Risky asset allocation and consumption rule in the presence of background risk and insurance markets

This study examines joint decisions regarding risky asset allocation and consumption rate for a representative agent in the presence of background risk and insurance markets. Contrary to the conclusion of the “mutual fund separation theorem”, we show that the optimal risky asset mix will reflect an agent’s risk attitude as long as background risk is not independent of investment risk. This result can, however, be used to solve the “riskyasset allocation puzzle”. We also unveil that optimal insurance to shift background risk is determined through establishing a hedging portfolio against investment risk and is an arrangement maintaining the balance between growth and volatility of expected consumption. Because the optimal insurance we obtain generally leads to a smoother consumption path, it may plausibly explain the “equity premium puzzle” in the financial literature.     

Portfolio value-at-risk optimization for asymmetrically distributed asset returns

We propose a new approach to portfolio optimization by separating asset return distributions into positive and negative half-spaces. The approach minimizes a newly-defined Partitioned Value-at-Risk (PVaR) risk measure by using half-space statistical information. Using simulated data, the PVaR approach always generates better risk-return tradeoffs in the optimal portfolios when compared to traditional Markowitz mean–variance approach. When using real financial data, our approach also outperforms the Markowitz approach in the risk-return tradeoff. Given that the PVaR measure is also a robust risk measure, our new approach can be very useful for optimal portfolio allocations when asset return distributions are asymmetrical.     

Ruin-based risk measures in discrete-time risk models

For an insurance company, effective risk management requires an appropriate measurement of the risk associated with an insurance portfolio. The objective of the present paper is to study properties of ruin-based risk measures defined within discrete-time risk models under a different perspective at the frontier of the theory of risk measures and ruin theory. Ruin theory is a convenient framework to assess the riskiness of an insurance business. We present and examine desirable properties of ruin-based risk measures. Applications within the classical discrete-time risk model and extensions allowing temporal dependence are investigated. The impact of the temporal dependence on ruin-based risk measures within those different risk models is also studied. We discuss capital allocation based on Euler’s principle for homogeneous and subadditive ruin-based risk measures.     

Conditional tail risk measures for the skewed generalised hyperbolic family

This paper deals with the estimation of loss severity distributions arising from historical data on univariate and multivariate losses. We present an innovative theoretical framework where a closed-form expression for the tail conditional expectation (TCE) is derived for the skewed generalised hyperbolic (GH) family of distributions. The skewed GH family is especially suitable for equity losses because it allows to capture the asymmetry in the distribution of losses that tends to have a heavy right tail. As opposed to the widely used Value-at-Risk, TCE is a coherent risk measure, which takes into account the expected loss in the tail of the distribution. Our theoretical TCE results are verified for different distributions from the skewed GH family including its special cases: Student-t, variance gamma, normal inverse gaussian and hyperbolic distributions. The GH family and its special cases turn out to provide excellent fit to univariate and multivariate data on equity losses. The TCE risk measure computed for the skewed family of GH distributions provides a conservative estimator of risk, addressing the main challenge faced by financial companies on how to reliably quantify the risk arising from the loss distribution. We extend our analysis to the multivariate framework when modelling portfolios of losses, allowing the multivariate GH distribution to capture the combination of correlated risks and demonstrate how the TCE of the portfolio can be decomposed into individual components, representing individual risks in the aggregate (portfolio) loss.     

Almost exact risk budgeting with return forecasts for portfolio allocation

We revisit the portfolio allocation problem with designated risk-budget. We generalize the problem of arbitrary risk budgets with unequal correlations to one that includes return forecasts and transaction costs while keeping the no-shorting constraint. We offer a convex second order cone formulation that scales well with the number of assets and explore solutions to problem variants - on equity-bond asset allocation problems as well as formulating portfolios using index constituents from the NASDAQ100 index, illustrating the benefits of this approach.     

GlueVaR risk measures in capital allocation applications

GlueVaR risk measures defined by Belles-Sampera et al. (2014) generalize the traditional quantile-based approach to risk measurement, while a subfamily of these risk measures has been shown to satisfy the tail-subadditivity property. In this paper we show how GlueVaR risk measures can be implemented to solve problems of proportional capital allocation. In addition, the classical capital allocation framework suggested by Dhaene et al. (2012) is generalized to allow the application of the Value-at-Risk (VaR) measure in combination with a stand-alone proportional allocation criterion (i.e., to accommodate the Haircut allocation principle). Two new proportional capital allocation principles based on GlueVaR risk measures are defined. An example based on insurance claims data is presented, in which allocation solutions with tail-subadditive risk measures are discussed.     

