60

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

Chapter 5
An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)
This chapter provides an overview of three techniques used in asset/liability management
to deal with interest rate risk. The basic nature of interest-rate risk management is
discussed initially, including a treatment of asset management and liability management.
The influence of changes in interest rates on bank earnings is discussed conceptually and
with an example. This chapter then provides a discussion of the concept of the interest rate
Gap, including definitions of repricable assets and liabilities. The concept of asset and
liability sensitivity is defined and examples are given of the effects on changes in interest
rates on the earnings of an asset or liability sensitive bank are provided.
The second technique, the duration gap, focuses on the effects of interests rate
changes on the market values of assets and liabilities, and hence on the theoretical duration
value of equity. The theoretical duration value of equity must not be confused with the
market value of a banks stock. As such, duration focuses on the effects of changing
interest rates on the balance sheet, though the balance sheet measured in market value
terms rather than historical cost values. In the evolution of asset/liability management,
dollar gap preceded duration gap and is still most widely used (though more commonly in
a simulation format rather than a static one). Duration gap has become more prominent
recently, primarily due to pressure from the bank regulatory agencies to more accurately
measure the risk to the insurance fund in the event of the failure of the bank.
The third technique used for ALM is simulations. Simulations provide users with a
flexible tool that can incorporate dollar gap, duration, interest rate changes, volume
changes, and other parameters as desired. By doing so, it is possible to incorporate the
best of all interest rate risk techniques.
Finally, it is important to recognize that interest rate risk, credit risk, and liquidity are
correlated to some degree. This creates more of a problem for banks when interest rates
are rising sharply than when they are declining.
Outline of the Chapter
Asset/Liability Management
An Historical Perspective
Alternatives in Managing Interest Rate Risk
Balance Sheet Adjustments
Off-Balance Sheet Adjustments
Measuring Interest Rate Sensitivity and the Dollar Gap
Classification of Assets and Liabilities
Definition of the Dollar Gap
Asset and Liability Sensitivity
Gap, Interest Rates and Profitability
Incremental and Cumulative Gaps
Gap Analysis: An Example
Managing Interest Rate Risk with Dollar Gaps

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

Balance Sheet Adjustments

How Much Interest Rate Risk is Acceptable?
Aggressive Management
Defensive Management
Three Problems with Dollar Gap Management
Duration Gap Analsysis
Measurement of the Duration Gap
Interest Rates, the Duration Gap, and Market Value of Equity
Defensive and Aggressive Duration Gap Management
Problems with Duration Gap Management
Simulation and Asset/Liability Management
Correlation Among Risks
Credit Risk
Liquidity
Summary
Key Terms and Concepts
References
Questions
Problems
Key Terms and Concepts
Aggressive/Defensive management
Asset/liability management (ALM)
Core deposits
Cumulative gap
Dollar gap
Duration gap
Duration drift
Federal Home Loan Bank
Immunization
Interest rate futures contract
Interest rate swap contract
Maturity buckets
Nonrate-sensitive asset/liabilities
Rate-sensitive asset/liabilities
Relative gap ratio
Simulation
Stress testing

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

62

Questions
5.1

What is asset/liability management?

ANSWER: Asset/liability management is the coordinated management of the entire

portfolio of a financial institution. It considers both the acquisition of funds from various
sources and the allocation of funds to profitable investments. The traditional focus of ALM
has been on net interest income. However, it also considers market values, via duration.
Finally, simulations allow other aspects of risk management to be brought into the ALM
process.
5. 2

What is the difference between defensive and aggressive asset/liability

management?

ANSWER: The principal difference between these two strategies relates to their goals:
defensive asset/liability management attempts to insulate the financial performance of the
bank (measured either in terms of income or the market value of assets and liabilities) from
the effects of changing interest rates. Aggressive asset/liability management seeks to
increase income or the market value of equity by forecasting interest rates and adjusting
the portfolio to take advantage of the expected changes in rates.
5. 3

Why is it advantageous for banks to accept some amount of interest-rate risk?

How much interest-rate risk should a bank take?

ANSWER: Banks are in the business of managing risk. In their intermediation functions,
banks necessarily accept some degree of interest rate risk. If they took no interest rate risk
they would not be meeting the needs of their deposit and loan customers. Moreover, in the
increasingly competitive market for financial services, it is difficult if not impossible for a
bank to make an acceptable rate of return on assets or equity unless it takes some degree
of interest rate risk. While taking some degree of interest rate risk would seem to be
necessary for all banks, the exact amount of interest rate risk will vary substantially from
bank to bank with the risk preferences of management and also with the degree of
expertise of management in forecasting interest rate change and in making adjustments in
the banks portfolio.
5. 4

What kind of aggressive gap management would be appropriate if interest rates are
expected to fall?

ANSWER: A bank that uses dollar gap to manage its interest rate risk would want to shift
to a negative gap position in order to benefit from the falling rates. It could do this by
lengthening the maturity of its asset portfolio (making longer term, fixed rate loans, for
example, or buying longer term securities), and/or shortening the maturity structure of
liabilities (through, for example, borrowing more federal funds or selling more short term
certificates of deposit). From a duration gap perspective, bank management would want to
increase the maturity of assets and shorten the maturity of liabilities. If interest rate did

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

fall, the market value of assets would increase more than the market value of liabilities,
and the market value of equity will increase.
5. 5

Briefly explain the influence of rate, volume, and mix on net interest income.

ANSWER: The higher the interest rate on assets, the higher the net interest income. All
else is the same, the larger the volume of funds raised and invested, the larger the net
interest income. Finally, as the mix of sources of funds is shifted to lower cost instruments,
or as the mix of assets is shifted toward higher yielding loans and securities, the net
interest income increases.
5.6

Distinguish between the incremental gap and the cumulative gap. Why is this
distinction important?

