Credit Default Swap (CDS)
A credit default swap transfers defined reference-entity credit risk through premium payments and settlement after a covered credit event.
Compare credit default, equity, total-return, variance, and volatility swaps by payoff, reference exposure, financing, and settlement risk.
Credit, equity, total-return, and volatility swaps transfer different kinds of economic exposure. A credit default swap responds to defined credit events, an equity or total-return swap exchanges market performance for another payment leg, and a variance or volatility swap settles from a volatility formula.
These contracts are not interchangeable. Start by identifying the reference asset or index, what event or measurement creates payment, and whether the position transfers price return, income, credit-event loss, variance, or volatility.
| Article | Use it to answer |
|---|---|
| Credit Default Swap (CDS) | How are protection premiums exchanged for settlement after a defined credit event? |
| Index CDS | How does standardized credit protection reference a basket or index rather than one entity? |
| Equity Swap | How is share, basket, or equity-index performance exchanged for financing or another return? |
| Total Return Swap (TRS) | How are price change and defined income exchanged for a financing leg without necessarily transferring ownership? |
| Variance Swap | How does realized variance settle against a fixed variance strike? |
| Volatility Swap | How does realized volatility settle directly against a volatility strike? |
An investor receiving total return on a bond index generally receives defined coupon income and price appreciation, pays price depreciation, and pays a financing leg. Losses can arise from spread widening before any default occurs.
A CDS protection buyer instead pays premium for contractual protection tied to specified credit events and settlement rules. It does not receive the bond’s ordinary positive total return merely by holding the CDS.
This section is educational and does not provide personalized derivatives, investment, accounting, legal, tax, valuation, credit, or hedging advice.
Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.
A credit default swap transfers defined reference-entity credit risk through premium payments and settlement after a covered credit event.
An equity swap exchanges a stock, index, or basket return for financing or another return, creating equity exposure without direct ownership.
An index CDS transfers credit risk on a standardized basket through premium payments and constituent credit-event settlement.
A total return swap exchanges an asset's price change and income for financing, transferring economic exposure without necessarily transferring ownership.
A variance swap pays on the difference between annualized realized variance and a fixed strike, creating convex exposure to volatility.
A volatility swap pays on the difference between annualized realized volatility and a fixed strike, using a defined currency amount per volatility point.