Credit Derivatives: A Primer on Credit Risk, Modeling, and Instruments

The credit risk market is the fastest growing financial market in the world, attracting everyone from hedge funds to banks and insurance companies. Increasingly, professionals in corporate finance need to understand the workings of the credit risk market in order to successfully manage risk in their own organizations; in addition, some wish to move into the field on a full-time basis. Most books in the field, however, are either too academic for working professionals, or written for those who already possess extensive experience in the area. Credit Derivatives fills the gap, explaining the credit risk market clearly and simply, in language any working financial professional can understand. Harvard Business School faculty member George C. Chacko and his colleagues begin by explaining the underlying principles surrounding credit risk. Next, they systematically present today's leading methods and instruments for managing it. The authors introduce total return swaps, credit spread options, credit linked notes, and other instruments, demonstrating how each of them can be used to isolate risk and sell it to someone willing to accept it.