Minimizing the probability of lifetime ruin under stochastic volatility

We assume that an individual invests in a financial market with one riskless and one risky asset, with the latter’s price following a diffusion with stochastic volatility. Given the rate of consumption, we find the optimal investment strategy for the individual who wishes to minimize the probability of going bankrupt. To solve this minimization problem, we use techniques from stochastic optimal control.     

Valuing inflation-linked death benefits under a stochastic volatility framework

In this paper we construct a framework to price the inflation-linked derivatives with the stochastic inflation rate, the stochastic interest rate, and stochastic risky assets with stochastic volatility. Because of the popularity of the guaranteed minimum death benefit (GMDB) in insurance market, we mainly study two types of GMDBs: the inflation guarantee and the combination guarantee. We consider the guaranteed minimum death benefit as an European option with a random maturity date, the closed-form pricing formulas for the GMDBs are derived by Fourier-based method. Moreover, we give an elaborate sensitivity analysis to explain economical behaviors of our models. The numerical results show that the death benefit of inflation guarantee is slightly overpriced in constant volatility of stock situation.     

具有随机利率、随机变差的最优投资和联合比例-超额损失再保险

对跳-扩散风险模型,研究了最优投资和再保险问题.保险公司可以购买再保险减少理赔,保险公司还可以把盈余投资在一个无风险资产和一个风险资产上.假设再保险的方式为联合比例-超额损失再保险.还假设无风险资产和风险资产的利率是随机的,风险资产的方差也是随机的.通过解决相应的Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman(HJB)方程,获得了最优值函数和最优投资、再保险策略的显示解.特别的,通过一个例子具体的解释了得到的结论.     

Optimal investment for the defined-contribution pension with stochastic salary under a CEV model

In this paper, we study the optimal investment strategy of defined-contribution pension with the stochastic salary. The investor is allowed to invest in a risk-free asset and a risky asset whose price process follows a constant elasticity of variance model. The stochastic salary follows a stochastic differential equation, whose instantaneous volatility changes with the risky asset price all the time. The HJB equation associated with the optimal investment problem is established, and the explicit solution of the corresponding optimization problem for the CARA utility function is obtained by applying power transform and variable change technique. Finally, we present a numerical analysis.     

Pricing vulnerable options under a stochastic volatility model

In this paper, we consider the pricing of vulnerable options when the underlying asset follows a stochastic volatility model. We use multiscale asymptotic analysis to derive an analytic approximation formula for the price of the vulnerable options and study the stochastic volatility effect on the option price. A numerical experiment result is presented to demonstrate our findings graphically.     

Pricing long-dated insurance contracts with stochastic interest rates and stochastic volatility

We consider the pricing of long-dated insurance contracts under stochastic interest rates and stochastic volatility. In particular, we focus on the valuation of insurance options with long-term equity or foreign exchange exposures. Our modeling framework extends the stochastic volatility model of Schöbel and Zhu (1999) by including stochastic interest rates. Moreover, we allow all driving model factors to be instantaneously correlated with each other, i.e. we allow for a general correlation structure between the instantaneous interest rates, the volatilities and the underlying stock returns. As insurance products often incorporate long-term exposures, they are typically more sensitive to changes in the interest rates, volatility and currencies. Therefore, having the flexibility to correlate the underlying asset price with both the stochastic volatility and the stochastic interest rates, yields a realistic model which is of practical importance for the pricing and hedging of such long-term contracts. We show that European options, typically used for the calibration of the model to market prices, and forward starting options can be priced efficiently and in closed-form by means of Fourier inversion techniques. We extensively discuss the numerical implementation of these pricing formulas, allowing for a fast and accurate valuation of European and forward starting options. The model will be especially useful for the pricing and risk management of insurance contracts and other exotic derivatives involving long-term maturities.     

