NOTE 2 — SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
event occurs, as defined under the terms of that particular swap agreement, a Portfolio will either (i) receive from the seller of protection an amount equal to the notional amount of the swap and deliver the referenced obligation, other deliverable obligations or underlying securities comprising the referenced index or (ii) receive a net settlement amount in the form of cash or securities equal to the notional amount of the swap less the recovery value of the referenced obligation or underlying securities comprising the referenced index. Recovery values are assumed by market makers considering either industry standard recovery rates or entity specific factors and considerations until a credit event occurs. If a credit event has occurred, the recovery value is determined by a facilitated auction whereby a minimum number of allowable broker bids, together with a specified valuation method, are used to calculate the settlement value.
Implied credit spreads, represented in absolute terms, utilized in determining the fair value of credit default swap agreements on corporate issues or sovereign issues are disclosed in each Portfolio’s Portfolio of Investments and serve as an indicator of the current status of the payment/performance risk and represent the likelihood or risk of default for the credit derivative. The implied credit spread of a particular referenced entity reflects the cost of buying/selling protection and may include upfront payments required to be made to enter into the agreement. For credit default swaps on asset-backed securities or credit indices, the quoted market prices and resulting fair values serve as the indicator of the current status of the payment/performance risk. Wider credit spreads and increasing fair values, in absolute terms when compared to the notional amount of the swap, represent a deterioration of the referenced entity’s credit soundness and a greater likelihood or risk of default or other credit event occurring as defined under the terms of the agreement.
The maximum amount of future payments (undiscounted) that a Portfolio as seller of protection could be required to make under a credit default swap agreement would be an amount equal to the notional amount of the agreement. These potential amounts would be partially offset by any recovery values of the respective referenced obligations, upfront payments received upon entering into the agreements, or net amounts received from the settlement of buy protection credit default swap agreements entered into by a Portfolio for the same referenced entity or entities.
For the period ended June 30, 2023, Balanced and Intermediate Bond bought credit protection on credit default swap indices (“CDX”). A CDX is a basket of credit instruments or exposures designed to be representative of
some part of the credit market as a whole. Balanced and Intermediate Bond used CDX swaps to hedge the credit risk associated with various sectors within the credit market.
For the period ended June 30, 2023, Balanced and Intermediate Bond had an average notional amount of $2,460,000 and $65,569,973, respectively, on credit default swaps to buy protection. Please refer to the tables within the Portfolio of Investments for Intermediate Bond for open credit default swaps to buy protection at June 30, 2023. Balanced did not have any open credit default swaps to buy protection at June 30, 2023.
Interest Rate Swap Contracts. An interest rate swap involves the agreement between counterparties to exchange periodic payments based on interest rates. One payment will be based on a floating rate of a specified interest rate while the other will be a fixed rate. Risks involve the future fluctuations of interest rates in which a Portfolio may make payments that are greater than what a Portfolio received from the counterparty. Other risks include credit, liquidity and market risk.
For the period ended June 30, 2023, Balanced and Intermediate Bond had entered into interest rate swaps in which they pay a floating interest rate and receive a fixed interest rate (“Long interest rate swap”) in order to increase exposure to interest rate risk. During the period ended June 30, 2023, Balanced and Intermediate Bond had average notional amounts of $8,173,761 and $237,974,328, respectively, on Long interest rate swaps.
For the period ended June 30, 2023, Balanced and Intermediate Bond had entered into interest rate swaps in which they pay a fixed interest rate and receive a floating interest rate (“Short interest rate swap”) in order to decrease exposure to interest rate risk. During the period ended June 30, 2023, Balanced and Intermediate Bond had average notional amounts of $8,764,780 and $255,561,911, respectively, on Short interest rate swaps.
Balanced and Intermediate Bond entered into interest rate swaps to adjust interest rate and yield curve exposures and to substitute for physical fixed-income securities. Please refer to the tables within the Portfolio of Investments for open interest rate swaps at June 30, 2023.
At June 30, 2023, Balanced and Intermediate Bond had pledged $300,000 and $4,051,000, respectively, in cash collateral for open centrally cleared swaps.
P. Indemnifications. In the normal course of business, the Registrants may enter into contracts that provide certain indemnifications. The Registrants’ maximum exposure under these arrangements is dependent on future claims that may be made against the Portfolios and, therefore,