msci - what if greece leaves the euro june 2015
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
WhatIfGreeceLeavestheEuro?StressTestingtheGreekExitScenarioUsingMSCIRiskManager
CarloAcerbi,ZsoltSimon,VivekSridhar,ThomasVerbraken
June2015
IntroductionAsthefinancialpresswondersaboutapotentialGreekexitfromtheeuro,thispaperexaminesapossibleoutcomeforfinancialmarketsbyemployingaGreekExit(Grexit)stresstestusingMSCIRiskManager.1Thisstresstestscenario,aswellasitsoutcomeonselectedexampleportfoliosintheIllustrationsection,demonstratesthepotentialimpactofaGreekexitonthemarketsoutsideGreecebyusingthesocalledRiskManagerspredictivestresstesttool.2Thescenariodesignisbasedonthefollowingguidelines:
Aminimalsetofcorefactorswaschosentospreadtheshockacrossmarkets,illustratingcauseandeffect,notonlycorrelation.
Apropagationofcorefactorshockswasbasedonaregressionperformedinasimilarturbulentperiod,i.e.,theEuropeanSovereignDebtcrisis,fromDecember2011toMay2012.
Therelativemagnitudeofcorefactorshockswasstudiedviaaprincipalcomponentanalysisofthechosenperiod,withafewadditionalshocksadjustedtoaccountforchangesinfactorexposuretoGreecesinceMay2012.
ThispaperoutlinesourrecommendedGreekExittestscenarioaswellasthereasonsbehindthetestingdesign.
TheGreekExitScenarioTheimplicationsforGreeceofaeurodeparture(referredtoasGrexit)illustratedbythehypotheticalstresstestwouldbedramatic.Inthisillustrativescenario,Greecewouldadoptanewcurrency,whichimmediatelyexperiencesaseveredevaluation.Herearethemajorpotentialramificationsofsuchascenariointhisexample:
AllGreekpublicandprivatedebtorswouldbeunderstressastheystruggletorepayeurodenominateddebtwhiletheirincomestreamsaredenominatedintheNewGreekcurrency,potentiallyleadingtodefaultforvirtuallyalloutstandingbonds.
Greekequitieswouldnotbesparedeither.Foraforeigninvestor,thecompoundeffectofthecurrencydevaluationandadropinequitypricescouldleadtomassivelossesonGreekequity.
1Thisisanillustrativescenario,notMSCIspredictionofhowaGreekexitwouldplayout.2RiskManagerhasseveraltoolsforstresstesting.Thepredictivestresstesttoolismeanttodescribethepropagationoftheshocksofalimitednumberofchosenriskfactorsacrosstherestofthemarkets.
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
TheeffectontheEuropeanandglobaleconomywouldprobablybelimited,astheGreekeconomyissmallrelativetothetotaleurozone.Globalfinancialmarkets,however,wouldexperienceincreasedturbulence.StocksoffinancialinstitutionswithexposuretoGreekdebtlikelywouldsuffer,aswouldequitymarketsingeneralasaflighttoqualityensued.
InEuropeanbondmarkets,yieldsofperipheralcountries(Italy,Spain,Portugal)wouldincreaseduetofearsofcontagion.TheyieldsofGermanBundsandothercorecountrieslikelywoulddrop,againduetoflighttoqualityeffects.Finally,theeurowoulddepreciateasfundswillflowoutofEurope.
DesigningaGreekExit(Grexit)StressTestTwoDesignChoicesTheproposedMSCIRiskManagerstresstestconsistsoftwomajorparts:GreeceandWorldexGreece.TheeffectonGreeceismodeledwithacompositestresstest3thatconsistsof:
AJumptoDefaultstresstestforallGreekbonds,bothsovereignandcorporate Ageneral80%shockonallGreekstocks
FortheWorldexGreecescenario,weuseapredictivestresstest.Tospecifyapredictivestresstest,weneedtodefinethesetofcorefactorsandshockmagnitudes,togetherwiththeestimationwindowandthereturnhorizonusedfortheregression.IntheEuropeexGreecepredictivestresstest,wechosetoshockthefollowingcorefactors:
Italian5Ygovernmentyield:+200bps Portugal5Ygovernmentyield:+200bps German5Ygovernmentyield4:46bps EurostoxxBanksindex:25%
WeusedtheestimationwindowfromDecember1,2011toMay31,2012,andworkedwithweeklyreturns.Inthenextsectionwemotivatethesechoices.
