Transition from LIBOR to compounded rates affects swaptions with non-vanilla payoffs and exotic transformations.
Discrepancy in pricing between physical delivery and cash-settled options due to differences in underlying rates and convexity adjustments.
Deep dives
Challenges in Transition: Vanilla Swaptions Become Exotic
The transition from LIBOR to overnight compounded rates with spreads has complex implications for swaptions due to different conventions and frequencies. The replacement process involves curve calibration and interpolation, resulting in non-vanilla aspects like square roots in option payoffs, leading to exotic transformations.
Differences in Pricing: Physical vs. Cash Settled Options
The shift to fallback rates has caused a discrepancy in pricing between options with physical delivery and cash-settled ones. Physical delivery involves multiple payments linked to LIBOR fallback, while cash settled results in a single payment calculated from the swap rate, introducing a nonlinear function and differences in underlying rates.
Convexity Adjustment Impact on Legacy Contracts
The mismatch in annuities between LIBOR swaps and cash settlements leads to convexity adjustments affecting contract values. The convexity adjustment involves applying a nonlinear annuity due to transitioning rates, resulting in non-natural payments and impacting pricing of products like CMS and futures, particularly for market makers managing large volumes of swaps.