Final answer:
To hedge a $260 million bond portfolio with a duration of 8.5 years using 10-year Treasury note futures with a duration of 6.4 years, approximately 34 contracts need to be bought or sold.
Step-by-step explanation:
To hedge the $260 million bond portfolio with a duration of 8.5 years, using 10-year Treasury note futures with a duration of 6.4 years, you need to calculate the number of contracts to buy or sell.
First, calculate the modified duration of the bond portfolio:
Modified Duration of Bond Portfolio = Duration of Bond Portfolio / Duration of Treasury note futures
Modified Duration of Bond Portfolio = 8.5 / 6.4
Modified Duration of Bond Portfolio = 1.328125
Next, calculate the number of contracts:
Number of Contracts = (Portfolio Value * Modified Duration of Bond Portfolio) / (Futures Price * Duration of Treasury note futures * Multiplier)
Number of Contracts = (260,000,000 * 1.328125 / (102 * 6.4 * 100,000)
Number of Contracts = 34.17968
Therefore, you would need to buy or sell approximately 34 futures contracts.