资产组合的CVaR风险的敏感度分析

基于CVaR风险计量技术，分别给出了正态和t分布情形下资产组合的CVaR值，对一般情形下风险资产组合的CVaR风险关于头寸的敏感度进行了分析，研究了其经济意义。     

Risk measuring under liquidity risk

We present a general framework for measuring the liquidity risk. The theoretical framework defines risk measures that incorporate the liquidity risk into the standard risk measures. We consider a one-period risk measurement model. The liquidity risk is defined as the risk that a security or a portfolio of securities cannot be sold or bought without causing changes in prices. The risk measures are decomposed into two terms, one measuring the risk of the future value of a given position in a security or a portfolio of securities and the other the initial cost of this position. Within the framework of coherent risk measures, the risk measures applied to the random part of the future value of a position in a determinate security are increasing monotonic and convex cash sub-additive on long positions. The contrary, in certain situations, holds for the sell positions. By using convex risk measures, we apply our framework to the situation in which large trades are broken into many small ones. Dual representation results are obtained for both positions in securities and portfolios. We give many examples of risk measures and derive for each of them the respective capital requirement. In particular, we discuss the VaR measure.     

On a robust risk measurement approach for capital determination errors minimization

We propose a robust risk measurement approach that minimizes the expectation of overestimation plus underestimation costs. We consider uncertainty by taking the supremum over a collection of probability measures, relating our approach to dual sets in the representation of coherent risk measures. We provide results that guarantee the existence of a solution and explore the properties of minimizer and minimum as risk and deviation measures, respectively. An empirical illustration is carried out to demonstrate the use of our approach in capital determination.     

To split or not to split: Capital allocation with convex risk measures

Convex risk measures were introduced by Deprez and Gerber [Deprez, O., Gerber, H.U., 1985. On convex principles of premium calculation. Insurance: Math. Econom. 4 (3), 179-189]. Here the problem of allocating risk capital to subportfolios is addressed, when convex risk measures are used. The Aumann-Shapley value is proposed as an appropriate allocation mechanism. Distortion-exponential measures are discussed extensively and explicit capital allocation formulas are obtained for the case that the risk measure belongs to this family. Finally the implications of capital allocation with a convex risk measure for the stability of portfolios are discussed. It is demonstrated that using a convex risk measure for capital allocation can produce an incentive for infinite fragmentation of portfolios.     

The optimal portfolio problem with coherent risk measure constraints

One of the basic problems of applied finance is the optimal selection of stocks, with the aim of maximizing future returns and constraining risks by an appropriate measure. Here, the problem is formulated by finding the portfolio that maximizes the expected return, with risks constrained by the worst conditional expectation. This model is a straightforward extension of the classic Markovitz mean–variance approach, where the original risk measure, variance, is replaced by the worst conditional expectation.The worst conditional expectation with a threshold α of a risk X, in brief WCE_α(X), is a function that belongs to the class of coherent risk measures. These are measures that satisfy a set of properties, such as subadditivity and monotonicity, that are introduced to prevent some of the drawbacks that affect some other common measures.This paper shows that the optimal portfolio selection problem can be formulated as a linear programming instance, but with an exponential number of constraints. It can be solved efficiently by an appropriate generation constraint subroutine, so that only a small number of inequalities are actually needed.This method is applied to the optimal selection of stocks in the Italian financial market and some computational results suggest that the optimal portfolios are better than the market index.     

Stable modeling in energy risk management

High price volatility in energy markets compels the companies to adopt and implement policies for measurement and management of the energy risk. A popular measure of risk exposure is the Value at Risk (VaR). Traditional methods of estimation of VaR used by major energy companies fail to capture the heavy tails and asymmetry of energy returns distributions. We suggest the use of stable distributions for modeling energy return distributions. The results of our study demonstrate that stable modeling captures asymmetry and heavy-tails of returns, and, therefore, provides more accurate estimates of energy VaR.     

