Publications

May 2005 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Nexgen: Structuring Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)

A client asks Luc Giraud, CEO of the structured finance solutions provider Nexgen Financial Solutions, to put together a solution that allows the client to add AAA-rated bonds to its portfolio. The client cannot find suitably priced top-rated bonds in the market and... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk and Uncertainty; Debt Securities; Bonds; Financial Services Industry

November–December 2000
Article

Gurus in the Garage

By: Dorothy Leonard and Walter C. Swap

21 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Making Credibility Your Strongest Asset

said yes. Once Rovell recruited a celebrity, that person often would cheerfully give him another star's direct line. Rovell quickly built an impressive Rolodex. You can succeed without explicitly swapping favors. Tapes of the show... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler

February 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Enron Corp.: - Credit Sensitive Notes

This case investigates an innovative bond issue by Enron. The coupon on the bond is indexed to the company's credit rating, making it a credit derivative structure. View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Bonds; Energy Industry

05 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 5

takes in the matter of two U.S. Treasury bonds with identical maturity dates but widely different yields. He must decide what to do next. Purchase this supplement:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/211050-PDF-ENG Fixed Income Arbitrage in a Financial Crisis (C): TED... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2013 (Revised April 2017)
Supplement

Maxum Petroleum, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

Maxum seeks an oil-price hedging strategy that yields substantial cash during oil price spikes, is affordable under ordinary circumstances, and is easily managed. It is striving to avoid a repeat of the challenging situation encountered in 2008 when spiking oil prices... View Details

Keywords: Hedging; Options; Commodities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Strategy; Volatility

04 Apr 2005
What Do You Think?

Can an Organization’s “Deep Smarts” Be Preserved?

Summing Up This month's column appears to have struck a chord with those who lament the continuing loss of implicit knowledge buried inside the heads of experienced leaders (termed "deep smarts" by Dorothy Leonard and Walter View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

multiple). Main focus is to assess this as an entrepreneurial venture. Students do not need to be familiar with REITs. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/810102-PDF-ENG Saginaw Parts Co. and the General Motors Corp. Credit Default View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Mar 2017
Research & Ideas

Hiding Products From Customers May Ultimately Boost Sales

Retailers routinely swap out the products they display to customers. It’s called assortment rotation, and it’s a popular business strategy for many brick-and-mortar and online stores alike. Retailing trends such as “fast fashion” (think... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Fashion

February 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Primus, 2007

Primus is a credit derivative product company. How will they weather the credit crisis of 2007? View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Credit; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry

March 2005 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Morgan Stanley and TRAC-X: The Battle for the CDS Indexes Market

Morgan Stanley's credit derivatives business, specifically its collateralized debt obligation (CDO) business, has been hugely successful. One of its leading offerings is the TRAC-X product, jointly created and marketed by Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan. However, a new... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Product; Competition; Capital Markets; Financial Services Industry

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Bright Ideas: The Creative Power of Groups

Business School Press), a new book by HBS professor Dorothy Leonard and Professor Walter Swap of Tufts University. The authors not only disprove the stereotypical perception of group creativity as an oxymoron but show how the group... View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

September 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Banque Paribas: Paribas Derives Garantis

In March 1993, the management of Paribas Capital Markets is making a final review of the proposal to set up Paribas Derives Garantis (PDG), a special-purpose subsidiary of Compagnie Financiere de Paribas (CFP), that would guarantee derivative products offered by Banque... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Business Subsidiaries; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

New Paths to Success in Asia

(Nolan will document management lessons from the recent experience of dot-com companies in a forthcoming book, dot vertigo.) An interest in the concept of mentor capitalism brought HBS Professor Dorothy A. Leonard and Professor Walter View Details

Keywords: by Alejandro Reyes & Deborah Blagg

13 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

How Government can Discourage Private Sector Reliance on Short-Term Debt

suppose the government were to cut the maturity by half, to fifty-one days. To offset the change in duration, the Treasury would have to swap approximately $52 billion of ten-year bonds for twenty-year bonds. This represents only about... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Financial Services

July 1998
Article

New Derivative and Hedging Accounting Standard

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Accounting; Standards

May 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Background Note

Note on Credit Derivatives

Provides the basic underlying model for credit risk analysis, as well as covers basic credit risk derivatives, such as asset swaps, credit default swaps, total return of rate swaps, and credit spread options. View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk and Uncertainty; Credit

09 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 9

http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/709495-PDF-ENG Wal-Mart's Use of Interest Rate Swaps Harvard Business School Case 108-038 "Wal-Mart's Use of Interest Rate Swaps" recounts Wal-Mart's use of interest rate View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Ticonderoga: Inverse Floating Rate Bond

Presents a simple interest hedging exercise. A hedge fund is considering an investment in a structured fixed--income product: an inverse floating-rate bond, or inverse floater, designed by a U.S. investment bank. The hedge fund's normal policy is to hedge interest rate... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Bonds; Investment Funds; Interest Rates