AFTERWORD
Econometrics, Finance and Football. . .
MOORAD CHOUDHRY TALKS TO HARRY CROSS1
Are you an academic who dabbles in banking or a banker who does a bit of academia in his spare time?
That’s easy! I’m an investment banker. I have been since I started out in 1989. There’s no question that that’s what I’ve always been and where my focus and expertise lies. But I’m happy to admit to more than a passing interest in the academic side of things, and I may well get into it formally later. I think working in both areas helps the practitioner, it assists creativity and innovation, and it makes one’s approach to analysis more robust. But my experience and background is rooted in banking; besides, my publishing record in academic journals wouldn’t do justice to a true academic!
Are credit derivatives financial weapons of mass destruction, or tools that have helped to mitigate risk and assist in the disintermediation of markets?
Ha, ha! You’re trying to start a debate going when really there isn’t one. Investing using cash or synthetic is just two sides of the same coin, and while I could go on for hours about the beauty and elegance of the credit default swap (CDS), all I’ll say is that having a liquid market in synthetic credit has made valuation and risk-reward assessment much more accessible and transparent compared to when we only had a cash market. The tail is now wagging the ...