ANSWER: The incremental gap measures the difference rate sensitive assets and rate
sensitive liabilities over increments of the planning horizon. The cumulative gap measure
this difference over a more extended period, i.e., it is the sum of the incremental gaps.
5.7

How would an increase (decrease) in interest rates affect a bank with a positive
dollar gap? Negative dollar gap?

ANSWER: With a positive dollar gap the bank would have more rate sensitive assets than
rate sensitive liabilities. As interest rates increase (decrease), the banks earnings on assets
(cost of liabilities) would rise faster than its costs of liabilities (earnings on assets) causing
an increase (decrease) in profits. The opposite relationships hold in the event of a negative
dollar gap. As rates rise, the banks profit would decline (rise).
5.8

If a bank has a positive duration gap and interest rates risk, what will happen to
bank equity? Explain your answer.

ANSWER: An increase in interest rates will lower the value of equity. The increase in
interest rates will reduce the market value of both assets and liabilities, but the market
value of assets will fall more than the market value of liabilities since the duration of assets
is longer than the duration of liabilities.
5.9

What is immunization in the context of bank gap management?

ANSWER: Immunization refers to the practice of structuring a banks portfolio so that its
net interest revenue and/or the market value of portfolio equity will not be affected by
changes in interest rates. Given the problems in implementing dollar (i.e., funding gap) or
duration gap, achieving perfect immunization is unlikely, though portfolio management can
minimize the effects of changing interest rates.
5.10

What assumptions are made in using duration gap analysis?

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

64

ANSWER: Duration gap analysis assumes that it is possible to compute a meaningful

measure of duration for each asset and liability item (an assumption that is often not valid)
and that accurate prediction of the change in the market values of each asset and liability
item may be made based upon anticipated changes in interest rates (but price changes are
only approximated by duration and then so with a large margin of error for large changes
in interest rates).
5.11

How should a bank change its dollar gap as the yield curve changes?

ANSWER: The bank should adapt a positive dollar gap strategy as interest rates rise. This
could be done by investing in more short term and/or floating rate assets and attempting to
lengthen the maturity structure of liabilities. The bank will benefit from the fact that assets
will reprice upwards faster than liabilities and from the fact that short term rates generally
rise faster than long term rates.
5.12

What is simulated asset/liability management? What benefit is it to a bank?

ANSWER: Simulation models allow the bank to forecast a goal variable (such as the net
interest income or the market value of equity) under different portfolio structures and
different interest rate assumptions. It enables the bank to examine its total balance sheet
and income statement under a wide variety of alternative scenarios. It thus allows
management to quantify the risk/return trade-offs involved in different strategies.
5.13

How is interest rate risk linked to liquidity risk? Give an example.

ANSWER: Interest rate risk and liquidity risk, while different concepts, are closely
related. Generally, though not always, a strategy that results in high interest rate risk
(though, for example, the deliberate mismatching of rate sensitive assets and liabilities) will
produce high liquidity risk. If management expected interest rates to fall and shifted into
long term fixed rate assets financial with short term liabilities, and if, instead, interest rates
increased, the net interest income of the bank would fall. Moreover, the bank might find it
difficult to meet the cash demands of its short term depositors since its assets have
depreciated in value and are difficult to liquidate.
5. 14 Explain your position on the following statement: Precise identification o the
repricing characteristics of each of the assets and liabilities of a bank is possible.
ANSWER: While identifying the repricing characteristics of assets and liabilities is crucial
to management of interest rate risk, there are a number of assets and liabilities for which
this is quite difficult. For example, any asset that is callable is difficult to measure in terms
of its repricing characteristics. Mortgages are perhaps the best example, whereby
prepayments change dramatically with interest rate changes. Also, while demand deposits
do not pay interest, the amount of demand deposits does vary with interest rate
movements.

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

5.15

The ALM committee of your bank is concerned about the recent trends in the
secondary market for CDs. Using monthly, weekly, and daily data from the Federal
Reserve Statistical Release H. 15, Selected Interest Rates (Available from the web
site http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/releases/), explain what has been happening to
interest rates.

ANSWER: See web site for the latest data. The H.15 contains monthly, week, and daily
interest rate data for selected series. It provides lots of opportunities for classroom
discussions.
Problems
5.1

Given the following information:

Assets
Rate sensitive
Nonrate sensitive
Nonearning

$
$3,000
1,500
500
$5,000

Rate
10.0%
9.0

Liabilities & Equity

Rate sensitive
Nonrate sensitive
Equity

$
$2,000
2,000
1,000
$5,000

Rate
8.0%
7.0

a. Calculate the expected net interest income at current interest rates and
assuming no change in the composition of the portfolio. What is the net interest
margin?
b. Assuming that all interest rates rise by 1 percentage point, calculate the new
expected net interest income and net interest margin.
ANSWER:
a. Net interest income = $3,000 (.10) + $1,500 (.09) $2,000 (.08)
$2,000 (.07)
= $435 $300
= $135
Net interest margin = $135/$4,500 = 0.03 or 3.0%
b. Net interest income = $3,0000(0.11) +$1,500(0.09) $2,000(0.09) = $145
Net interest margin = $145/$4,500 = 0.0322 = 3.22%
5.2

Given the following information

ABC National Bank
($ Millions)

Assets
Rate Sensitive

Liabilities and Equity

$200 (12%)

Rate Sensitive

$300 (6%)

