As per title, what’s the functional difference between swaps and cash settled futures, esp in a situation where a swaps market already operates using standardised contract sizes?
In: 3
The main difference is the treatment and nature of the underlying asset.
1) In a deliverable futures, the buyer will get the delivery of the asset purchased (say copper, nickel, frozen concentrated orange juice etc) These are generally actual assets or commodities.
2) In a cash settled futures, the buyer will get the cash equivalent of the price difference of the agreed value vs the spot value on settlement date. Eg. the buyer pays $10 to purchase 1 ton of nickel in 30 days for $1000. On settlement day if nickel prices increase to $1100, the seller pays buyer ($1100-1000) or buyer pays seller if prices decrease.
3) In a swap instrument, there may or may not be the exchange of the underlying asset or principal. Instead it might be a feature of the asset involved (say the interest rate). Swaps generally involve only financial assets.
In one way, it is possible to think of a cash settled future as a blend of a deliverables futures (actual “stuff”) and a swap (only monies). Sort of a halfway kind of thing.
The main difference is the treatment and nature of the underlying asset.
1) In a deliverable futures, the buyer will get the delivery of the asset purchased (say copper, nickel, frozen concentrated orange juice etc) These are generally actual assets or commodities.
2) In a cash settled futures, the buyer will get the cash equivalent of the price difference of the agreed value vs the spot value on settlement date. Eg. the buyer pays $10 to purchase 1 ton of nickel in 30 days for $1000. On settlement day if nickel prices increase to $1100, the seller pays buyer ($1100-1000) or buyer pays seller if prices decrease.
3) In a swap instrument, there may or may not be the exchange of the underlying asset or principal. Instead it might be a feature of the asset involved (say the interest rate). Swaps generally involve only financial assets.
In one way, it is possible to think of a cash settled future as a blend of a deliverables futures (actual “stuff”) and a swap (only monies). Sort of a halfway kind of thing.
The main difference is the treatment and nature of the underlying asset.
1) In a deliverable futures, the buyer will get the delivery of the asset purchased (say copper, nickel, frozen concentrated orange juice etc) These are generally actual assets or commodities.
2) In a cash settled futures, the buyer will get the cash equivalent of the price difference of the agreed value vs the spot value on settlement date. Eg. the buyer pays $10 to purchase 1 ton of nickel in 30 days for $1000. On settlement day if nickel prices increase to $1100, the seller pays buyer ($1100-1000) or buyer pays seller if prices decrease.
3) In a swap instrument, there may or may not be the exchange of the underlying asset or principal. Instead it might be a feature of the asset involved (say the interest rate). Swaps generally involve only financial assets.
In one way, it is possible to think of a cash settled future as a blend of a deliverables futures (actual “stuff”) and a swap (only monies). Sort of a halfway kind of thing.
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