3SeetheRiskMetricsStressTestingGuideformoreinformationonthecompositestresstest.4Thisshockwouldproducenegativerates,asofJune30,2015.Dependingonhowtheinstrumentismodeled(negativeratesallowedornot),thismayleadtointerestratessetwithaminimumlevel.
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
RationaleBehindtheDesignChoicesEstimationWindowandReturnHorizonWhenmodelingaGreekexitstresstest,weenvisionedashockofamagnitudethattypicallycorrespondstolargerreturnhorizonswithleadlageffectsoftheorderofdays.Therefore,itwasnotadvisabletousedailyreturnsfortheregressionbutlongerreturnhorizonsinstead.Whenthereturnhorizonistoolarge,ontheotherhand,therearetoofewindependentobservationsintheestimationwindow.Hence,weeklyreturnsareanaturalcompromise.Fortheestimationperiod,wewentbacktoearly2012inthedepthsoftheEuropeanSovereigncrisis(sparkedbyGreecesfinancialproblems).TheGreek5YGovernmentyieldpeakedduringthisperiod,ascanbeseeninExhibit1.TheyieldreacheditshighestvalueattheendofMay2012,whichistheendofourestimationwindow.TheCDSmarketofGreeksovereigndebtfroze(CDSquotesstopped)inMarch2012whenGreecerestructureditsgovernmentdebtheldbyprivatecreditors.DuetothecomovementbetweenthegovernmentyieldandthesovereignCDSspreadandduetothelimitedliquidityoftheCDSduringthecrisisperiod,wedecidedtouseperipheralyieldsinsteadofperipheralCDSspreadsinthedefinitionofthestresstest.Forthestartoftheestimationwindow,welookedattheevolutionofcorrelationsthroughoutthecrisisperiod,asshowninExhibit2.Wewantedrelativelystablecorrelationsthroughouttheestimationwindow.TherewasashiftinmanycorrelationsaroundDecember2011,whichiswhywechosethatpointasthestartoftheestimationwindow.
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
Exhibit1:Greece5YGovernmentYieldandtheCDSSpreadoftheGreekGovernment
Source:Reuters,CMA,Markit.
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GreeceGovernmentPostExchangeBenchmarkZeroCMAGreece(Senior,CR03)CDSMarkitHellenicRep(SNRFOR,CR)CDS
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
Exhibit2:RollingCorrelationofItalian5YGovernmentYieldwithotherEuropeanYields
Source:Correlationswerecalculatedbasedon5YgovernmentyielddatafromReuters.
CoreFactorSelectionThedefaultofGreekgovernmentandcorporatedebtwouldcauseperipheralyieldstospikeduetofearofcontagion.TheconsequentflighttoqualitymaypotentiallyleadtotighteningGermanyieldsandaweakeningeuro.,ThestockpriceofbanksthatareexposedtoGreekdebtwouldalsobeunderpressure.Theaimofourtestwastomodelthoseeffectswithalimitednumberofcorefactors,whicharethenpropagatedtootherriskfactorswiththepredictivestresstest.WerepresentedtheyieldsofperipheralEUcountriesbytheItalian5YGovernmentyield,whichisingeneralcorrelatedwithotherperipheralcountriesyields(seeExhibit3).ThecorrelationwithSpain,theotherlargeperipheralEUeconomy,wasespeciallyhigh.Tocapturethechangeofthecorecountriesyields,weincludedtheGerman5Yyield.Finally,weshockedtheEurostoxxBanksIndextomodelthenegativereturnofthefinancialstocks.
