KYNEX Bulletin                                  

June 2004

Tutorial: Convertible Hedge Calculator

The convertible hedge calculator allows you to analyze a convertible security that is hedged with the underlying common stock. You can dynamically change the amount of hedge, convertible and stock prices, assumptions such as financing and rebate rates, carry horizon, and margin requirements, etc. and analyze the expected static (assuming convertible and stock prices do not change) as well as realistic (estimating the accretion/decay in the value of the convertible over the holding period) cash flows, and hence the expected return on capital deployed.

 

The convertible hedge calculator also estimates the weekly profit-and-loss in excess of the realistic return, required to generate a target return on capital. In addition you can also analyze rule-of-thumb calculations used by market participants such as breakeven-at-par (also referred to as crosses-par) and breakeven-at-parity (also referred to as up-breakeven). Last but not the least, valuation measures such as fair value, delta, gamma, yields, premium; convertible indicative information such as conversion ratio, call, put, outstanding amount, ratings, issue terms; stock indicative information such as 90-day and 250-day volatility, distance from 52-week high and low, economic sector, market capitalization are also presented along side the cash flows and hedge-breakeven levels.

 

 The convertible hedge calculator is presented in two sections:

·         The upper section allows you to specify the inputs and assumptions.

·         The lower section shows the results from the calculations.

 

The upper section has been laid out such that your inputs for the convertible and the stock are grouped in a logical fashion for ease of entry.  The table below explains the input to the convertible hedge calculator.  

 

 

 

Input

Definition

Convert Position

The number of Convertibles you own long or short.

Convert Price

The price of the Convertible

Assumed Spread

The credit spread of the bond over the chosen Yield Curve

Finance

The percentage rate that your prime broker charges to finance the convertible position

Tail

The Tail is applicable if the broker charges a different rate on the point premium. For example the broker charges a 1.5% finance charge on the parity of the convertible position and a .75% on the balance or point premium.  If the broker charges one rate then the Finance and Tail should be the same.

Convert Capital

The agreement between you and your broker to calculate margin requirements. Please click here to see the Rules.

Stock Spread

You can specify the spread to grow the stock in the finite difference grid.  Input the same value as the assumed spread to value the convertible  risky/risky (recommended), 0 for risk-free risky, or something else for a custom setting

Bankruptcy

Enable the bankruptcy model to simulate risk-of-default for a convertible.

Investor Screwed

This flag tells the convertible valuation model if the investor will receive a coupon payment if the bond has been called for redemption effective on the interest payment date.  If the box is checked it indicates to the model that the investor is getting screwed out of the coupon and will not receive the interest payment.  If the box is unchecked the investor will receive the interest payment if the convertible is called for redemption and the investor is forced to convert on the interest payment date

Call Effective Date

If a bond is called, this is the date on which the call is effective. This box will not be filled for partial redemptions. You can use this input to value convertibles that you expect to be cash-called for redemption.

Stock Position

The number of shares you are long or short.

Stock Price

The price of the common stock.

Nuke

Pops up a new window to calculate the dollar neutral price.  If you hit the “OK” button it will put the dollar neutral price in the hedge calculator.

F Nuke

This nuke is a quick way to calculate a dollar neutral price. If you have a convert price and stock price in the hedge calculator, and hit “calculate” you can just change the stock price and get the new dollar neutral price.  The F Nuke takes the previous stock and convert price as reference prices and then takes the new stock price and hedge to calculate the dollar neutral price.

Volatility

Your volatility estimate for the common stock

Rebate

The rate used to calculate the rebate on your short-sale proceeds.

Additional Borrow

You can specify an additional borrow cost for tough to borrow stocks. This will be netted out of the rebate.

Hedge

Fill in your hedge and the calculator will automatically update your stock position. Changing the stock position will update the hedge, as well.

Target Ann ROC

Your target annualized return on capital

Call Adjustment

Setting the call adjustment to Parity+ and putting a number of 20 will make the model value the convertible such that the issuer cannot call the convertible until the parity is at least 20% above the call price.  NCL stands for Non Call Life.

Carry Horizon

Your investment horizon

Est. Pts.

Your estimate of point premium at which the convertible is likely to trade on the horizon date

Use Spread + Borrow

If this is checked the valuation model will use the spread of the finance and rebate plus the borrow cost, as an additional cost that increases with delta. If left unchecked, the model will not take these inputs into account.

IAD

Indicated Annual Dividend. The page will default to the current indicated annual dividend. You may change this to simulate dividend increases/decreases.  If you want to make the IAD from .5 to 0 you must put in .0001. By convention if the IAD is zero the valuation model will pick up the value stored in our database.

Val Date

The trade date you want to analyze your hedge

 

The lower part of the screen presents the results of our calculations - cash-flows and hedge-breakeven (left side) and theoretical valuation and indicative information (right side). We present below a table explaining each output from the convertible hedge calculator, followed by a more detailed explanation of some of the results.

