Investment Memo · Infroneer
The trade: Buy ¥100M face of the Infroneer convertible at 133.38 (model fair 137.35, +3.0% cheap). Short 44,343 shares of 5076.T to neutralize stock direction. Target convergence over the next 60 days.
Trade summary
Why this is mispriced
The bond trades at 133.38 (% of par). Our binomial-tree pricer, using the underlying stock at ¥2,487, 60-day realized vol of 39%, and a credit spread of 429bp (based on the NR issuer rating), arrives at fair value of 137.35.
Three convergence paths can close the gap: (1) the dealer updates the indicative quote toward fair value (the most common path on illiquid JP CBs), (2) realized volatility forces a re-mark of the embedded option, or (3) a corporate event (coupon, conversion period start, call window opening) prompts a fresh price.
Hedge structure
For each ¥100M face, buy the bond at 133.38 (= ¥133,375,000 outlay). Short delta × shares of 5076.T (44,343 shares at ¥2,487 = ¥110,281,928 short proceeds). Rebalance the hedge every 5 trading days or when delta drifts more than ±10%.
Greeks: Δ 0.044 · Γ 0.00003 · Vega 0.47 · θ -0.000 per day per ¥100 face. Daily theta on a ¥100M position is approximately ¥-229 of cost you bleed for holding.
Historical edge
Across the 13-month backtest, the strategy generated 38 trades total. Top 5 issuers contributed 113% of P&L — meaning the rest of the book was net-flat. This signal is not broadly distributed; it lives in a handful of issuers.
Catalysts to watch
- Earnings release for Infroneer — usually triggers a fresh dealer mark on the bond
- Conversion window milestones — when conversion becomes possible, or close to call dates, dealers re-quote
- Stock breakout above conversion price × 130% — triggers the soft call clause; can force convergence
- Realized vol spike — option's value re-prices upward; bond catches up
- Index inclusion / removal of the equity — forced flow that moves the stock and the option
Risks
- The gap widens before it closes. Dealer marks the bond down further before catching up — mark-to-market pain even if eventually right.
- Issuer-specific event: credit downgrade, profit warning, or M&A invalidates the spread assumption.
- Realized vol crashes: the option loses value faster than the dealer catches up. Theta bleed exceeds gap-closure.
- Liquidity: bid-ask spreads on this bond may be 50-100bp; entry/exit slippage erodes the edge.
- Stale conversion price: if a corporate action (split, special dividend) has hit the underlying without the conversion price being adjusted in our data, the model is wrong. Always cross-check parity.
Decision
Recommendation: HOLD at ¥100M face, Δ-hedged with 44,343 shares of 5076.T. Target convergence within 60 days. Hard stop if cheap% widens past +8% (gap blowing out) or narrows below +1% (take profit).