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

NonRate Sensitive
Non Earning
Total Assets

400 (11%)
100
$700

NonRate Sensitive
Equity100
Total Liabilities and Equity

66

300 (5%)
$700

a. What is the GAP? Net Interest Income? Net Interest Margin? How much will
net interest income change if interest rates fall by 200 basis points?
b. What changes in portfolio composition would you recommend to management
if you expected interest rates to increase. Be specific.
ANSWER:
a. The gap is $-100 ($200 - $300). The net interest income is ($200) (12%) + ($400)
(11%) ($300) (6%) ($300) (5%) = $24 + $44 $18 $15 = $35. The net interest
margin is $35/$600 = 5.8%. If interest rates change (fall) by $200 basis points, the net
interest income would be ($200) (10%) + ($400) (11%) ($300) (4%)( ($300) (5%)
= $20 + $44 - $12 $15 = $37. This compares with a net interest income of $35
before the change in interest rates.
c. Given the existing portfolio, an increase in interest rates will reduce net interest
income. To prevent this from happening, management could shift $100 from nonrate
sensitive assets to rate sensitive assets or it could shift $100 from rate sensitive
liabilities to nonrate sensitive liabilities. This would reduce the gap to zero. If it moved
more than $100, it could create a positive gap and benefit from rising interest rates.
5.3

The ALCO has obtained the following information on the interest rate sensitivity of
your bank:

90 day Interest rate

Sensitive Assets
90 day Interest Rate
Sensitive Liabilities

Amount Rate
$80,000 8.0%
$120,0006.0%

The consensus of forecasting is for interest rates to increase by 50 basis points

during the ninety days. But a significant minority of forecasters expects rates to fall
by 50 basis points.
a. How could the bank eliminate its interest rate risk?
b. What could happen to net interest income if the minority forecast turned out to
be the correct one?
ANSWER:
a. The bank could eliminate its interest rate risk (under certain assumptions) by
increasing the amount of interest rate sensitive assets by $40,000 or reducing the
amount of interest rate sensitive liabilities by $40,000.
b. If the minority forecast turns out to be correct, and if the bank has made the
adjustments as in (a) above, then it would give up the gain that it would have realized
from the decline in interest rates.

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5.4

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

A bank recently purchased at par a $1,000,000 issue of U. S. Treasury bonds. The

bonds have a duration of 3 years and pay 6% annual interest. How much would the
bonds price change if interest rates fell from 6 percent to 5 percent? If interest
rates rose from 6 percent to 7 percent? What would your answer be if the duration
of the bond was 6 years?

ANSWER:
The price change if interest rates fell from 6% to 5% would (3) = + 2.83%. If interest
rates increased from 6% to 7%, the price change would be (3) (+1/1.06) = 2.83%. If
the duration of the bond were 6 years, the percentage change in price would be double
that just calculated (2) (2.83) or +5.66 for the decline in rates and 5.66 for the decline.
5.5

Calculate the duration gap of the following bank.

Assets

Liabilities/Equity

Amount
Cash
1000
U.S. Government
Securities 2000
Loans
l0,000
$13,000

Duration
(years)

Transaction
Deposits $3,000

%
Duration
4.0% 0.5

4.0%
8.0%

5.0
4

CDs
$9,000
Equity
1,000
$13,000

6.0% 4.0

Calculate the percentage and dollar change in the value of equity if all interest rates
increase by 200 basis points. How could the bank protect itself from this anticipated
interest rate change?
ANSWER:
DA = (5 yrs.)($2,000) + (4 yrs.)($10,000) = 3.1 yrs.
$13,000
DL = (0.5 yrs.)($3,000) +(4.0 yrs.)($10,000) = 3.2 yrs.
$12,000
DGAP = 3.1-(12/13)(3.2) = 0.2 yrs.
Change in the value of the equity

(0.02) [2/1,068] = -0.37%

Dollar change + -0.37($13,000) = -$48.1

The bank has a small positive duration gap. It could reduce the negative exposure to rising
interest rates by reducing the duration of its assets and/or increasing the duration of its
liabilities.

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

5.6

68

Assume that the ABC National Bank has the following structure of assets and
liabilities:
Assets
Floating Rate
Business Loans
Federal Funds
Fixed Rate Loans
and investments
Total Assets

250
50
700
$1,000

Liabilities
Variable Rate Liabilities
consisting of Floating
Rate CD, and Money
Market Deposit Accounts
Federal funds Purchased
Fixed Rate Liabilities
Equity100
Total Liabilities and Equity

$ 200
200
500
$1,000

a. What is the dollar or maturity gap of the bank?

b. Assuming that floating rate business loans are 20 percent as volatile as treasury
bills, that federal funds are 200 percent as volatile as treasury bills, and that
variable rate liabilities other than federal funds purchased are 10 percent as
volatile as treasury bills, what is the standardized gap?
c. Does the standardized gap suggest a different conclusion about interest rate
risk?
ANSWER:
a. Rate sensitive assets are $300 (floating rate business loans of $250 plus federal funds
sold of $50). Rate sensitive liabilities are $400 (floating rate CDs and MMDAs of
$200 plus federal funds purchased of $200). Hence, the dollar or maturity gap of the
bank is $100.
b. The standardized rate sensitive assets are ($250) (0.02) + ($50) (2) = $50 + $100 =
$150. The standardized gap is $150 $420 = $270.
c. The degree of interest rate risk is much more as shown by the much larger amount of
the standardized gap. An increase in interest rates would have a much larger and
negative effect on profits than the unstandardized gap would suggest.
5.7

If a bank has a duration gap of 4.0 years, and interest rates increase from 6 percent
to 8 percent, what is the change in the dollar value of equity (assume that assets
are $1 billion)?

ANSWER:
The change in the value of equity is as follows: (4 years) (2/1.06) ($1 billion) or $75.4
million.

