Northcross Capital, a U.K. structured products investment manager which launched operations in May last year, is considering using credit derivatives to hedge a pipeline of ABS CDOs. Jason Van Praagh, partner, said single-name credit-default swaps could be brought into play to hedge the bonds in these structured deals, the first of which is a USD20 billion asset-backed commercial paper conduit the group is launching in the next few months. "Credit derivatives will be further down the road, but they are definitely in the pipeline," he said, adding, "We have the expertise here to do it".
Van Praagh also noted his firm will also look to use interest rate and currency swaps to hedge any maturity or currency mismatches. Details of swaps have not been finalized and no trades have yet been closed. Praagh said there were no foreseeable barriers to extensive use of derivatives by the firm.
