bonds – BSIC | Bocconi Students Investment Club

From Bailouts to Buyouts: The New Face of U.S. Housing Finance

Download PDF Introduction The U.S. housing finance system revolves heavily around government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), and historically implicit and now explicit government guarantees through Fannie Mae [OTCMKTS: FNMA] and Freddie Mac [OTCMKTS: FMCC]. These entities have historically stabilized and facilitated mortgage lending by providing liquidity and guaranteeing mortgage-backed securities (MBS). However, Read more…

By BSIC, 2 months13 April 2025 ago

Corporate Finance

The Business of Universities

Download PDF Introduction Private Equity firms are known for investing in all types of businesses. Ranging from pet clinics and cookie brands to power transmission lines, over time funds have expanded their investment horizons to different asset classes. In the early 2000s private equity firms began investing in higher education, Read more…

By BSIC, 9 months29 September 2024 ago

Corporate Finance

Project Finance Bonds: Financing the Future

Download PDF Introduction & Background In a time marked by significant shifts in infrastructure demand driven by the energy transition and the development of new technologies, project finance has emerged as a pivotal financing mechanism. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the stricter regulation on banks and their lending requirements has Read more…

By BSIC, 2 years1 October 2023 ago

Markets

Bond Liquidity, Volatility and Basis Trading

Download PDF Introduction In 2022, rates traders have had to navigate a landscape of deteriorating liquidity in sovereign debt markets. Over the past few years, there have been multiple episodes of severe illiquidity in US Treasuries and related markets. Firstly, US repo rates spiked in September 2019, with intraday secured Read more…

By BSIC, 3 years13 November 2022 ago

Markets

The Emerging Markets Dark Tunnel

Download PDF Introduction Emerging Markets Debt is making a comeback in Google search bars. The term refers to sovereign bonds issued by less-developed countries. In fact, the words “debt” and “emerging” are closely linked: debt permits a country to raise fresh capital and with that to grow towards standards reflected Read more…

By BSIC, 3 years2 October 2022 ago

Markets

Pairs Trading: Building a Backtesting Environment with Python

Download PDF Introduction Statistical arbitrage is a class of trading strategies that profit from exploiting what are believed to be market inefficiencies. These inefficiencies are determined through statistical and econometric techniques. Note that the arbitrage part should by no means suggest a riskless strategy, rather a strategy in which risk Read more…

By BSIC, 3 years24 April 2022 ago

Markets

WHAT DRIVES CREDIT? Understanding the Cross Section of Expected Corporate Bond Returns

Download PDF Abstract While the literature investigating risk premia driving the cross section of stock returns is extensive, fewer studies analyze corporate bond returns. We set out to understand which factors and firm characteristics command a premium in terms of expected returns on corporate bonds, both in the investment grade Read more…

By BSIC, 3 years10 April 2022 ago

Markets

Market Recap 28/11/2021

Download PDF USA The US main index dropped sharply on Friday, after the Thanksgiving session, following a new Covid variant thread found in South Africa. “This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the WHO said on Friday. The new variant is still under examination, Read more…

By BSIC, 4 years28 November 2021 ago

Markets

Hunting for Yield and Equity in the Corporate Hybrids World

Download PDF Introduction By typing “hybrid” in the Google search bar, the first results that come out are hybrid cars and their cutting-edge technology that is revolutionizing the automotive sector. If, on the other hand, the same question is made to a bond trader, the first thought that springs to Read more…

By BSIC, 4 years26 September 2021 ago

Markets

Riding the yield curve

Download PDF Introduction Traditionally, the carry factor has been associated with a trading strategy in the FX markets. For decades, practitioners and academics have thoroughly studied the phenomenon by which currency speculators were regularly profiting from deviations from the uncovered interest parity condition. Borrowing in a low-interest rates currency Read more…

By BSIC, 5 years8 November 2020 ago

Markets Old Articles

Green Bonds Boom

Introduction In this article, we will try to provide an insight on green bonds, a quickly growing new star of impact investing trends in the world. A total of US$580bn in green bonds were sold up to the year 2018, and at least another US$170bn more are expected to be Read more…

By BSIC, 6 years24 November 2019 ago

Markets Old Articles

Bored of expensive blue chips? Try EM bond market instead!

Introduction The low-interest rate environment which has characterised the markets since the breakout of the financial crisis left fixed-income investors with one way to continue to benefit from high yields: emerging markets. In addition to this, China started a credit expansion in order to keep the levels of GDP growth Read more…

By BSIC, 7 years18 February 2018 ago

Commodities Currencies Equity Indices Fixed Income Markets Old Articles

Market Recap 19-02-2017

United States On the week ended February 17, 2017, US stocks closed at record highs as investor sentiment remains positive given the possibility of changes to US corporate tax structure, as well as the likely loosening of regulations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 1.4% to 20,624, while the Read more…

By BSIC, 8 years19 February 2017 ago

Macroeconomy Markets Old Articles

The new (old) high correlation

Empirical evidence suggests that correlation between asset classes tends to spike during a period of market crisis, because investors panic and sell indiscriminately. This phenomenon is usually short-lived and correlation returns to a normal level as the market stabilizes. During the 2008 financial crisis, this effect was amplified by a Read more…

By BSIC, 10 years17 October 2015 ago

Currencies Fixed Income Markets Old Articles

Shadow Banking in China: wounds are yet to come

The Emerging Markets sell-off of late January highlighted the importance of the Chinese economy in the global markets and the instability of its financial sector. China has pulled global growth in the last decade, attracting investments, exporting goods all over the world and financing businesses and governments, especially the US. Read more…

By BSIC, 11 years29 March 2014 ago