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5.8

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

As a management trainee assigned to the banks Asset/Liability Management

committee, you have been asked to calculate the duration of each of the following
loans:
a. $20,000 principal, $4,500 payments per year for five years.
b. $20,000 principal , $4,200 payments per year for five years
Assume that the banks current required return on these types of loans is 8%.

ANSWER:
a.
Year Cash Flow
1
2
3
4
5

$4,500
4,500
4,500
4,500
4,500

Adjusted
Cash Flow

Present
Value
Factor

Present Value
of Adjusted
Cash Flow

$4,500
9,000
13,500
18,500
22,500

0.926
0.857
0.794
0.735
0.681

$4,167
7,713
10,719
13,230
15,322
$51,151

Duration = $51,151/20,000 2.56 years.

b.
Year Cash Flow
1
2
3
4
5

$4,200
4,200
4,200
4,200
4,200

Adjusted
Cash Flow
$4,200
8,400
12,600
16,800
21,000

PresentPresent Value
Valueof Adjusted
FactorCash Flow
0.926$3,889
0.857 7,199
0.79410,004
0.73512,348
0.68114,301
$47,741

Duration = $47,741/$20,000 = 2.39 years.

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

5.9

70

The balance sheet of Capital Bank appears as follows:

Assets

Liabilities and Maturities

Short Term Securities and

Adjustable Rate Loans
Duration: 6 months
Fixed Rate Loans
Duration: 8 years
Nonearning Assets

Short Term and Floating

Rate Funds
Duration 6 months
Fixed Rate Funds
Duration: 30 months
Equity 170

$220
700
80

Total Assets
$1000

$560
270

Total Liabilities and Net Worth

$1000

Required:
a. Calculate the duration of this balance sheet.
b. Assuming that the required rate of return is 8 percent, what would be the effect
on the banks net worth if interest rates increased by 1 percent.
c. Suppose that the expected change in net worth is unacceptable to management.
What outcome could management take to reduce this change?
ANSWER:
a. The duration of assets is as follows: ($220) (5 years) + ($700) (8 years)/$1000 = $110
+ $5600/1000 = 5.71 years
The duration of liabilities is:
($560) (.5 years) + ($270) (2.5 years) 830 = 280 + 675/$830 = 1.15 years
The duration gap is:
5.71 years (.83) (1.15 years) = 5.71 - .95 = 4.76 years
b. The change in net worth would be:
(4.76) (1/1.08) = 4.41%
net worth would decline by 4.41%
d. The bank could alter the duration of its assets and liabilities. Specifically, it could
shorten the duration of assets and lengthen the duration of liabilities.
5.10

Consider the following bank balance sheet:

Assets
3 year Treasury bond
10 year municipal bond

$275
$185

Liabilities
1 year certificate of deposit
5 year note

$155
$180

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

Assume that the 3 year Treasury bond yields 6%, the 10 year municipal
bond yields 4%, the 1-year certificate of deposit pays 4.5%, and the 5 year note
pays 6%. Assume that all instruments have annual coupon payments.
a. What is the weighted average maturity of the assets? Liabilities?
b. Assuming a 1 year time horizon, what is the dollar gap?
c. What is the interest rate risk exposure of the bank?
d. Calculate the value of all four securities on the banks balance sheet if interest
rates increases by 2 percentage points. What is the effect on the market value
of the equity of the bank?
ANSWER:
a. The weighted average maturity is calculated as follows: Assets =
($275) (3 years) + ($185) (10 years)/$460 = $825 + $1850)/$460 = 5.8 years.
Liabilities =($155) (1 year) + ($180) (5 years)/$335 = $155 + 900/$335 = 3.15 years.
b. With a one year time horizon, the gap is $-155.
c. The bank will suffer a reduction in net interest income if interest rates increase but will
gain if interest rates fall.
d. The change in value is a function of the duration of each item.
3 year Treasury bond x Duration = 2.8 years
10 year Municipal bond x Duration 8.4 years
1 year Certificate of Deposit x Duration = 1 year
5 year Note x Duration = 4.4 years
The change in the market value of each asset produced by a
2 percentage point increase in interest rates is:
3 year Treasury bonds = (2.8) (.02/1.06) ($275) = $14.5
0 year Municipal bond = (8.4) (.02/1.04) ($185) = $29.9
1 year Certificate of Deposit = (1) (.02/1.045) ($155) = 3.0
5 year note = - (4.4) (.02/1.06) (180) = 14.9
The net change in equity is:
$14.5 $29.9 ($3 $14.9) = $26.5
5.11

A bank issues a $1,000,000 1 year note paying 6 percent annually in order to make
a $1,000,000 corporate loan paying 8 percent annually.
a. What is the dollar gap (assume a one-year time horizon). What is the interest
rate risk exposure of the bank?
b. Immediately after the transaction, interest rates increase by 2 percentage
points. What is the effect on the asset and liability cash flows? On net interest
income?
c. What does your answer to part b imply about your answer to part a.

ANSWER:
a. Assuming that the corporate loan has less than a 1 year maturity, the dollar gap is zero.
b. If interest rates increase, the asset will reprice sooner than the liability and net interest
income will rise.
c. The conclusion reached in (a) is invalid if the asset and liability item reprice at different
times.

