Webinar | Convertible Bond Pricing

Thursday 9th November 2017

Our asset management audience have indicated to us that the valuation of convertible bonds is of special interest to them. There are over 100 convertible bond public mutual funds, and these instruments are also widely held in private equity and hedge funds. Private firms use convertibles regularly as part of their financing techniques and convertible arbitrage is a perennially popular hedge fund strategy.

Our conversations with the valuation teams at these funds suggest that there is some dissatisfaction with the quality and transparency of some of the pricing coming from the current vendors providing such services. It is not always clear how the valuations are produced, and the price levels are frequently wide of the mark.

This webinar addressed this question, looking at the theory and methodology for pricing convertible bonds and how this should be deployed in practice. It will be of use to all investment professionals involved in valuing these complex instruments.

Agenda

• Introduction: Convertible Bonds in Funds | Ian Blance, Voltaire Advisors
• Separation Anxiety: Valuing Convertible Bonds | Harris Antoniades, Stout
• Evaluating Convertible Bonds | Moti Konak, Thomson Reuters
• Audience Q&A

This webinar and associated Special Report is part of our Current Issues in Valuation series, which looks at the challenges and topical issues of valuation in a range of asset classes.

Ian Blance | Managing Director, Voltaire Advisors

Ian Blance is Managing Director of Voltaire Advisors. Ian has over 30 years’ experience in the financial markets focused on research and valuation of securities and derivatives. He is a regular commentator on valuation and risk issues in the media and a frequent conference speaker. In his earlier career Ian developed and ran securities valuation operations for two of the five major information vendors and has provided consulting services for the others. Ian spent 4 years as Head of Evaluated Pricing for SIX Financial Information, based in Zürich, Switzerland and 12 years with Interactive Data Corporation, setting up and building their fixed income valuations business in London and subsequently becoming Managing Director of the market leading Evaluated Pricing unit in New York. Before Interactive Data, Ian was an economist and senior bond strategist in investment banking.

Harris I. Antoniades, PhD, CFA | Managing Director, Valuation Advisory, Stout

Harris Antoniades is a Managing Director at Stout and leads the complex securities & financial instruments practice with over 20 years of experience in complex securities and derivatives valuations, advance financial analytics, and risk management issues. Harris' valuation experience encompasses a broad range of asset classes, including all types of derivatives, structure products, fixed income securities, and share based awards for financial and tax reporting purposes. He has also provided valuation advisory services to public and private companies, boards of directors, and other fiduciaries in connection with strategic planning, merger & acquisition investment decisions, bankruptcy and reorganization, shareholder disputes, and other corporate, tax and litigation related matters.

Moti Konak | Head of Derivative and Convertibles Evaluations, Thomson Reuters

Moti Konak is the Global Head of Derivative and Convertible Evaluations at Thomson Reuters Pricing Service. He is responsible for the daily net present calculations of all derivatives asset classes. These values are used for portfolio evaluation, client statements, margin, and research. Over the past twenty years, Moti has held management positions in convertible bond evaluations and bank loan evaluations as well as roles in database design, software development, and research. Moti holds Master of Business Administration in Finance and a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems from Baruch College (CUNY).