Optimal management of DC pension plan in a stochastic interest rate and stochastic volatility framework

This paper investigates an optimal investment strategy of DC pension plan in a stochastic interest rate and stochastic volatility framework. We apply an affine model including the Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) model and the Vasicek mode to characterize the interest rate while the stock price is given by the Heston’s stochastic volatility (SV) model. The pension manager can invest in cash, bond and stock in the financial market. Thus, the wealth of the pension fund is influenced by the financial risks in the market and the stochastic contribution from the fund participant. The goal of the fund manager is, coping with the contribution rate, to maximize the expectation of the constant relative risk aversion (CRRA) utility of the terminal value of the pension fund over a guarantee which serves as an annuity after retirement. We first transform the problem into a single investment problem, then derive an explicit solution via the stochastic programming method. Finally, the numerical analysis is given to show the impact of financial parameters on the optimal strategies.     

Risk-minimizing hedging strategies under restricted information: The case of stochastic volatility models observable only at discrete random times

We consider a market where the price of the risky asset follows a stochastic volatility model, but can be observed only at discrete random time points. We determine a local risk minimizing hedging strategy, assuming that the information of the agent is restricted to the observations of the price at its random jump times. Stochastic filtering also comes into play when computing the hedging strategy in the given situation of restricted information.     

基于动态VaR约束与随机波动率模型的最优投资策略

研究Stein-Stein随机波动率模型下带动态VaR约束的最优投资组合选择问题. 假设投资者的目标是最大化终端财富的期望幂效用,可投资于无风险资产和一种风险资产, 风险资产的价格过程由Stein-Stein随机波动率模型刻画. 同时, 投资者期望能在投资过程中利用动态VaR约束控制所面对的风险.运用Bellman动态规划方法和Lagrange乘子法, 得到了该约束问题最优策略的解析式及特殊情形下最优值函数的解析式; 并通过理论分析和数值算例, 阐述了动态VaR约束与随机波动率对最优投资策略的影响.     

Optimal portfolio choice and stochastic volatility

In this paper we examine the effect of stochastic volatility on optimal portfolio choice in both partial and general equilibrium settings. In a partial equilibrium setting we derive an analog of the classic Samuelson–Merton optimal portfolio result and define volatility‐adjusted risk aversion as the effective risk aversion of an individual investing in an asset with stochastic volatility. We extend prior research which shows that effective risk aversion is greater with stochastic volatility than without for investors without wealth effects by providing further comparative static results on changes in effective risk aversion due to changes in the distribution of volatility. We demonstrate that effective risk aversion is increasing in the constant absolute risk aversion and the variance of the volatility distribution for investors without wealth effects. We further show that for these investors a first‐order stochastic dominant shift in the volatility distribution does not necessarily increase effective risk aversion, whereas a second‐order stochastic dominant shift in the volatility does increase effective risk aversion. Finally, we examine the effect of stochastic volatility on equilibrium asset prices. We derive an explicit capital asset pricing relationship that illustrates how stochastic volatility alters equilibrium asset prices in a setting with multiple risky assets, where returns have a market factor and asset‐specific random components and multiple investor types. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Valuation of variable annuities with Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit under stochastic interest rate

This paper develops an efficient direct integration method for pricing of the variable annuity (VA) with guarantees in the case of stochastic interest rate. In particular, we focus on pricing VA with Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit (GMWB) that promises to return the entire initial investment through withdrawals and the remaining account balance at maturity. Under the optimal (dynamic) withdrawal strategy of a policyholder, GMWB pricing becomes an optimal stochastic control problem that can be solved using backward recursion Bellman equation. Optimal decision becomes a function of not only the underlying asset but also interest rate. Presently our method is applied to the Vasicek interest rate model, but it is applicable to any model when transition density of the underlying asset and interest rate is known in closed-form or can be evaluated efficiently. Using bond price as a numéraire the required expectations in the backward recursion are reduced to two-dimensional integrals calculated through a high order Gauss–Hermite quadrature applied on a two-dimensional cubic spline interpolation. The quadrature is applied after a rotational transformation to the variables corresponding to the principal axes of the bivariate transition density, which empirically was observed to be more accurate than the use of Cholesky transformation. Numerical comparison demonstrates that the new algorithm is significantly faster than the partial differential equation or Monte Carlo methods. For pricing of GMWB with dynamic withdrawal strategy, we found that for positive correlation between the underlying asset and interest rate, the GMWB price under the stochastic interest rate is significantly higher compared to the case of deterministic interest rate, while for negative correlation the difference is less but still significant. In the case of GMWB with predefined (static) withdrawal strategy, for negative correlation, the difference in prices between stochastic and deterministic interest rate cases is not material while for positive correlation the difference is still significant. The algorithm can be easily adapted to solve similar stochastic control problems with two stochastic variables possibly affected by control. Application to numerical pricing of Asian, barrier and other financial derivatives with a single risky asset under stochastic interest rate is also straightforward.     