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

72

True-False
5.1

The principal purpose of asset/liability management has been to increase the size of
the firm as measured by total assets.
ANSWER: False

5.2

The principal purpose of asset/liability management has been to control the size of
net interest income.
ANSWER: True

5.3

Transactions in federal funds, short-term Treasury securities, certificates of

deposit, and Treasury bonds are all legitimate to make short term adjustments in
assets and liabilities.
ANSWER: False

5.4

One reason encouraging banks to take interest rate risk is their inability to make an
acceptance return without taking such risk.
ANSWER: True

5.5

Dollar (or funding on maturity) gap management focuses on the repricing

characteristics of assets and liabilities.
ANSWER: True

5.6

Expectations of rising interest rates would be consistent with a negative gap

position.
ANSWER: False

5.7

A defensive strategy attempts to keep the volume of rate-sensitive assets in balance

with the volume of rate-sensitive liabilities over a period.
ANSWER: True

5.8

A defensive strategy is necessarily a passive one.

ANSWER: False

5.9

Assuming a one year horizon, a bank with an equal amount of federal funds sold
and 360 day certificates of deposit issued (and no other assets or liabilities) would
have a gap of zero.
ANSWER: True

5.10

Using maturity buckets create multiple gaps.

ANSWER: True

5.11

One method of dealing with the problem of imperfect correlation of market interest
rates with portfolio interest rates is the use of the standardized gap.

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

ANSWER: True
5.12

The fundamental problem with traditional gap analysis is its focus on net interest
income rather than on the return on assets.
ANSWER: False

5.13

Duration gap focuses directly on the market value of equity.

ANSWER: True

5.14

A bank with a positive duration gap would experience an increase in the market
value of equity with rising interest rates.
ANSWER: False

5.15

If a bank expected interest rates to fall and if it wanted to profit from the decline, it
should increase the duration of its assets and shorten the duration of its liabilities.
ANSWER: True

5.16

Forecasts of changes in the market value of equity due to interest rate changes
assume parallel shifts in the yield curve.
ANSWER: True

5.17

Duration drift refers to the drift in the market value of equity due to changes in
interest rates.
ANSWER: False

5.18

Interest rates are generally expanding in the expansion phase of the business cycle,
and the yield curve usually becomes more steeply sloped.
ANSWER: False

5.19

Interest rate risk and liquidity risk are usually inversely related.
ANSWER: False

5.20

Simulation models allow the bank to examine its total balance sheet and income
statement under a wide variety of assumptions.
ANSWER: True

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

74

Multiple-Choice
5.1

Which of the following types of asset/liability management focuses on increasing

the net interest margin through altering the portfolio of the institution.
a. defensive
b. aggressive
c. strategic
d. tactical
e. none of the above
ANSWER: b

5.2

Which type of asset/liability management does NOT require the ability to forecast
future interest rate levels?
a. defensive
b. aggressive
c. strategic
d. none of the above
ANSWER: a

5.3

A bank can increase the interest sensitivity of its assets by doing all BUT which of
the following:
a. selling federal funds
b. purchasing short-term Treasury bills
c. purchasing Federal funds
d. purchasing short-term federal agency securities
e. making deposits at other banks
ANSWER: c

5.4.

If a bank has more interest sensitive liabilities than interest sensitive assets, then it
has a:
a. positive dollar gap
b. negative dollar gap
c. positive duration gap
d. negative duration gap
ANSWER: b

5.5

If a bank has a positive dollar gap and interest rates are expected to increase in the
near future, the net interest margin of the bank will:
a. increase
b. decrease
c. not change
d. it depends on the duration gap
ANSWER: a

5.6

If a bank has a negative dollar gap and interest rates are expected to increase in the
near future, the net interest margin of the bank will:

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

a. increase
b. decrease
c. not change
d. it depends on the duration gap
ANSWER: b
5.7

If a bank has a zero gap, it is using which of the following interest rate risk
management strategies?
a. aggressive
b. passive
c. defensive
d. immunized
ANSWER: c

5.8

Which of the following is (are) a potential problem(s) in the use of dollar gap
analysis?
a. assets and liabilities may well have different maturities
b. assets and liabilities may have different correlations with the movement of
interest rates
c. focuses on net interest income
d. a, b, and c
ANSWER: e

5.9

The problem of imperfect correlation of interest rates in the use of gap analysis can
be dealt with by using:
a. the standardized gap
b. the adjusted gap
c. a measure that focuses on shareholder wealth
d. a measure that adjusts for differences in the maturities of assets and liabilities
ANSWER: a

5.10

Aggressive gap management that successfully increases the net interest income of
the bank may well decrease shareholder wealth, all else the same, because:
a. bank risk may decrease
b. bank risk may increase
c. bank return on assets may increase
d. bank return on assets may decrease
ANSWER: b

5.11

Duration gap analysis directly focuses on the:

a. rate of return on assets
b. market value of equity
c. net interest margin
d. risk of the bank
ANSWER: b

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5.12

Given the following definitions:

DA = the average duration of assets
DL = the average duration of liabilities
W = the ratio of total liabilities to total assets
The formula for the duration gap is:
a. DA WDL
b. DA + WDL
c. DL WDA
d. DL + WDL
ANSWER: a

5.13

If the duration gap is positive, then increases in interest rates will _________ for
the bank.
a. favorable
b. unfavorable
c. irrelevant
d. immunized
ANSWER: b

5.14

The change in the market value of the equity as a percentage of total assets for a
bank with a duration gap of 2.24 assuming interest rates increase 2 percent from
10 percent equals:
a. 2.51 percent
b. 2.00 percent
c. +2.51 percent
d. +2.00 percent
ANSWER: b

5.15

If the duration gap is zero, then the market value of equity is ____________
interest rates.
a. increased due to an increase
b. increased due to a decrease
c. decreased due to an increase
d. immunized from changes
ANSWER: d

5.16

Which of the following is NOT a problem in the use of duration gap management?
a. interest rates on assets and liabilities may be perfectly correlated with changes
in the level of interest rates
b. interest rates on all maturities of assets normally shift up and down at different
times
c. the relationship between interest rate changes and bond price changes is not
linear
d. duration drift can occur
ANSWER: a

