In the very early days of Hedgebook, the software was developed solely as a derivative valuation tool. Over time, additional functionality was introduced to include a suite of reports. The reporting supports both the day-to-day administration of the treasury function such as cashflow and accrued interest reports from an interest rate management perspective, as well as strategic/decision making tools.
In the latest release of the software we have focused on enhancing the debt module. A significant number of the Hedgebook client base has debt of one kind or another. The debt is a combination of short and long term instruments e.g. term borrowing, commercial paper, floating rate notes and fixed rate bonds. For corporate clients the bank is the main source of funding
For Councils there is also the LGFA (Local Government Funding Agency). The LGFA can lend to New Zealand Local Government on a fixed or floating rate basis across the yield curve. Historically funding from the LGFA has been for longer dated maturities but has recently introduced a short term funding facility, too. Says LGFA’s CEO Mark Butcher, “It is encouraging to see tools like Hedgebook developed for the Local Government borrowing community. With over $5.5 billion currently outstanding to Councils across New Zealand, the LGFA draws confidence that these liabilities can be managed with a degree of sophistication.”
It is important for Hedgebook to cater to the wide and varied funding sources available to the corporate and Local Government sectors, therefore, the HedgebookPro system has been expanded to accommodate the majority of debt instruments available through financial markets to Hedgebook users. In doing so, Hedgebook is further reducing the need for companies/Councils to rely on external spreadsheets for managing treasury matters.
As well as adding a level of general risk management rigour around the capture and reporting of debt, the software’s latest module will provide functionality that cannot be achieved through spreadsheets. For example, automatically rate-setting floating rate instruments against the underlying BKBM reference rate and applying the appropriate credit margins which in turn flows through to the cashflow and interest accrual reports.
Hedgebook will continue to be developed in a practical and useful manner and remain easy to use. Oh, did we mention it’s cheap low cost? Why not get in touch for a demo?