Swaps have long been a key investment instrument for alternative managers, offering a range of opportunities for those seeking to enhance returns. In particular, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) reports that equity swaps have grown significantly over the last decade, driven by the increasing globalization of markets and the desire for more diverse investment strategies.
Alternative managers can leverage equity swaps' versatility to expand market access and create innovative approaches to generate alpha. However, while swaps provide significant flexibility and risk management advantages, they come with complex workflows that can be challenging to align with firms’ listed equity holdings.
This lack of alignment can reduce the potential benefits that swaps can offer.
In this post, we will explore the challenges firms face when managing swaps and examine how evolving technology is streamlining these processes and allowing firms to fully realize the benefits of this key investment strategy.
In today’s complex financial markets, asset managers rely on derivatives like equity swaps to enhance leverage, improve cash management, and gain discreet market exposure. While these instruments offer flexibility in portfolio management, they also come with inherent challenges due to their lack of transparency.
Unlike traditional equity holdings, swaps represent contractual agreements between two parties governed by standardized contracts such as the ISDA Master Agreement. Because of this, integrating swaps into an investment strategy brings its own set of nuanced workflows that can be difficult to align with the more straightforward nature of listed equity holdings.
For example, some positions are held physically, while others are synthetic, designed to mimic the performance of traditional assets without direct ownership. This variation complicates the firm’s ability to fully understand its exposure and manage investments across the entire portfolio.
But as firms manage different separately managed accounts (SMAs) and comingled funds, maintaining transparency is crucial—especially when determining whether they are trading on swap and when they are allocating for equity holdings.
To navigate these complexities, asset managers need technology that provides full transparency across their strategies, including equity swaps. By gaining a clear view of physical and synthetic positions, firms can better manage their overall exposure and ensure a more informed investment strategy.
To realize the full potential of equity swaps, investment firms must accurately understand the true costs of their positions.
However, the nature of swaps makes it difficult to assess these costs.
The multiple cash flow components (or legs) of equity swaps involve paying interest on the notional amount while settling the price movement in the underlying asset. Frequent resets, financing payment obligations, and the need for accurate tracking add significant complexity to managing open swap positions, often requiring painstaking hands-on management.
In addition, some equity swap contracts demand constant maintenance to ensure proper accounting for financing accruals, resets, unwinds, and cashflows, adding more manual processes and further complicating swap management.
These manual processes are not just time-consuming; they also come with significant risk. They can increase the risk of errors in tracking P&L, overlooked financing costs, or missing reset events, all of which can lead to discrepancies in NAV calculations.
Inaccurate NAV and cash flow reporting affect more than internal accounting—it can undermine investor confidence and lead to compliance issues with regulatory bodies.
Given these risks, many funds are turning to automated solutions. The ideal solution allows users to define a few contract details upon opening a swap position and then lets those details drive automated events that properly track PnL, expenses, and cash requirements throughout the swap life cycle.
This real-time tracking of mark-to-market (MTM) performance and financing expenses minimizes the potential for human error or delays.
Real-time tracking is crucial for ensuring accurate valuations and mitigating the risk of lag or misstatements. Automated solutions allow funds to respond instantly to market shifts, maintaining up-to-date valuations without manual intervention.
The intricacies of managing equity swaps extend beyond trading strategies, posing significant challenges for back-office operations.
At the heart of these complexities lies the ISDA Master Agreement, a flexible contract framework that includes various "levers" for financial swaps. This agreement encompasses essential risk management tools, such as collateral requirements and default provisions, designed to protect both parties involved in the swap.
However, the features that make swaps flexible also raise concerns for investment firms, particularly in financial calculations. Accurately determining the total costs associated with a swap—including financing costs and expenses owed to the counterparty—is crucial. This process often involves finalizing or "crystallizing" accrued financing costs as they accumulate.
Furthermore, when firms execute regular payments—be it monthly, quarterly, or according to a negotiated schedule—they must also account for any short-term realized gains or losses from the underlying equities. These two components—financing costs and performance fluctuations—are managed in a single transaction, adding another layer of complexity.
It's also important to note that corporate actions affecting the underlying investment, such as reorganizations, return of capital, or dividend payments, can impact swap holders differently, depending on the terms and conditions of the ISDA. Despite not owning the underlying asset directly, swap holders still benefit from these actions, further complicating accounting and reporting processes.
For back-office teams, managing these intertwined processes manually can be daunting and time-consuming. As a result, there is a growing need for automated systems that efficiently track balances or "rests" related to these transactions. An automated approach not only enhances timeliness and accuracy in reporting but also allows back-office professionals to shift their focus to other critical areas of the business, ultimately improving operational efficiency.
SS&C has a long history of developing technology to support our clients' needs, including the complex nature of swaps.
Looking ahead, our technology will not remain static; we'll be rolling out additional features that cater to the complexities of swaps and the demands associated with managing them.
Upcoming enhancements include technology to:
Whether it is swaps or other complex investment strategies, learn how SS&C technology can be a resource for your firm.