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

5.17

First Pennsylvania Corporation bet the bank on an interest rate forecast by

increasing its holdings of:
a. short-term securities
b. short-term loans
c. long-term securities
d. long-term loans
ANSWER: c

5.18

First Pennsylvanias collapse was due to a _______________ and

_________interest rates.
a. large positive gap/increasing
b. large positive gap/decreasing
c. large negative gap/increasing
d. large negative gap/decreasing
ANSWER: c

5.19

Which of the following is NOT one of the four phases of the business cycle
suggested in the text?
a. expansion
b. trough
c. peak
d. depression
ANSWER: d

5.20

The term structure of interest rates can change dramatically at which point in the
business cycle?
a. expansion
b. trough
c. peak
d. depression
ANSWER: c

5.21

In which part of the business cycle are interest rates falling?

a. expansion
b. peak
c. contraction
d. trough
ANSWER: c

5.22

The yield curve normally is:

a. upward sloping
b. falling
c. downward sloping
d. flat
ANSWER: a

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5.23

If the yield curve were upward sloping, the bank could accept some interest rate
risk and earn a positive interest rate spread by:
a. using a negative duration gap
b. using a positive duration gap
c. using a zero duration gap
d. using a zero dollar gap
ANSWER: b

5.24

Which of the following is used by banks to examine its total balance sheet and
income statement under a wide variety of alternative scenarios?
a. sensitivity analysis
b. simulation model
c. logistic model
d. regression models
ANSWER: b

5.25

Interest rate risk and liquidity risk are:

a. unrelated to one another
b. closely related to one another
c. only related to one another when interest rate levels are high
d. only related to one another when interest rate levels are low
ANSWER: b

5.26

All else the same, a positive duration gap causes the liquidity of the bank to:
a. increase
b. decrease
c. change only when the level of interest rates is high
d. change only when the level of interest rates is low
e. not change
ANSWER: b

5.27

Which of the following is the most interest sensitive and least stable source of
funds?
a. demand deposits
c. repurchase agreements
d. federal funds
d. CDs
ANSWER: d

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

5.28

Which of the following is (are) a good reason(s) for accepting some amount of
interest rate risk?
a. bank risk can be hedged
b. bank profit can be increased
c. demands by bank customers must be met as much as possible
d. b and c
e. a, b, and c
ANSWER: d

5.29

The problem of the selection of the time horizon in gap analysis can be solved to
some extent by using:
a. maturity balancing
b. maturity matching
c. maturity buckets
d. maturity differences
ANSWER: c

5.30

The standardized gap adjusts for:

a. different interest rate levels of different asset and liabilities items
b. different maturity ranges of different asset and liability items
c. different liquidity of different asset and liability items
d. different interest rate volatilities of different asset and liability items
ANSWER: d

5.31

Given the following information:

interest sensitive assets = $300 30-day commercial paper
interest sensitive liabilities = $400 90-day CDs
30-day commercial paper is 50 percent as volatile as 90-day T-bills
90-day CDs are 120 percent as volatile as 90-day T-bills
Calculate the standardized gap for the bank.
a. $160
b. $563
c. $100
d. $330
ANSWER: d

CASE
Metroplex National Bank
This case presents a number of interesting issues that revolve around managing the interest
rate sensitive of a medium-sized commercial bank. The basic questions are: 1. Should the
bank sell the mortgage-backed securities portfolio and realize a gain of $1.4 million and 2.
If it sells the securities, what maturity securities should it reinvest in. Basic to the decision
is an understanding of the objectives of the bank and the expertise of management. As
pointed out in the case discussion, Metroplex follows a conservative interest rate risk

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

80

management strategy designed to avoid taking significant interest rate risk. Also, the
bank does not have professional, full-time management.
The advantages of selling the mortgage-backed portfolio include the following: 1. The
sale locks-in the $14 million gain, bring it to the bottom line and increases the capital
account of the bank. This may be particularly important if the bank is undercapitalized.
Second, selling the securities now eliminates the possibility that the gain could be
dissipated or eliminated through prepayments. Moreover, the potential prepayments
reduce the potential of any further price appreciation of the portfolio. Third, selling the
securities offers the bank the opportunity to shorten the duration of its assets. Given that
the bank is conservative and does not want substantial amounts of interest rate risk, this
would allow the bank to reduce its gap.
Two potential negative consequences of selling the mortgage-backed portfolio exist.
First, reinvesting shorter term will reduce the stream of earnings of the bank. The exact
loss of income depends upon the maturity of the securities chosen (and upon the type of
securities) but the earnings penalty would be quite severe because the yield curve (Exhibit
4) is sharply upward sloping. Second, the sale of the securities (especially if the funds are
reinvested in similar maturity securities) raises the potential of adverse reaction by the
regulatory authorities. In particular, the bank might be accused of speculating through its
investment portfolio and forced to mark its entire portfolio to market.
In this case, the bank did sell the mortgage-backed portfolio, realizing the $1.4 million
gain. It then reinvested the funds in 2-3 year Aa rated corporate bonds, resulting in a
reduction in arrival earnings of approximately $250,000. It received no regulatory
criticism.
CASE
Madison National Bank1
Judy Langer, Vice-President of Funds management for Madison National Bank, was
reviewing Madison's loan position during a coffee break at the Asset-Liability Management
Committee (ALCO) meeting. The ALCO decides the composition of earning assets, which
include loans, time deposits at other banks, Federal Funds sold, and security investments.
The committee also decides the different funding options of the liability side of the balance
sheet. Examples are the amount of C.D.'s versus transaction accounts. Members of the
committee include the Vice-Presidents of Funds, Bonds, and Securities (which include all
non-bond security investments) management as well as Commercial Lending. The
chairman of the committee is the Executive Vice-President of Investments and Financial
Planning.
Madison has a reputation for having conservative lending policies. Madison's loan
position, established by the Board of Directors, is governed by two lending policy
guidelines, First, total loans cannot exceed 100 percent of core deposits, which are
defined as demand, savings, and time deposits as well as certificates of deposit less

The original field based research for this case was conducted by graduate students taking
Dr. Gups banking classes.