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1 GermanGovernmentDebtBenchmarkZeroCouponSpanishGovernmentDebtBenchmarkZeroCouponFrenchGovernmentBenchmarkZero
GreeceGovernmentPostExchangeBenchmarkZeroHungarianGovernmentDebtBenchmarkZeroCouponIrishGovernmentDebtBenchmarkZeroCouponItalianGovernmentBenchmarkZero
PolishGovernmentDebtBenchmarkZeroCouponPortugueseGovernmentDebtBenchmarkZeroCoupon
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
Exhibit3:CorrelationBetweenEuropeanYields
Source:Correlationswerecalculatedbasedon5YgovernmentyielddatafromReutersbetween[date]and[date].MagnitudeofShocks:NoEuropeanCatastropheAccordingtoouranalysis,theseverityofcontagionthroughtheeurozoneperipheralcountrieswaslesspronouncedthanin2012whentheprevioussovereigndebtcrisisoccurred.Thereason:Portugal,Italy,SpainandIrelandmadeimportantstepsinthelastthreeyearstobuildmorestableeconomiesandtominimizetheimpactofafuturecrisis.Exhibit4showsthehistoryofthebetaofEuropeangovernmentyieldscomparedtotheGreekgovernmentyield.Notethatin2015theGreekbetashavebeenmuchlowerthantheywereinpreviousyears.ThedirectionoftheshocktotheGermanyieldandtotheEuropeanbankingstocksisderivedfromaprincipalcomponentanalysis(PCA)performedonthecorrelationmatrixofweeklyriskfactorreturnsovertheestimationperiod,asthefirstprincipalcomponentgavethemostplausibledirectionofashock.ThecorrelationbetweenaselectedsetofriskfactorsisshowninExhibit5,whereastheoutcomeoftheprincipalcomponentanalysisisshowninExhibit6.Thecorrelationduringtheestimationwindowwasasweenvisionedinourstresstest,i.e.,iftheItalianyieldincreases,thentheeurowoulddepreciate,equitywoulddrop(especiallythebankingsector),theGermangovernmentyieldwoulddecreaseandperipheralgovernmentyieldswouldincrease.5Thefirstprincipalcomponentshowedthesamedirectionofshocksonthecorefactors.Hence,wemodeledtheGrexitscenariobyusingtheabovementionedestimationwindowfromDecember1,2011toMay31,2012andappliedashockinthedirectionofthefirstprincipalcomponent.WesettheItalian5Ygovernmentyieldshockat+200bps,andshockedtheGerman5Ygovernmentyieldaccordingtothedirectionofthefirstprincipalcomponent.AstheItalianyieldincreasedby200bpsoverthelastthreemonthsoftheestimationperiod,wethinkthatthisshocksizeisreasonable.FortheEurostoxxBanksindex,wedidnottakethemagnitudeassuggestedbythePCA,butwescaledtheshockdown,basedonthecurrentlylowercorrelationwiththeItalian5Yyield.Thereason:backin2012,banksweremuchmoreexposedtoGreekgovernmentdebt,whiletodaygovernmentshavetakenovermuchofthisdebt.
5Thiswastheresultofthespecificchoicewemadefortheriskfactorsandtestperiod.Differentchoicesmayyieldmateriallydifferentresults.
GermanGovt5Y
SpanishGovt5Y
FrenchGovt5Y
GreeceGovt5Y
HungarianGovt5Y
IrishGovt5Y
ItalianGovt5Y
PolishGovt5Y
PortugueseGovt5Y
GermanGovt5Y 1.00SpanishGovt5Y 0.03 1.00FrenchGovt5Y 0.24 0.47 1.00GreeceGovt5Y 0.24 0.35 0.12 1.00HungarianGovt5Y 0.25 0.24 0.31 0.20 1.00IrishGovt5Y 0.11 0.44 0.19 0.40 0.18 1.00ItalianGovt5Y 0.21 0.69 0.41 0.21 0.26 0.40 1.00PolishGovt5Y 0.13 0.45 0.30 0.24 0.45 0.32 0.54 1.00PortugueseGovt5Y 0.18 0.22 0.01 0.07 0.13 0.09 0.12 0.00 1.00
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
Exhibit4:Rollingbetaof5YEuropeanGovernmentYieldstothe5YGreekGovernmentYield
Source:betaswerecalculatedbasedon5YgovernmentyielddatafromReuters.Exhibit5:CorrelationBetweenSelectRiskFactors
Exhibit6:PrincipalComponentAnalysis.
