Jot Yau

Are the U.S. Stock Market and Credit Default Swap Market Related?: Evidence from the CDX Indices

This article examines the market-wide relations between the U.S. stock market and the credit default swap (CDS) market for the period 2001–2007. Results indicate that the lead-lag relationship between the U.S. stock market and the CDS market depends on the credit quality of the underlying reference entity. Specifically, this article finds significant mutual feedback of information between the stock market and the high-yield CDS market in terms of pricing and volatility, while the stock market leads the investment-grade CDS index in the pricing process. The CDS market seems to play a more significant role in volatility spillover than the stock market. That is, volatilities of both the investment-grade and high-yield CDS indices seem to lead the stock market volatility, while the latter has a feedback effect to that of the high-yield CDS market only. Overall, the implication is that market participants should seek information in both markets when they are about to engage in trading and/or hedging

The Inefficient Stock Market: What Pays Off and Why

In this issue, two books are reviewed which offer differing views regarding adding value in financial markets or institutions: Robert Haugen, The Inefficient Stock Market (2nd edition, Pearson Education [2002]) and Emmanuel Acar, ed., Added Value in Financial Institutions (Pearson Education [2001]).

Do Hedge Fund Managers Display Skill

This study uses monthly data on 115 hedge funds for the seven-year period 1994–2000 to examine performance after accounting for target market indices and illiquidity effects. We find that the excess return on hedge funds is so small relative to the survivorship bias that it can be considered trivial, a finding suggesting no manager skill. Results also indicate that higher moments of returns do not appear to have a significant impact on the performance measure with excess returns. Incentive fees have significant positive effects on excess returns using the simple CAPM, but not on excess returns adjusted for illiquidity effects using the Dimson model. In addition, incentive fees appear to motivate hedge fund managers to reduce the systematic risk. Management fees, fund size, fund age, and leverage are important factors in explaining excess returns, but not in determining contemporaneous or lagged market betas.

Do Credit Default Swaps Predict Currency Values

Using daily data of four currencies (Japanese Yen (JPY), Euro (EUR), British Pound (GBP) and Australian Dollar (AUD)) in terms of the US Dollar (USD), and JPY, USD, GBP and AUD in terms of the EUR from January 2004 to February 2008, we examine the lead–lag relationship between the Credit Default Swap (CDS) market and the currency market. Results indicate significant Granger-causality effects flowing from changes in both the North American investment-grade (IG) and high-yield (HY) CDS indices to changes in the JPY, EUR and AUD exchange rates in terms of the USD for the whole period and during the credit crisis of 2007 to 2008. However, for the four currencies in terms of the EUR, significant Granger-causality of the credit risk is found only in the AUD. Our results indicate that changes in CDS index spreads signal important carry-trade information for some currencies, but not others.

Recent Policy Changes Toward the Internationalization of the Renminbi: A Review

This article reviews the ongoing internationalization of the Chinese RMB and some policy changes related to capital flows across China. In particular, it discusses several recent economic reforms, including the Wenzhou experiment, the growth of cross-border banking, and the new currency zone in the Pearl River Delta region. It also considers the challenges facing Singapore, London, and Taipei as offshore RMB markets and the development of the dim sum bond markets in Hong Kong.

Offshore Renminbi-Denominated Bonds: Dim Sum Bonds

China, the second-largest economy in the world after the United States, has started the process of internationalizing its currency, the renminbi (RMB), to make it a global reserve currency. To this end, an offshore market for RMB-denominated bonds (dim sum bonds) has been established in Hong Kong to promote the use of the RMB in investments outside China. This market has grown rapidly to over RMB186.8 billion with 329 issues in less than five years. It is likely that the dim sum bond market will continue to grow because of Chinas efforts to internationalize its currency as a national policy.

Dim Sum Bonds: Do They Whet Your Appetite?

In this article, the authors use the Sharpe ratio and stochastic dominance to evaluate and compare the performance of dim sum bond index returns with equity and fixed-income benchmarks in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. The results indicate that dim sum bonds outperform almost all of the benchmarks studied, suggesting dim sum bonds to be a potential candidate for global portfolios.

The linkage of REIT income-and price-returns with fundamental economic variables.

This article examines the relation between changes in macroeconomic variables and returns of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Previous studies show that stock prices quickly absorb news from changes in macro-economic variables. This study examines the components of REIT total returns, income- and pricereturns, to gain a more detailed understanding of how macroeconomic variables affect the movement of these returns. Results using monthly data show that changes in macroeconomic variables have a significant impact on the volatility of the income portion of REIT returns and the news shocks from these variables impact income return volatility for more than one month in duration. These findings may assist REIT investors in their approaches to risk-management.

Effects of Sovereign Risk on Duration: Evidence from European and Latin American Sovereign Bond Markets

We examine effects of sovereign risk on bond duration in European and Latin American sovereign bond markets over the period 1996-2011. We compare the sovereign risk-adjusted duration for U.S. dollar-denominated sovereign bonds with their Macaulay duration for both investment- and speculative-grade bonds. We find that the sovereign risk-adjusted duration is significantly shorter than its Macaulay counterpart for all bonds, regardless of the bond rating and maturity. Further, the “shortening” effect of sovereign risk on duration is generally stronger among bonds of lower ratings. During the recent global financial crisis, the “shortening” effect was dampened for quality sovereign bonds. But the sovereign risk effect on duration was intensified for BBB and BB rated bonds, reflecting investors’ perception of increasing likelihood of default by issuing nations. Results are robust when CDS prices are used as a proxy for changes in sovereign risk. Moreover, the regional analysis shows that sovereign risk shortens duration much less for sovereign bonds issued by the EU and Latin American countries than for non-EU member counterparts. Our study demonstrates the importance of, and provides a practical guide for, bond portfolio managers to account for sovereign risk in managing interest rate risk exposure in their investments.

A Conceptual Framework for Instilling a Global Mindset in Business Students

ABSTRACT This article proposes a conceptual framework for instilling and fostering a global mindset among students of business in general and international business in particular. Students learning to become global managers must first have an open mindset and be aware of changes in themselves. When managers encounter problems at a global firm, they need to consider the unique situations that cause problems and create appropriate solutions. Different settings or environments require different approaches, reflecting the complexity of heterogeneity and indeterminacy in decision-making. We suggest pedagogical methods for teaching international business by instilling a global mindset in business students.