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

than $100,000. Second, earning assets cannot exceed 140 percent of core deposits. (See
Exhibit I).
ALCO Meeting
Sam Rogers, chairman of the committee, started the meeting by discussing their current
posture with respect to transaction- based loans. He informed the members that several
large companies are in the market for these transactions-based loans which are to be
repriced. They want quotes from Madison as well as other banks. Sam then asked for
comments and opinions on what Madison's position should be regarding these
opportunities.
Mike Clayman, Vice-President of Commercial Lending, started the discussion by
raising the issue of strong commercial loan demand. Mike stated that in the past year the
demand for loans has been increasing. In addition, it is expected to remain strong in the
months ahead due to the continued economic expansion in such areas as housing
construction as well as commercial and industrial modernization of plant and equipment.
Judy Langer wanted more information about both points and wrote herself a note on the
pad in front of her.
Willie Morgan, Vice-President of Securities Management, then pointed out that these
loan requests are for transactions-based loans. Transactions-based loans are short-term
loans to large corporate borrowers for the purpose of meeting inventory and other
operational needs. The typical size of such loans is about $10 million.
He also stated that these corporations are very interest rate sensitive; that is, they will
shop around for the lowest loan prices and borrow from banks offering the best terms. He
stressed the fact that losing such a loan is not disastrous because the corporations will
come back to shop for prices again when their loans are repriced.
Denise Wright, Vice-President of Bonds Management, asked about the bank's current
pricing policy. Judy Langer told her that the borrower selected the maturity of the loan.
Three maturity options currently available at Madison are 30, 90, and 180 days. In
addition, the borrower selects the pricing base to be used in pricing the loan. Again, there
are usually four choices: the "all-in" C.D. rate, the Fed funds rate, the prime rate, and the
London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR). However, LIBOR was not considered in this
case. The "all-in" C.D. rate is the market rate plus the cost of deposit insurance and the
reserve requirement on C.D.'s. The insurance fee and reserve requirement adds about 8
basis points to the market rate of C.D.'s. Finally, the maturity of the pricing option is
matched with the maturity of the loan. Thus, a 30-day loan is priced off of a 30-day C.D.,
for example.
Judy also reviewed the spread set for each pricing option. The spread when using the
prime rate, which is more stable than other pricing options, averages around 100 basis
points. When the bank wants the loan, the spread is lowered 5 to 10 basis points. On the
other hand, when the bank does not want the loan, the spread is increased.
The C.D. and Fed fund rates, being more volatile than the prime rate, usually have a
premium of 5 to 10 basis points respectively. For example, if the spread is set off of Prime
of 10%, the "all-in" CD rate of 8.5%, and Fed funds rate of 8.0% with a 100-basis point
spread to start with, the following loan prices would be derived: The prime would not
have any additions other than the 100 basis point spread, making its related price 11.0%.
The "all-in" CD rate would have the 100 basis points and 5 additional basis points added

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

82

due to the volatility of such rates; this would give a price of 9.55%. The Fed funds rate
would have the 100 basis points and 10 additional points added giving a price of 9.10%.
Available Options
After hearing the information presented at the meeting, Sam Rogers stated that the
committee must decide what to do about the demand for transactions-based loans. He
went on to present the following options.
A. Run off the loanBy pricing the loan above competitive rates, Madison can avoid
absorbing a large volume of transactions-based accounts as the potential borrower will go
elsewhere for available funds. Plus, funds would become available for possible higheryielding lending opportunities of longer maturity. Experience indicates that an increase in
spread of 8-10 basis points above the market rate will remove Madison from consideration
by the borrowers.
B. Accept the loan using purchased fundsThis method, which has been used in the
past, generally involves purchasing funds and setting the desired spread off of the average
monthly rate. For December, the Fed funds rate ranged between 8.83 percent and 7.95
percent for an average monthly rate of 8.38 percent. (See Exhibit II)
C. Accept the loan and sell participationsThis arrangement allows Madison to
make these loans and share the principle funding responsibility (and interest income
generated) with other interested banks that buy parts of the loan. This may be done either
upstream (sharing with larger banks) or downstream (through a network of smaller
correspondent banks). Additionally, Madison could sell off a portion of their current loan
portfolio already on the books to other banks through a participating agreement. This
would free a portion of current funds tied up in transactions-based lending for alternative
uses.
D. Liquidate SecuritiesThis would allow Madison to exchange assets by selling
securities and making loans from the funds generated by the sale.
Sam Rogers instructed the committee to take a short recess and think about the
alternatives discussed for handling transactions-based loans. Judy Langer contemplated
these options relative to Madison's current loan position and tried to decide what to do.