Time-consistent investment-proportional reinsurance strategy with random coefficients for mean–variance insurers

In this study, we consider an insurer who manages her underlying risk by purchasing proportional reinsurance and investing in a financial market consisting of a risk-free bond and a risky asset. The objective of the insurer is to identify an investment–reinsurance strategy that minimizes the mean–variance cost function. We obtain a time-consistent open-loop equilibrium strategy and the corresponding efficient frontier in explicit form using two systems of backward stochastic differential equations. Furthermore, we apply our results to Vasiček’s stochastic interest rate model and Heston’s stochastic volatility model. In both cases, we obtain a closed-form solution.     

基于通货膨胀风险和Heston随机波动率下的最优资产配置

本文考虑了基于均值-方差准则下的连续时间投资组合选择问题。为了对冲市场中的利率风险和通货膨胀风险,假定市场上存在可供交易的零息名义债券和零息通货膨胀指数债券。另外,投资者还可以投资一个价格具有Heston随机波动率的风险资产。首先建立了基于均值-方差框架下的最优投资组合问题,然后将原问题进行转换,利用随机动态规划方法和对偶Lagrangian原理,获得了均值-方差准则下的有效投资策略以及有效前沿的解析表达形式,最后对相关参数的敏感性进行了分析。     

An optimal investment and consumption model with stochastic returns

We consider a financial market consisting of a risky asset and a riskless one, with a constant or random investment horizon. The interest rate from the riskless asset is constant, but the relative return rate from the risky asset is stochastic with an unknown parameter in its distribution. Following the Bayesian approach, the optimal investment and consumption problem is formulated as a Markov decision process. We incorporate the concept of risk aversion into the model and characterize the optimal strategies for both the power and logarithmic utility functions with a constant relative risk aversion (CRRA). Numerical examples are provided that support the intuition that a higher proportion of investment should be allocated to the risky asset if the mean return rate on the risky asset is higher or the risky asset return rate is less volatile. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Passport options with stochastic volatility

A passport option is a call option on the profits of a trading account. In this article, the robustness of passport option pricing is investigated by incorporating stochastic volatility. The key feature of a passport option is the holders' optimal strategy. It is known that in the case of exponential Brownian motion the strategy is to be long if the trading account is below zero and short if the account is above zero. Here this result is extended to models with stochastic volatility where the volatility is defined via an autonomous SDE. It is shown that if the Brownian motions driving the underlying asset and the volatility are independent then the form of the optimal strategy remains unchanged. This means that the strategy is robust to misspecification of the underlying model. A second aim of this article is to investigate some of the biases which become apparent in a stochastic volatility regime. Using an analytic approximation, comparisons are obtained for passport option prices using the exponential Brownian motion model and some well-known stochastic volatility models. This is illustrated with numerical examples. One conclusion is that if volatility and price are uncorrelated, then prices are sometimes lower in a model with stochastic volatility than in a model with constant volatility.     

