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.9 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Participants Four main categories of participants –Hedgers –Speculators –Traders –Arbitragers These participants provide depth and liquidity to the futures market, improving its efficiency

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Participants (cont.) Hedgers –Attempt to reduce the price risk from exposure to changes in interest rates, exchange rates and share prices –Take the opposite position to the underlying, exposed transaction –Example  An exporter has USD receivable in 90 days. To protect against fall in USD over next 3 months, the exporter enters into a futures contract to sell USD

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Participants (cont.) Speculators –Expose themselves to risk in the attempt to make profit –Enter the market in the expectation that the market price will move in a favourable direction for them –Example  Speculators who expect the price of the underlying asset to rise will go long and those that expect the price to fall will go short

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Participants (cont.) Traders –Special class of speculator –Trade on very short-term changes in the price of futures contracts (i.e. intra-day changes) –Provide liquidity to the market

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Futures Market Participants (cont.) Arbitragers –Simultaneously buy and sell to take advantage of price differentials between markets –Attempt to make profit without taking any risk –Example  Differentials between the futures contract price and the physical spot price of the underlying commodity

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.9 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures Futures contracts may be used to manage identified financial risk exposures such as –Hedging the cost of funds (borrowing hedge) –Hedging the yield on funds (investment hedge) –Hedging a foreign currency transaction –Hedging the value of a share portfolio

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging the cost of funds (borrowing hedge)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging the yield on funds (investment hedge)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging a foreign currency transaction

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Hedging the value of a share portfolio

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.9 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging The risks of using the futures markets for hedging include the problems of –Standard contract size –Margin risk –Basis risk –Cross-commodity hedging

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging (cont.) Standard contract size –Due to contract size the physical market exposure may not exactly match the futures market exposure, making a perfect hedge impossible

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging (cont.)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging (cont.) Margin payments –Initial margin required when entering into a futures contract –Further cash required if prices move adversely (i.e. margin calls) –Opportunity costs associated with margin requirements

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging (cont.) Basis risk –Two types of basis risk  Initial basis The difference between the price in the physical market and the futures market at commencement of a hedging strategy  Final basis The difference between the price in the physical market and the futures market at completion of a hedging strategy –A perfect hedge requires zero initial and final basis risk

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging (cont.) Cross-commodity hedging –Use of a commodity or financial instrument to hedge a risk associated with another commodity or financial instrument  Often necessary as futures contracts are available for few commodities or instruments –Selection of a futures contract that has price movements that are highly correlated with the price of the commodity or instrument to be hedged

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.9 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) The nature of the FRA –An FRA is an over-the-counter product enabling the management of an interest rate risk exposure  It is an agreement between two parties on an interest rate level that will apply at a specified future date  Allows the lender and borrower to lock-in interest rates  Unlike a loan, no exchange of principal occurs  Payment between the parties involves the difference between the agreed interest rate and the actual interest rate at settlement

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) (cont.) The nature of the FRA (cont.) –Disadvantages of FRAs include  Risk of non-settlement, i.e. credit risk  No formal market exists –The FRA specifies  Trade or contract date  Notional principal amount  Contract period in which the FRA interest rate will be based  FRA agreed rate  FRA settlement reference rate  FRA start date

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) (cont.)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) (cont.) Settlement amount = FRA settlement rate - FRA agreed rate (18.2)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) (cont.) Using an FRA for a borrowing hedge –Example: On 19 September this year a company wishes to lock in the interest rate on a prospective borrowing of $ for a 6-month period from 19 April next year to 19 October of the same year. An FRA dealer quotes ‘7Mv13M to 20’. On 19 April the BBSW on 180-day money is 13.95% per annum.

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) (cont.) Using an FRA for a borrowing hedge (cont.) As interest rates have risen over the period, the settlement of $ is paid by the FRA dealer to the company

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) (cont.)

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) (cont.) Main advantages of FRAs  Tailor-made, over-the-counter contract, providing great flexibility with respect to contract period and the amount of each contract  Unlike a futures contract, an FRA does not have margin payments Main disadvantages of FRAs  Risk of non-settlement (credit risk)  No formal market exists and concern about difficulty to close out FRA position is overcome by entering into another FRA opposite to the original agreement

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Chapter Organisation 18.1 Hedging Using Futures Contracts 18.2 Main Features of a Futures Transactions 18.3 Futures Market Instruments 18.4 Futures Market Participants 18.5 Hedging: Risk Management Using Futures 18.6 Risks in Using Futures Markets for Hedging 18.7 Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) 18.8 Summary

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Summary A futures contract –Is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a specified commodity or instrument at a specified date in the future, at a price specified today –May be used as a hedging strategy by opening a position today that requires a closing transaction that is the reverse of the exposed transaction in the physical market –Limitations include margin calls, imperfect hedging due to basis risk, and availability

Copyright  2007 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a McGrath’s Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets 5e by Viney Slides prepared by Anthony Stanger Summary (cont.) FRAs –Are over-the-counter contracts specifying an agreed interest rate to apply at a future date –Advantages include  Flexibility—they are tailor-made  No margin calls –Disadvantages include  Non-settlement or credit risk  Lack of formal market