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EXHIBIT I
Balance Sheet
Assets
Cash and due from banks
Earning assets
Time deposits in other banks
Federal funds sold and securities
purchased under agreement to resell
Trading account securities
Investment securities
State & Local Gov't. Securities
Loans
Less: Allowance for loan losses
Unearned income
Net loans
Total earning assets
Premises and equipment, net
Customer's acceptance liability
Accrued interest receivable and
other assets

820,268

676,448

-0-

398,000

418,550
19,606
1,211,300
352,462
5,419,424
73,488
152,622
5,193,314
7,195,232
170,060
126,694

16,900
15,292
1,330,017
452,689
4,187,428
56,478
153,258
3,979,692
6,192,590
155,628
23,232

251,504

255,262

Total assets

8,563,758

7,273,160

Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity

Deposits and interest-bearing liabilities
Deposits:
Noninterest-bearing transaction
Interest-bearing transaction
Savings
Time

1,698,846
1,173,072
465,610
1,431,344

1,846,068
977,844
494,398
1,107,208

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84

EXHIBIT I (continued)
Certificates of Deposits
less than $100,000
Certificates of Deposits
of $100,000 or more
Total deposits
Federal funds purchased and securities
sold under agreement to repurchase
Commercial paper
Other interest-bearing liabilities
Total deposits and interestbearing liabilities
Acceptances outstanding
Accrued expenses and other liabilities

715,670

553,600

952,610
6,437,152

643,856
3,622,974

866,808
32,530
457,124

799,224
36,990
162,600

7,793,614
126,662
121,676

6,621,788
23,158
115,004

8,041,952

6,759,950

Less cost of common stock in treasury

-022,782
274,710
270,196
567,688
45,882

800,000
22,612
271,200
224,038
525,850
12,640

Total shareholders' equity

521,806

513,210

8,563,758

7,273,160

Total liabilities
Shareholders' equity:
Preferred stock
Common stock
Capital surplus
Retained earnings

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

EXHIBIT II
Pricing Options for Transactions-based Loans
Certificates of Deposit
1-mo.

Prime Fed Funds

6-mo.
Sept.

12.97

11.30

11.2011.29

11.47

Oct.

12.58

9.99

10.1810.38

10.63

Nov.

11.77

9.43

9.099.18

9.39

Dec.

11.06

8.38

8.478.60

8.85

Jan.

10.60

8.35

8.058.14

8.45

Feb.

10.50

8.45

8.158.23

8.49

*predicted monthly averages

Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.

What is the banks status with respect to its ALM policy guidelines?
What options are available to management for handling the increased loan demand?
How does the loan pricing suggested here affect interest income?
What is your recommendation to deal with this situation?

MADISON NATIONAL BANK

CASE NOTES
Substantive Issues Raised
The chairman of the Asset-Liability Management Committee (ALCO) wants to know what
policy to initiate concerning transactions-based lending. These are large denominated ($10
million), short-term to corporate borrowers for the purpose of meeting operational needs.
Before this issue can be discussed, it is necessary to evaluate the overall asset/liability
management policies and status of the bank. The bank is almost "loaned up," according to
their guidelines. The two guidelines/policies governing loan position are: (1) total loans
cannot exceed 100 percent of core deposits and (2) earning assets cannot exceed 140
percent of core. Core deposits are defined as demand, savings, and time deposits plus
CD's less than $100,000.

Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

86

Pedagogical Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.

To give an overview of asset/liability management considerations at a large bank.

To introduce the concept of "spread lending" and "transaction-based" loans.
To present available options for handling increased loan demand
To show the implications of adjusting the spread on these loans

Opportunities for Analysis

From examination of Madison's balance sheet, one can see that they are currently "loaned
up" (given the criteria set by the Board of Directors). Over the past year Madison has
experienced a 30% growth in loans compared to only a 15% growth rate in core deposits.
The economic expansion came about due to a drop in interest rates, but rates are expected
to rebound due to increased demand for borrowing.
After the students have discovered that bank is loaned up, it is useful to discuss
general concepts of asset/liability management before proceeding with the case. For
example, to what extent should loans be funded by demand deposits, time deposits,
purchased funds, and capital? What is the liquidity position of the bank, etc.
The borrower/lender relationship generally involves no institutional allegiance in
transaction-based loan arrangements; i.e., corporate borrowers are very interest rate
sensitive. They tend to shop around for the lowest priced loan available.
Borrowers are given two options when applying for a transactions-based loan. They
determine the maturity desired (30, 90, & 180 days) and they may choose the instrument
which the loan is to be priced against (prime, fed funds, "all-in" CD rate). The lender then
sets the competitive spread.
Given these factors, the four options for handling increased loan demand include:
(a) Run off the loanthis is a viable option since borrowers are not alienated by the
bank's interest rate quotation. They will be back to reprice loans for future needs.
Typically 8-10 basis points above market rates will run off the prospective borrower.
(b) Use purchased funds for the loanthis involves purchasing funds to raise needed
financing capital. This is not desirable since it would not reduce limits on core
deposits.
(c) Sell participationsthis is a legitimate alternative since other banks would be sharing
in the funding responsibility. For instance, Madison would only write $5 million as
loans and sell of the remaining balance to other banks. Additionally, they could sell off
a current loan (or loans) to provide the release of funds for opportunistic uses.
(d) Liquidate securities heldthis is not feasible since a good portion of the assets are
pledged to state and local municipalities. Madison would be taking on added risk by
pursuing this strategy, and the earning assets to core ratio would go unchanged.
Although not listed above, the bank could change its policy/guidelines for lending. This
may be discussed in terms of the changes in risk the bank would face if the policy is
changed. The risks that should be considered here are 1) credit risk, 2) interest rate risk,
and 3) liquidity risk.

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Chapter 5 An Overview of Asset/Liability Management (ALM)

EXHIBIT 1
Approximation of the relationship between spread adjustment and interest income

30

Days
90

10,000,000 (@ 11%)

90,410

271,233

10,000,000(@ 11.08%)

91,068

273.205

10,000,000 (@ 11.10%)

91,233

273,699

*calculated: $10,000,000 x 30/365 x 0.11 = $90,410

This does not take compounding into account.

180