INTEREST RATE RISK,MARKET VALUE,AND HEDGING FINANCIAL PORTFOLIOS

This paper derives theoretical hedge ratios for the financial portfolio that preserve its present value in the presence of interest rate risk. From a practical point of view and for any given portfolio, the existence of the financial futures market allows the investor to employ any of a number of different hedges, each of which approximately satisfies the theoretical condition. The theory indicates that wealth-preserving hedges depend on the interest elasticities (durations) of the spot assets and liabilities contained in the portfolio, portfolio leverage, and the interest elasticity (duration) of the financial instrument underlying the futures contract that is employed in constructing the hedge. Also, hedges designed to maintain net interest margin or net cash flow do not minimize exposure to interest rate risk.     

INTEREST RATE RISK HEDGING FOR DUE-ON-SALE MORTGAGES WITH EARLY TERMINATION

The impact of random early termination on the interest rate elasticity and the related implications of hedging a mortgage security are examined. The common approach to computing duration using average mortgage life is shown to be biased and insufficient. Because the prepayment distributions of mortgages tend to have wide dispersions, substantial errors result from using average mortgage life. These results are also applicable to other financial obligations subject to prepayment.     

INTEREST RATE HEDGING: AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

For hedging, financial and agricultural futures contracts differ in their usefulness. This paper presents a new hedging approach uniquely appropriate to financial futures that better fits the typical hedging situation confronted by those wishing to hedge interest rate risk. The superiority of this new hedging strategy is demonstrated empirically by comparing the strategy with several other methods currently in use.     

INTEREST RATE CHANGES AND COMMON STOCK RETURNS OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: REVISITED

In this paper the interest rate sensitivity of common stock returns of financial firms is re-examined. Considered here are (1) current, anticipated, and unanticipated changes in interest rates; (2) depository and nondepository firms; and (3) three different-maturity interest rate indices. Results lend strong support for a negative effect of both current and unanticipated interest rate changes. Although some exceptions are observed, stock returns of most subsectors of both financial and nonfinancial firms are not sensitive to anticipated interest rate changes. The findings of this study are robust to the choice of a particular model of interest rate expectations.     

利率期限结构理论在我国证券市场的实证分析

本文利用利率期限结构理论,通过对中国证券市场的实证研究,分析我国的利率传导机制和其运行效率。利率期限结构事实上承担着整个社会资源配置的参照系,其可以引导存贷款利率以及中央银行存款准备金利率的变动,形成一条科学合理的收益率曲线。目前中央银行主要通过公开市场操作来影响货币市场利率。作者使用当前金融市场的资料验证不同期限利率水平之间存在一种长期均衡关系,我国收益率曲线的变动基本上是服从流动性偏好理论;同时,随着市场的发展,各类证券收益率之间的传导机制也在不断的完善。因此,中央银行对利率的市场化引导和调控机制已经初步具备,但该机制还有待于进一步的完善。     

利率市场化:盘活金融大棋局

央行日前宣布全面放开金融机构贷款利率管制,外界普遍认为这是利率市场化迈向攻坚阶段的标志。时至今日,利率市场化已经历经20余年的努力,先后走过货币市场、债券市场的市场化过程,而今,最后一步存贷款利率市场化也只剩开放存款利率"半步之遥"。此次放开贷款利率限制吸引了全社会的目光,原因有二:一是市场更加期待存款利率市场化的出台;二是放开存贷利     

INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION LOCATION AND PRO FORMA FINANCIAL HEDGING OF EXCHANGE RATE RISK

There are many considerations in a firm's choice of where to locate a production facility. One of the least understood is the implication of foreign exchange risk. The issue is complex because, in addition to the concept of operational hedging, managers must also consider economic exposure and, in cases with foreign competitors, competitive exposure. As shown in this article, a firm's competitive exposure to exchange rate changes depends upon the location of its competitors' plants as well as its own.
The currency exposures of various international production strategies are demonstrated using hypothetical scenarios. The scenarios can also be used to perform a pro forma financial hedging analysis of currency exposure in simple three-outcome cases. By implicitly accounting for the market's pricing of exchange rate risk, the financial hedging analysis provides a straightforward way for managers to evaluate various international production possibilities.     

BANK EXPOSURE TO INTEREST RATE RISK: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

In 1993, the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision considered whether to incorporate interest rate risk in risk-based capital requirements for international banks. At issue was whether a bank's interest rate risk varies with the country of concern. While the effects of interest rate movements on U.S. banks are well documented, the effects on banks from other countries are not. We find that bank interest rate risk varies among countries, which supports the need to capture interest rate risk differentials in the risk-based capital requirements. We also find that non-U.S. bank values are sensitive not only to domestic interest rates, but to international interest rates as well.     

INTEREST RATE RISK AND EQUITY VALUES OF HEDGED AND UNHEDGED FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

This paper uses an approach developed by Flannery and James to show that interest rate changes have different effects on equity values of hedged and unhedged financial institutions. Equity values of (generally unhedged) savings and loans are significantly more sensitive to unexpected interest rate changes than equities of (generally hedged) commercial banks. The interest rate sensitivity of (generally hedged) life insurance equities is similar to that of bank equities. Overall, the equity values of unhedged financial institutions are more sensitive to interest rate changes than the equity values of financial institutions that more closely balance the maturities of their assets and liabilities.     

DURATION,DEFAULT RISK,AND THE TERM STRUCTURE OF INTEREST RATES

We examine the interactive effect of default and interest rate risk on duration of defaultable bonds. We show that duration for defaultable bonds can be longer or shorter than default‐free bonds depending on the relation between default intensity and interest rates. Empirical evidence indicates that in most cases duration for defaultable bonds is much shorter than for their default‐free counterparts because of the negative relation between default risk and interest rates. Results suggest that the duration measure must be adjusted for the effects of default risk and stochastic interest rates to achieve an effective bond portfolio immunization.