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.

George C. Chacko is an associate professor at Harvard Business School (HBS) in the finance area. He is also a managing director at IFL in New York. Professor Chacko’s work has focused on transaction costs and liquidity risk in capital markets, portfolio construction by institutions and individuals, and the analysis and application of derivative securities. He holds a Ph.D. in business economics from Harvard University and dual master’s degrees in business economics (Harvard University) and business administration (University of Chicago). He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Anders Sjöman is a senior researcher for Harvard Business School at its Paris-based Europe Research Center. He works across management disciplines throughout Europe, conducting research and developing intellectual material for HBS. He is an M.Sc.-graduate of the Stockholm School of Economics in his native Sweden, and initially specialized in information management and international business.

Hideto Motohashi is a manager in the Financial System Division at NTT COMWARE Corporation. He is currently consulting with financial institutions to help them introduce risk management systems. He completed the Advanced Study Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a fellow. He holds a master’s degree in international management from Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Keio University, Japan.

Vincent Dessain is executive director of the Europe Research Center for Harvard Business School, based in Paris. The center he runs works with HBS faculty members on research and course development projects across the European continent. He holds a law degree from Leuven University (Belgium), a business administration degree from Louvain University (Belgium), and an MBA from Harvard Business School.