The great CDS debate which corner are you in?

Credit default swaps have become the instrument of choice for scores of credit investors - both for risk management and as another way to get exposure to credit. Yet there still remains a hardcore of sophisticated clients who continue to avoid CDS out of choice. Credit talks to two investors with wholly opposing views

FOR

Gartmore writes: "The argument for using credit default swaps in traditional mutual funds is a bit like that for jet planes over light aircraft in air travel: they are faster, more efficient, have a longer range and are much less prone to nasty turbulence.

Gartmore is one of the first investment management firms making full use of the new Ucits III powers, deploying CDS technology across all of its OEIC and Sicav credit funds. It's revolutionising the way we can manage this asset class.

Firstly