what is a zero gap condition 
a zero gap condition exists when a financial institution s interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities are in perfect balance for a given maturity the condition derives its name from the fact that the duration gap or the difference in the sensitivity of an institution s assets and liabilities to changes in interest rates is exactly zero under this condition a change in interest rates will not create any surplus or shortfall for the company since the firm is immunized to its interest rate risk for a given maturity banks will continually monitor the maturity gap for their interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities understanding a zero gap conditionfinancial institutions are exposed to interest rate risk when the interest rate sensitivity also known as the duration of their assets differs from the interest rate sensitivity of their liabilities a zero gap condition immunizes an institution from interest rate risk by ensuring that a change in interest rates will not affect the overall value of the firm s net worth due to fluctuations in interest rates firms and financial institutions face the risk of a duration gap in the interest rate sensitivities between their assets and liabilities as a result a 1 change in interest rates may increase the value of its assets by a lesser degree than the value gained to its liabilities and this would result in a shortfall to mitigate such interest rate risks firms must make sure that any change in interest rates does not affect the overall value of the net worth of the firm this immunization of the firm from interest rate risks is practiced by maintaining the difference in the sensitivity of the assets and liabilities of the firm given the same maturity which is called the zero gap condition the zero gap condition can be achieved by interest rate immunization strategies also known as multi period immunization immunization is a hedging strategy that seeks to limit or offset the effect that changes in interest rates can have on a portfolio of fixed income securities including the mix of various interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities on a firm s balance sheet large banks must protect their current net worth and pension funds have the obligation of payments after a number of years both of these firms and others must protect the future value of their portfolios while also addressing the uncertainty of future interest rates immunization strategies may use derivatives and other financial instruments to offset as much risk as possible when it comes to interest rates taking into account both the portfolio s duration and its convexity the change in duration as interest rates move or the curvature of the duration in the case of fixed income instruments such as bonds immunization seeks to limit changes to the price as well as reinvestment risk reinvestment risk is the likelihood that an investment s cash flows will earn less when invested in a new security 