 

 

 

Cash & Carry Outputs

Definition

Finance

This is the cost of financing the convertible position at the current price using the financing rate over the carry horizon.  Finance = Finance Rate X Convert Position X Convert Price X Horizon.  Example:

14660 = .015 X 1000 X (970) X 1.00756

Rebate

This is the rebate on the short stock position using the rebate rate over the carry horizon. Rebate = Rebate Rate X Stock Position X Stock Price X Horizon.   Example:  3,332= .0075 X 20,985 X 21.1 X 1.00756

Income

The Income is the sum of the coupon payments received from the long convert position over the carry horizon net of accrued interest.

Dividends

The Dividends is the sum of the dividends paid out on the short stock position over the carry horizon

Carry Value

This is the sum of the Finance, Rebate, Income, and Dividends.  

Carry Value = (Finance) + Rebate + Income + (Dividends)

11,341=(14,660) + 3,332 + 22,669 + 0

Capital Used

This is the estimated capital in dollars using the capital rules and rates.

Net Carry Value

This is the Carry in dollars if one assumes Capital is free.

 Net Carry Value = Carry Value + [Capital Used X Finance X Horizon]

14,540= 11,341 + (211,633 X .015 X 1.00756)

Static Ann ROC

Static Ann ROC full is the annualized return on capital assuming that the capital cost is the same as Finance cost. Static Ann ROC net is assuming capital is free.

Ann ROC(Carry-PtPrem)

Annualized Return on Capital if the convertible trades at input point premium on the horizon date.  Full is assuming cost of capital same as finance rate and Net is assuming cost of capital is zero.

Theta Value

Theta Value is the estimated decay/acceleration in the value of the convertible over the carry horizon in dollars.  See Commentary below for more details.

Ann ROC(Carry+Theta)

Ann ROC(Carry + Theta) is the annualized return on capital including the estimated decay/acceleration in the value of the convertible over the carry horizon.

 

Weekly P&L

Weekly P&L Full is the estimated weekly P&L after the Carry + Theta on the position to meet the target ROC assuming cost of Capital is the same as financing rate.  The Weekly P&L Net is the estimated weekly P&L after the Carry + Theta on the position to meet the target ROC assuming the cost of Capital is zero.

 

Required Volatility

Volatility need to be realized from gamma trading after the Carry + Theta on the position to meet the target ROC.  See below for commentary.

Convert Points

The convertible needs to richen by this many points over the carry horizon to meet the target ROC after Carry + Theta on the position.

Exp. Gamma P&L

Potential gamma P&L if assumed volatility is realized. P&L = Position * Gamma1% * (Conversion Ratio / Fx) * Stock Price * 0.5 * (VolAssump/100)^2 * (days to horizon/365)

 

 

 

Outputs-Breakeven

Definition

At Par-Stock Price

If the stock price reaches the level listed and the convertible goes to par/accreted value, the P&L will go to zero using the current hedge.

At Par-Parity

Parity calculated based on the stock price above

At Par-Premium

The Conversion Premium for zero P&L for the above stock price

At Par-Points

The Point Premium for zero P&L for the Parity above

At Parity-Stock Price

If the stock reaches this level and the convertible trades with zero premium, the P&L will be zero using the current hedge. 

At Parity-Parity

Parity calculated based on the stock price above 

 

For more information on Breakeven see the commentary below

 

 

Outputs-Leverage

Definitions

Market Value Convert

The total market value on your convert position.  Market value Convert = (Convert Price)(Convert Position)(10)

Market Value Stock

Total market value on your stock position Market Value Stock= (Stock Position)(Stock Price)

Capital Used

The Capital used is the estimated capital in dollars using the capital rules and rates.

Leverage

Leverage = Convert Market Value/Capital Used.  For example, if you want a leverage of 4, then put the Convert Capital both to “Flat” and the % stock to 25 and the other box to 0 %.  This will give you a leverage of 4.

 

 

More Details:

 

Full Carry Vs Net Carry

 

Depending on your financing situation, you should choose either full carry or net carry. If you are part of an institution such as a bank where the financing is charged on the entire long position, you should use the full carry. If you are a hedge fund with margin treatment from the prime broker, and your perspective is the expected profit-and-loss, you may want to use the net carry. This is because, the prime broker will calculate the margin requirement based on your agreement with them and will charge the financing only on the portion of the long that you borrow. While using the net carry gives you a more accurate estimate of profit-and-loss, it also makes the cost of capital zero, which may not be appropriate if your perspective is other than profit-and-loss.

