Asian COnvertible BondS Tell me about some of the areas readjusted to remain at the money. $25 each. Your hope is that the under- conversion ratio downwards only ITO33 has been focusing on recently? The “strike” of the convertible bond, lying share will rise above $25. For if the underlying shares are below Recently there has been some action also known as the conversion price, can example, if share price rises to $40, a certain level. So there are triggers on Asian Convertible Bonds. These be defined as the nominal divided by your conversion value will be $160. now being added to the reset feature. convertibles are being issued by com- the conversion ratio. For instance, if If shares fall to $10, converting This is another layer of complexity. panies based in India (e.g. Welspun the convertible bond has a nominal will only get you $40. But if the Over recent months, we have 2010), China (e.g., Brillance China amount of $100 and is convertible conversion ratio is now adjusted to been bombarded by requests by cus- 2011) or Taiwan (HannStar 2008), against four underlying shares, the 10 (or the conversion price reset to tomers virtually every week. Every and what they have in common is strike is $25 because you are indiffer- the market value of the underlying time there is a new issue of convert- they are resettable. This means that ent between being owed $100 by the share), you may now convert against ible bonds, they ask us to add sup- the amount of underlying shares you company or owning four shares worth 10 shares, which is worth $100 port for the new feature, whether can convert your convertible bonds again. So you are at the money again. it’s cross-currency or triggers on the against, or conversion ratio, is reset This is what ITO33 has been reset, etc. or readjusted periodically, typically We focusing on recently because more every year. and more of our customers So this means more calculations have Note that the conversion speaktoelie Ayache trade those Asian convert- to be done for the resettable con- ratio is reset periodically to ible bonds. vertible bonds? benefit the holder. If you atITO33,whodissectsvarious Not only that, but we have to keep buy a standard convert- Could you elaborate evolving our numerical and math- ible bond, you earn a layersofcomplexityinAsian on the complexity of ematical models and support the uniform stream of resettable convert- continuously evolving data model. coupons or the prin- ConvertibleBondsandASCOTand ible bonds? If the customer wants to price a con- cipal accretes until Pricing of reset- vertible bond with a new feature, we maturity, in the shedslightontheirpopularity table convert- have to provide him with the tables case of zero coupon ible bonds can be and graphical interface where he bonds. The whole very challenging can enter the terms of the bond. It is idea is that you can AnOptionon mathematically not only a matter of computation, convert this bond and numerically but also a matter of data modeling. into a pre-specified because of the com- amount of underlying plexity of the reset What are the additional data that shares of the issuing feature. The problem you’ll have to handle? company. Typically, if the is path-dependent and You end up with a larger and larger underlying share price rises, Options you have to sample, in your set of data that you need to feed into it may become interesting to grid, not only the underlying the pricing equation and engine. convert the bond into shares and share price, but all the future pos- For instance, resettable convertible become a shareholder in the compa- sible conversion prices. bonds require, on top of the tradi- ny. But that’s not the case if the stock As they are issued by companies tional terms describing the bond price falls. based in India, China, Taiwan or (coupon stream, accretion, cross-cur- In resettable convertible bonds, Japan, these bonds are usually also rency, etc.), the dates when you may the resettable feature compensates cross-currency. The investors usually reset the conversion price, the reset you against a fall in the underlying buy these convertible bonds in US rule, etc. market by allowing you to readjust dollars, but the underlying share is Typically, you cannot reset the con- the conversion ratio at the reset date denominated in the local currency, version price downwards forever. to convert against a larger amount of rupee, Taiwan dollars or RMB. This As the share price gets closer to zero, underlying shares if their price adds another complexity on top of the issuer won’t allow you to convert is lower. the reset feature. into an infinite number of shares. Another way of putting Not only that, but we have The reset rule provides that the it is to say that the con- recently handled clauses which conversion price is floored. This vertible bond is always say that you can readjust the floor, below which the conversion 12 Wilmottmagazine Asian COnvertible BondS price may never go, as well as the bonds by swapping with someone and the fall in value of the convert- risk. It’s increasingly popular among trigger level, only below which you willing to take the credit risk. ible bond will not hurt me because I our customers, a few of whom have may readjust, become an integral Imagine I am a hedge fund or do not hold the bond, but only a call become leaders in the trading of part of the description of the con- convertible bond trader really inter- option on the bond. If credit spread these kinds of structures. vertible, further complicating the ested in the equity aspect of convert- improves and the underlying share Today, in the market, it’s all data model. ible bonds. I want to benefit from rises, I can exercise the option to buy about credit risk. On the other hand, the movements of the underlying back the convertible bond from the volatility is increasing on the equity. What are the different solutions share by the usual volatility play. bank. What we do here is value this ASCOT is sitting at the heart of the ITO33 has been developing to cope To eliminate credit risk exposure, I option on the convertible. whole problem because it is sensitive with all these new challenges? enter into a convertible bond asset Thus, the ASCOT is an American to the volatility of the underlying We have been developing derivative swap which splits the convertible option written on the convertible shares and to the volatility of the pricing engines (in C++) for eight bond into two components. I will bond. It is really a compound option, credit. Being an option on the credit, years now. They compute the solu- keep the part which is sensitive to as the convertible bond is ultimately it’s very relevant. This is why it’s tion of the derivative valuation prob- equity and swap the part sensitive to an equity option. becoming more popular. lem. When credit risk is involved, credit risk with another party. When I want to exercise my the valuation model is similar to In fact, there are three parties option, I will have to pay, as its strike because strike price is variable, isn’t Black Scholes, only more general. It involved. The first is the investor price, the unwinding value of the that a risk in itself? takes into account the probability who buys the convertible: I, the asset swap involving the bank and The only risk here is interest rate of default of the issuer. We use some hedge fund. I immediately sell it the credit protection seller. risk. Otherwise, it varies determinis- basic theoretical models which have to an investment bank, the second So the CB option is ultimately a tically over time. So it is not as risky been well accepted. party, who really acts as an interme- compound option with variable as the credit component. Recently we’ve been focusing on diary. Indeed, the bond is ultimately strike price. This tells you the level of When you buy a convertible, you developing more of an industrial sold at par to a third party, the final complexity. Not to mention that the are exposed to three risks, equity process. Whenever our customers credit risk buyer, a. k. a. credit pro- convertible bond may be resettable price risk, credit risk and interest have new requests, such as the han- tection seller, who will support all or cross-currency, etc. So this is what rate risk. Here you are getting rid of dling of new issues of convertible the credit risk. As a matter of fact, ITO33 has expertise in today. To put credit risk only; you’re still exposed bonds, we have to be very reactive. the investment bank and the final it briefly, suffice it to say that we are to interest rate risk, which you may Adding the new feature, testing the credit protection seller enter into a the leading experts in the pricing of hedge otherwise, and to equity risk pricing tool, releasing the upgrade swap, on top of their transaction at ASCOTs. This presupposes that we which you want to keep anyway. of the mathematical library, the par. The investment bank receives are the leading experts in the pricing data model and the graphical back the fixed coupons of the con- of convertible bonds. Could you explain in greater detail interface are things that we have to vertible against paying floating plus the solutions ITO33 has to help achieve in the few days following the spread to the protection seller.