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GermanGovt5Y SpanishGovt5Y FrenchGovt5YGreekGovt5Y HungarianGovt5Y IrishGovt5Y
RiskFactor Vol CorrelationEuro 1.26 1.00 0.50 0.57 0.38 0.36 0.17 0.38 0.04EUROSTOXX50Index 2.59 0.50 1.00 0.86 0.63 0.32 0.26 0.55 0.07EUROSTOXXBanksIndex 5.59 0.57 0.86 1.00 0.60 0.42 0.18 0.67 0.06DEMGovt60M 0.10 0.38 0.63 0.60 1.00 0.03 0.24 0.21 0.18ESPGovt60M 0.34 0.36 0.32 0.42 0.03 1.00 0.35 0.69 0.22GRDGovt60M 1.85 0.17 0.26 0.18 0.24 0.35 1.00 0.21 0.07ITLGovt60M 0.35 0.38 0.55 0.67 0.21 0.69 0.21 1.00 0.12PTEGovt60M 1.79 0.04 0.07 0.06 0.18 0.22 0.07 0.12 1.00
RiskFactor PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 PC7 PC8Euro 0.36 0.07 0.13 0.03 0.90 0.02 0.18 0.07EUROSTOXX50Index 0.46 0.20 0.03 0.16 0.21 0.55 0.23 0.56EUROSTOXXBanksIndex 0.48 0.13 0.19 0.10 0.16 0.23 0.07 0.79DEMGovt60M 0.33 0.47 0.25 0.33 0.09 0.69 0.11 0.08ESPGovt60M 0.32 0.53 0.06 0.34 0.02 0.29 0.64 0.05GRDGovt60M 0.21 0.18 0.90 0.18 0.02 0.17 0.19 0.10ITLGovt60M 0.41 0.30 0.26 0.17 0.33 0.23 0.67 0.18PTEGovt60M 0.00 0.56 0.05 0.82 0.07 0.01 0.02 0.02
PCvol 1.89 1.22 0.96 0.88 0.78 0.53 0.47 0.33PercExpl 45 19 11 10 8 4 3 1
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
AsecondimportantobservationisthatthePortuguese5Yyieldwasnotshockedinthefirstprincipalcomponent,mostlikelyduetoidiosyncraticeventsaffectingPortugalduringtheestimationwindow.InordertoproperlycapturethepotentialcontagioneffectonPortugal,weaddPortugal5Ygovernmentyieldtooasacorefactorandshockitby200bps.Insummary,weproposedthefollowingshocksinourtest:
Italian5Ygovernmentyield:+200bps Portugal5Ygovernmentyield:+200bps German5Ygovernmentyield:46bps EurostoxxBanksindex:25%
Inthenextsectionweapplythestresstesttotwosampleportfolios.
