Payer Swaption Direction and Its Delta Hedge
Summary
A payer swaption gives its holder the right to enter a swap in which fixed is paid and floating is received. The discussion clarifies the option’s rate and bond-price interpretation: a payer swaption behaves like a call on the future swap rate and a put on a bond price. This helps resolve the apparent sign confusion that arises when describing swaps as bought or sold.
For a long payer swaption, the answer says the delta hedge is a received-fixed swap position, equivalent in the stated bond analogy to holding a long bond. The replies recommend describing swap positions by whether fixed is paid or received, since long and short terminology can be ambiguous. The explanation is conceptual and does not give a numerical delta, hedge ratio, or account of changes in sensitivity over time; those require contract and market details.
Key ideas
- A payer swaption is a call on the future swap rate and a put on a bond price.
- The payer exercises into a swap where it pays fixed and receives floating.
- A long payer swaption is delta hedged with a received-fixed swap position.
- Paying or receiving fixed is clearer than calling a swap long or short.
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Full text
# Buying a delta hedged payer swaption # Buying a delta hedged payer swaption If I/Client buy a European payer swaption, I understand that I gives me the right to pay the fixed rate at the strike level at maturity and receive a floating rate with an IRS- I expect interest rates to rise. Is this equivalent to say that a payer swaption is a PUT swaption / option? i.e. right to sell the fixed-to-float swap (and by convention, short a fixed-to-float swap means Client pays the fixed leg / receives floating leg). By this logic, if I trade a delta-hedged payer swaption, I would expect to be long the payer swaption, and short the underlying - i.e. short the forward fixed-to-float swap -because the delta of a PUT is negative. Is that correct and what will be the directions of the legs of the swap for the hedge? ## Answer by user35980 (score 1) https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/78196 It's a bit confusing to use the terms long and short when it comes to interest rate swaps (it doesn't make much sense to "buy" or "sell" a swap anyway) - particularly in the context of bonds and the inverse price/yield relationship. Payed or received (always referring to the fixed leg) is better terminology for swaps. Suffice it to say: - Short bond $\equiv$ payed swap $\equiv$ make money when yields rise (prices fall) - Long bond $\equiv$ received swap $\equiv$ make money when yields fall (prices rise) - payer swaption $\equiv$ call on yield $\equiv$ put on price $\equiv$ put bond option - receiver swaption $\equiv$ put on yield $\equiv$ call on price $\equiv$ call bond option So if you're long a delta-hedged payer swaption: you're long a call on yield (put on price) and the delta-hedge is a received position on the swap ($\equiv$ long position on a bond). ## Answer by Randor (score 0) https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/78204 A payer swaption can be thought of as a call on the future swaprate, and is also a put on a bond price (with coupon the swaption's fixed rate).
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This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.