An overview of portfolio insurances : CPPI and CPDO

Derivative instruments attempt to protect a portfolio against failure events. Constant proportion portfolio insurance (CPPI) and constant proportion debt obligations (CPDO) strategies are recent innovations and have only been adopted in the credit market for the last couple of years. Since their introduction, CPPI strategies have been popular because they provide protection while at the same time they offer high yields. CPDOs were only introduced into the market in 2006 and can be considered as a variation of the CPPI with as main difference the fact that CPDOs do not provide principal protection. Both CPPI and CPDO strategies take investment positions in a risk-free bond and a risky portfolio (often one or more credit default swaps). At each step, the portfolio is rebalanced and the level of risk taken will depend on the distance between the current value of the portfolio and the necessary amount needed to full all the future obligations. In a first step the functioning of both products is studied in depth concluding with drawing some conclusions on their risky-ness.