Pricing long-dated insurance contracts with stochastic interest rates and stochastic volatility

We consider the pricing of long-dated insurance contracts under stochastic interest rates and stochastic volatility. In particular, we focus on the valuation of insurance options with long-term equity or foreign exchange exposures. Our modeling framework extends the stochastic volatility model of Schöbel and Zhu (1999) by including stochastic interest rates. Moreover, we allow all driving model factors to be instantaneously correlated with each other, i.e. we allow for a general correlation structure between the instantaneous interest rates, the volatilities and the underlying stock returns. As insurance products often incorporate long-term exposures, they are typically more sensitive to changes in the interest rates, volatility and currencies. Therefore, having the flexibility to correlate the underlying asset price with both the stochastic volatility and the stochastic interest rates, yields a realistic model which is of practical importance for the pricing and hedging of such long-term contracts. We show that European options, typically used for the calibration of the model to market prices, and forward starting options can be priced efficiently and in closed-form by means of Fourier inversion techniques. We extensively discuss the numerical implementation of these pricing formulas, allowing for a fast and accurate valuation of European and forward starting options. The model will be especially useful for the pricing and risk management of insurance contracts and other exotic derivatives involving long-term maturities.     

Optimal investment consumption model with a higher interest rate for borrowing

This paper considers a consumption and investment decision problem with a higher interest rate for borrowing as well as the dividend rate. Wealth is divided into a riskless asset and risky asset with logrithmic Erownian motion price fluctuations. The stochastic control problem of maximizating expected utility from terminal wealth and consumption is studied. Equivalent conditions for optimality are obtained. By using duality methods ,the existence of optimal portfolio consumption is proved,and the explicit solutions leading to feedback formulae are derived for deteministic coefficients.     

广义Black-Scholes模型期权定价新方法--保险精算方法

利用公平保费原则和价格过程的实际概率测度推广了Mogens Bladt和Tina Hviid Rydberg的结果．在无中间红利和有中间红利两种情况下，把Black-Scholes模型推广到无风险资产(债券或银行存款)具有时间相依的利率和风险资产(股票)也具有时间相依的连续复利预期收益率和波动率的情况，在此情况下获得了欧式期权的精确定价公式以及买权与卖权之间的平价关系．给出了风险资产(股票)具有随机连续复利预期收益率和随机波动率的广义Black-Scholes模型的期权定价的一般方法．利用保险精算方法给出了股票价格遵循广义Ornstein-Uhlenback过程模型的欧式期权的精确定价公式和买权和卖权之间的平价关系．     

Valuation of guaranteed annuity options using a stochastic volatility model for equity prices

Guaranteed annuity options are options providing the right to convert a policyholder’s accumulated funds to a life annuity at a fixed rate when the policy matures. These options were a common feature in UK retirement savings contracts issued in the 1970’s and 1980’s when interest rates were high, but caused problems for insurers as the interest rates began to fall in the 1990’s. Currently, these options are frequently sold in the US and Japan as part of variable annuity products. The last decade the literature on pricing and risk management of these options evolved. Until now, for pricing these options generally a geometric Brownian motion for equity prices is assumed. However, given the long maturities of the insurance contracts a stochastic volatility model for equity prices would be more suitable. In this paper explicit expressions are derived for prices of guaranteed annuity options assuming stochastic volatility for equity prices and either a 1-factor or 2-factor Gaussian interest rate model. The results indicate that the impact of ignoring stochastic volatility can be significant.     

Investment timing under hybrid stochastic and local volatility

We consider an investment timing problem under a real option model where the instantaneous volatility of the project value is given by a combination of a hidden stochastic process and the project value itself. The stochastic volatility part is given by a function of a fast mean-reverting process as well as a slowly varying process and the local volatility part is a power (the elasticity parameter) of the project value itself. The elasticity parameter controls directly the correlation between the project value and the volatility. Knowing that the project value represents the market price of a real asset in many applications and the value of the elasticity parameter depends on the asset, the elasticity parameter should be treated with caution for investment decision problems. Based on the hybrid structure of volatility, we investigate the simultaneous impact of the elasticity and the stochastic volatility on the real option value as well as the investment threshold.