Capital allocation for portfolios with non-linear risk aggregation

Existing risk capital allocation methods, such as the Euler rule, work under the explicit assumption that portfolios are formed as linear combinations of random loss/profit variables, with the firm being able to choose the portfolio weights. This assumption is unrealistic in an insurance context, where arbitrary scaling of risks is generally not possible. Here, we model risks as being partially generated by Lévy processes, capturing the non-linear aggregation of risk. The model leads to non-homogeneous fuzzy games, for which the Euler rule is not applicable. For such games, we seek capital allocations that are in the core, that is, do not provide incentives for splitting portfolios. We show that the Euler rule of an auxiliary linearised fuzzy game (non-uniquely) satisfies the core property and, thus, provides a plausible and easily implemented capital allocation. In contrast, the Aumann–Shapley allocation does not generally belong to the core. For the non-homogeneous fuzzy games studied, Tasche’s (1999) criterion of suitability for performance measurement is adapted and it is shown that the proposed allocation method gives appropriate signals for improving the portfolio underwriting profit.     

Multivariate risk measures based on conditional expectation and systemic risk for Exponential Dispersion Models

Exponential dispersion models are well used and studied in quantitative risk management and actuarial science. One of the main interests is the risk measurement analysis of such models when facing extreme loss events. In this paper, we propose two multivariate risk measures based on conditional expectation and derive the explicit formulae for exponential dispersion models. In particular, our multivariate risk measures could facilitate a systemic risk measure with explicit expressions for exponential dispersion models subject to any pre-specified “systemic event.” We provide two numerical examples based on practical data to show the advantages of our approach in the context of exponential dispersion models.     

Forecasting compositional risk allocations

We analyse models for panel data that arise in risk allocation problems, when a given set of sources are the cause of an aggregate risk value. We focus on the modelling and forecasting of proportional contributions to risk over time. Compositional data methods are proposed and the time-series regression is flexible to incorporate external information from other variables. We guarantee that projected proportional contributions add up to 100%, and we introduce a method to generate confidence regions with the same restriction. An illustration is provided for risk capital allocations.     

投资组合风险的分散化研究

风险是金融投资领域的研究热点问题之下一,投资组合是降低投资风险的有效方法之一。人们在做出投资决策时总是追求在一定收益率下风险最小。本文论述了投资组合收益和风险的数学统计方法,阐明风险可分为系统风险和非系统风险,后者可以通过投资组合分散化。本文还探讨了证券相关性和组合风险之间的关系。最后作了实证分析。     

Consistent modeling of risk averse behavior with spectral risk measures

This paper clarifies the relation between decisions of a risk-averse decision maker, based on expected utility theory on the one hand, and spectral risk measures on the other.     

均值-方差期望效用函数下的风险共担

借助Samuelson提出的风险汇合(Risk Adding)与风险分担(Risk Pooling)的概念,讨论了风险共担(Risk Sharing)机制产生的原理.在均值-方差效用函数下,给出了帕累托有效风险共担原则的具体形式,以及风险共担群体接纳新的个体,从而形成更大风险共担群体的条件.在此基础上,证明在均值-方差期望效用函数下,当考虑风险共担群体的形成条件以后,帕累托有效的风险共担原则等价于条件期望风险分配函数.从而在这一特殊效用函数下,建立了风险共担与风险分配函数之间的等价关系.     

考虑背景风险的高阶矩三角模糊随机投资组合模型

在已有的大部分投资组合模型中,证券的收益服从随机分布或者模糊分布。然而,在实际的市场中存在大量的不确定性,市场不仅具有内在的风险,也存在由投资者个体差异产生的背景风险。本文推导随机模糊数的高阶矩性质,构建一个考虑背景风险的高矩三角模糊随机投资组合风险模型,采用沪深股市的数据分析背景风险对投资组合的影响。     

Operational risk: Emerging markets,sectors and measurement

The role of decision support systems in mitigating operational risks in firms is well established. However, there is a lack of investment in decision support systems in emerging markets, even though inadequate operational risk management is a key cause of discouraging external investment. This has also been exacerbated by insufficient understanding of operational risk in emerging markets, which can be attributed to past operational risk measurement techniques, limited studies on emerging markets and inadequate data.