In the face of the current credit crisis, a growing range of investment firms are trading equity derivatives.  According to a new study published by the TABB Group, a research and advisory firm, entitled “Equity Swaps and OTC Options 2008: A Buy-side Perspective,” nearly two-thirds of the 32 asset managers interviewed at buy-side firms in the U.S. trading an aggregate of $6.35 trillion dollars of assets under management say that the continuing credit crisis is having a significant impact on their trading of over-the-counter derivatives.  Moreover, more than half of U.S. asset managers have tightened their risk management processes in the aftermath of the credit crunch to guard against the counterparty failures in the equity derivatives markets.  The Study reports that as many as 57% of the buy-side firms surveyed said that the main impact of the credit crisis is an increased focus on counterparty risk.