IllustrationToillustratethisproposedstresstest,weappliedourGreekexitscenariotoasampleportfolioreplicatingtheMSCIACWIIndex100%andtoasampleportfolioconsistingofgovernmentbondswithamaturityof10years.ThepredictedreturnaswellasthestandarderrorarebrokendownbycountryandareshowninExhibit7.Fortheequityindexbasedportfolio,weseeanegativereturnforallcountries,wherebytheseverityofthedropdependsontheproximitytoGreece,e.g.,Spain(aperipheralcountry)andAustria(whoselargestcompaniesarebanks)experiencerelativelylargedrops.AlsonotethattheGreekequitydrops80%inpriceand,sinceitisnotpartofthepredictivestresstest,thereisnostandarderrorforGreece.Whilethegovernmentbondsinperipheralcountrieswouldexperienceadropinvalueinthisillustration,corecountries,suchasGermanyandtheNetherlands,wouldgainvalue,aswellasothercountriesoutsidetheeurozone(e.g.,theU.S.,GreatBritain),whichgenerallybenefitfromflighttoqualityeffects.Greeceitselfwouldexperiencedefaultacrosstheboard.NotetheimplicationsforPortuguese,ItalianandCypriotdebt:
ThepricedeclineinthePortuguesebondismuchlessthanthepricedeclineintheItalianbond,eventhoughboth5Ygovernmentyieldshavebeenshockedwith200bps.Thisismainlycausedbythedifferentbetaoftherespective10Ygovernmentyieldstothe5Yyield.ForItaly,thebetaofthe10Yyieldtothe5Yyieldis0.70,whereasforPortugalthisisonly0.33.Asaresult,thePortuguese10yearbondsuffersless.
ThereisanextremepredictedreturnwithlargestandarderrorforCypriotdebt.ThereasonisthatCypruswassufferingitsownfinancialcrisisin2012andweshouldnotextrapolatefromthatperiod.Instead,forportfolioscontainingCypriotassets,wemaywanttoaddanadditionalcorefactorforCyprusorstressthoseassetsinadifferentway.
Thesetwoexamplesillustratethatoneshouldexercisecarewithstresstests,especiallywhenusingpredictivestresstesting.Itmaybenecessarytocustomizethestresstestforindividualusecases.
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WHATIFGREECELEAVESTHEEURO?JUNE2015
Exhibit7:StressTestResultsforMSCIACWIandaSampleGovernmentBondPortfolio.
ConclusionAstheGreekdebtcrisisdrivesapotentialexitfromtheeuro,weproposeaRiskManagerstresstesttomodeltheimpactofaGreekexitscenarioonfinancialassets.GiventhedifferentscenarioimplicationsonGreeceversustheWorldexGreece,wedesignedtwodifferentstresstests.OurtestsassumesthatinGreece,equitywouldsufferheavily,andvirtuallyallbondsdefault.TheimpactonEuropeandtheworldwouldbecausedbyfearofcontagionandasubsequentflighttoquality.Theseeffectsledtowideningperipheralyields,tighteningcorecountryyields,aweakeningeuroandadownwardpressureonequity,inparticularfinancialstocks.However,thetestresultsindicatedthattheimpactwouldnotbedevastatingfortheeurozone.
MSCIAWCI(selectcountries) BondportfolioCountry deltaPV deltaPVSE Country deltaPV deltaPVSEAT 20.9% 1.4% AT 0.5% 0.7%AU 2.3% 1.1% BE 2.5% 0.8%BE 9.9% 1.0% CY 22.0% 17.9%CZ 9.2% 1.2% DE 4.9% 0.2%DE 10.2% 1.1% ES 7.4% 1.0%DK 7.7% 1.2% FI 3.8% 0.3%ES 14.0% 0.9% FR 0.3% 0.6%FI 11.2% 1.6% GB 5.3% 0.5%FR 10.7% 1.0% GR 20.4%GB 6.6% 1.0% IE 2.3% 0.8%GR 80.0% IT 11.5% 0.5%HU 18.4% 2.4% JP 7.2% 0.9%IE 7.9% 1.1% LT 3.6% 0.7%IT 18.6% 0.8% LU 2.9% 0.2%JP 0.5% 0.9% LV 1.3% 0.7%LU 7.6% 0.9% MT 0.1% 0.2%MT 3.5% 1.8% NL 4.8% 0.4%NL 6.8% 0.9% PT 5.7% 1.4%NO 7.8% 1.3% SI 4.5% 1.0%NZ 2.1% 1.0% SK 0.3% 0.7%PH 6.1% 1.6% US 7.7% 0.7%PL 11.0% 1.3%PT 11.4% 1.7%SE 11.9% 1.5%US 2.6% 1.0%TotalACWI 4.1% 0.9%
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