Just posting in order to archive "Constant proportion debt obligations" appraisal in 2006... Are yield-starved credit investors over-indulging in leverage? âConstant proportion debt obligationsâ are the latest must-have for those dissatisfied with the paltry returns from traditional investments. CPDOs take credit exposure in the derivatives market of up to 15 times the amount invested. The complex structures involve selling credit default swap protection on corporate credits using, for example, European iTraxx index contracts. Piling on leverage amplifies a meagre return of roughly 0.25 per cent a year to nearer 4 per cent. That covers the cost of the transaction, a healthy return to investors and a cushion. Meanwhile, investorsâ money is in the bank earning interest. Early deals promised buyers a whopping 2 percentage point premium over Libor on structures that, partly thanks to the return cushion, were rated triple-A. f everything goes smoothly, leverage falls as the instrument accumulates excess returns. Once it is sufficiently well funded to pay everyone over the instrumentâs life of, say, 10 years, it holds just cash. But the reverse is also true. If a CPDO makes losses because of unexpected defaults or a worsening credit outlook, leverage can rise, up to a cap, in an effort to âwin backâ any shortfall. If the market goes the wrong way, that amounts to throwing good money after bad. That has not deterred investors. Their appetite for CPDOs and other credit exposure has driven the cost of protection on the iTraxx and the comparable US CDX index to fresh lows â making the potential returns from new CPDOs slightly less generous, unless even higher leverage is employed. Credit derivative spreads have, unusually, fallen below risk premiums on the bonds that underlie them. This ânegative basisâ presents bond investors with a genuine arbitrage â the opportunity to buy bonds, hedge the exposure almost perfectly with derivatives, and still earn a return. But it also reflects investorsâ quest for yield, almost irrespective of risk. Even the clever structuring behind CPDOs will not shield their owners from the pain of a turn in the credit cycle. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6cfc690e-6dc5-11db-8725-0000779e2340.html In case thatâs not bitter irony enough, cast your mind back to when CPDOs first hit the scene and they were the next big thing. ABN Amro structured the first CPDO back in August 2006. Steve Lob, global head of structured product credit marketing at ABN then said they were, â¦the most exciting development in credit investing since the single-tranche [collateralised debt obligation]. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2007/11/28/9228/the-cpdo-imminent-unwind/
Being more concerned with return "on" principal instead of return "of" principal is a good way to get in trouble.