 

Theta

 

The static cash-flow analysis assumes that on the horizon date the stock price is unchanged, and so is the convertible price. To be realistic we have to take into consideration the convertible’s bond value accretion as well as option value decay over time. We estimate this value (theta) by calculating the expected market price for the convertible on the horizon date based on the current implied spread, stock price, and volatility assumption. The difference between the current convertible price and the estimated market price on the horizon date is theta.  This calculation takes into account both the accretion of the bond value and decay of the option value.

 

Required Volatility

 

We estimate the required volatility from the weekly profit-and-loss requirement to reach the target return on capital. The calculation assumes that you are trading stock for a 1% move in the stock price based on the gamma of the convertible and that the stock price is volatile around the current price. The weekly profit-and-loss requirement itself is based upon your finance and rebate rates, capital deployed, and carry horizon. In the market however, the stock price is more likely to deviate higher or lower from the current levels, and your capital requirements will change as a result. The theoretical valuation model on the other hand does not know anything about your horizon date, and leverage, but takes into account the entire structure of the convertible such as call, put, and exercise schedules, etc; current yield curve; volatility and credit spread assumptions and uses market’s expectation of forward rates, and stock prices based upon probabilities. Given the vastly different set of assumptions used to calculate the required volatility based on cash-flows and the theoretical market implied volatility, they are apples and oranges and should not be compared. One should look at both the volatilities in the proper context and make investment decisions.  

 

Breakeven At Par (Crosses Par)

 

The breakeven-at-par calculates the stock price that gives a zero profit-and-loss effect using the current hedge if the convertible trades at par/accreted value. Using this stock price we also compute the conversion premium. Some market participants use this metric to analyze how heavy the hedge should be, if they want to setup a bearish hedge or want to hedge for potential deterioration of credit spread as the stock prices decline. The idea is to challenge if the convertible is likely to trade at the crosses-par premium, and refine the hedge. While one can question the sanctity of the convertible trading at par as the stock is declining, this metric is useful for analyzing comparable convertible securities on a hedged basis.

 

Breakeven At Parity

 

The breakeven-at-parity calculates the stock price that gives a zero profit-and-loss effect using the current hedge if the convertible trades at parity, i.e. zero conversion premium. This metric is useful in analyzing hedged convertible positions when the convertible is currently callable or callable in a few months. Since many CFOs tend to wait for the parity to cross 10%-15% over the call price before calling their convertibles for redemption as a cushion, the market also tends to trade on that basis as we get close to the call date. Therefore, on a hedge basis, a breakeven parity of 110 is less risky than a breakeven parity of 140 because if the stock rises, the risk of premium collapse also increases, and will adversely affect both the long and the short sides. Of course, this does not help assess the risk of cash calls in low interest rate environments. This metric is also useful in analyzing the risk from a cash takeover. If the company of the underlying stock is taken over for cash at a low-to-moderate premium and the convertible is trading at a high premium because of long call protection (option value), the risk is evaporation of conversion premium as the option is abruptly terminated. The breakeven at parity gives a threshold for the take over stock price on the current hedge. If you have a view on the likely take over level for the stock price, you can refine the hedge to minimize the takeover risk.

 

Examples for Capital Calculations:

We took two securities one with a low conversion premium and one with a high conversion premium and compared the two with the different capital rules.

 

NCEN 3.5% 2008   Premium: 9.58 Hedge: 77 Stock Price: 40.86 Convert Price: 128.658

Convert Rate: 15%   Stock Rate: 15% Point Premium: 11.24

 

EW 3.875% 2033   Premium 61.98 Hedge: 53 Stock Price: 34.69 Convert Price: 102.799

Convert Rate: 15%   Stock Rate: 15% Point Premium: 39.33

 

Capital Rules

NCEN- Low Premium

NCEN Leverage

EW-High Premium

EW

Leverage

BrkDlr Rule

Lesser of Convertible Rate on Convertible Market Value + Stock Rate on Stock Market Value OR Point Premium on Hedged Portion + Convertible Rate On unhedged portion

 

130,967

9.82

204,657

5.02

Flat

Convertible Rate on Convertible Market Value + Stock Rate on Stock Market Value

 

328,603

3.92

204,657

5.02

PtPrm+

Entire Point Premium + Convertible Rate on unhedged portion

156,827

8.20

465,807

2.21

PtPrm25C

Point Premium on hedged portion with a cap of 25% of hedged Convertible Market Value + Convertible Rate on unhedged portion

130,947

9.83

208,686

4.93

10-30

10% of hedged portion + 30% of unhedged portion

 

187,835

6.85

199,422

5.16

PtPrm15C

Point Premium on hedged portion with a cap of 15% of hedged Convertible Market Value + Convertible Rate on un-hedge portion AND a floor of 2.5% on the total Convertible Market Value.

 

130,967

9.82

154,199

6.67

 

 

If you have any questions regarding the Hedge Calculator please give us a call 201.796.4900.

 

 

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