Hedging your bets in an uncertain world

In 1986 the Treasury Management Unit (TMU) of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) carried out one of the biggest interest rate-swap exercises undertaken as of that date by a single organization. ECGD's Operational Research Services (ORS) built a computer model to analyse over 400 loans and to identify possible swaps. The successful implementation of this model led to a member of ORS being seconded to TMU to develop the model further and to investigate other areas where ORS could provide help. This was the first time such a secondment had taken place, and both clients and ORS benefited from the arrangement.