Exchange-traded Products Research Articles

Celebrating 10 Years of ETFs in Europe

This article is a comprehensive report on the history and outlook for the exchange-traded fund industry in Europe. It covers both ETFs and exchange-traded products (ETPs). ETFs are open-end index funds that provide daily portfolio transparency, are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks on a secondary basis, and utilize a unique creation and redemption process for primary transactions. ETPs are products that have similarities to ETFs in the way they trade and settle, but they do not use a mutual fund structure. The use by ETPs of other structures, including grantor trusts, partnerships, notes, and commodity pools, can create different tax and regulatory implications for investors when compared to ETFs.

Use of Interest Rate Derivatives in Securitization Transactions

In this article, the authors review the use of interest rate derivatives in securitization transactions for hedging and yield enhancement. Three types of interest rate derivatives commonly used in securitizations are interest rate swaps, interest rate caps, and interest rate corridors. Because these derivatives are over-the-counter or dealer products, not exchange-traded products, they expose the trust to counterparty risk. The authors discuss how counterparty risk is managed in securitizations, including the use of a rating trigger and methods for determining swap termination payments.