Pricing Defaultable Bonds in a Markov Modulated Market

We address the problem of pricing defaultable bonds in a Markov modulated market. Using Merton's structural approach we show that various types of defaultable bonds are combination of European type contingent claims. Thus pricing a defaultable bond is tantamount to pricing a contingent claim in a Markov modulated market. Since the market is incomplete, we use the method of quadratic hedging and minimal martingale measure to derive locally risk minimizing derivative prices, hedging strategies and the corresponding residual risks. The price of defaultable bonds are obtained as solutions to a system of PDEs with weak coupling subject to appropriate terminal and boundary conditions. We solve the system of PDEs numerically and carry out a numerical investigation for the defaultable bond prices. We compare their credit spreads with some of the existing models. We observe higher spreads in the Markov modulated market. We show how business cycles can be easily incorporated in the proposed framework. We demonstrate the impact on spreads of the inclusion of rare states that attempt to capture a tight liquidity situation. These states are characterized by low risk-free interest rate, high payout rate and high volatility.     

Empirical Evaluation of Hybrid Defaultable Bond Pricing Models

A four‐factor model (the extended model of Schmid and Zagst) is presented for pricing credit risk related instruments such as defaultable bonds or credit derivatives. It is an advancement of an earlier three‐factor model. In addition to a firm‐specific credit risk factor, a new systematic risk factor in the form of GDP growth rate is included. This new model is set in the context of other hybrid defaultable bond pricing models and empirically compared to specific representatives. We find that a model based only on firm‐specific variables is unable to capture changes in credit spreads completely. However, it is shown that in this model, market variables such as GDP growth rates, non‐defaultable interest rates and firm‐specific variables together significantly influence credit spread levels and changes.     

Market implied volatilities for defaultable bonds

Typically, implied volatilities for defaultable instruments are not available in the financial market since quotations related to options on defaultable bonds or on credit default swaps are usually not quoted by brokers. However, an estimate of their volatilities is needed for pricing purposes. In this paper, we provide a methodology to infer market implied volatilities for defaultable bonds using equity implied volatilities and CDS spreads quoted by the market in relation to a specific issuer. The theoretical framework we propose is based on the Merton’s model under stochastic interest rates where the short rate is assumed to follow the Hull–White model. A numerical analysis is provided to illustrate the calibration process to be performed starting from financial market data. The market implied volatility calibrated according to the proposed methodology could be used to evaluate options where the underlying is a risky bond, i.e. callable bond or other types of credit-risk sensitive financial instruments.

     

Rebalancing Multiple Assets with Mutual Price Impact

We find asymptotically optimal trading policies for long-term investors with constant relative risk aversion, in a multiple-assets market, where expected returns and covariances are constant, and the execution price of each asset is linear in the trading intensities of all assets. Trading toward the frictionless target is optimal, when the current portfolio differs from the target by a principal portfolio—an eigenvector of the inverse impact matrix times the covariance matrix. Optimal policies approach the frictionless target along nonlinear, power-shaped paths, trading faster in more liquid directions, while tolerating wider oscillations along less liquid directions.     

A method for determining risk aversion functions from uncertain market prices of risk

In Gzyl and Mayoral (2008) we developed a technique to solve the following type of problems: How to determine a risk aversion function equivalent to pricing a risk with a load, or equivalent to pricing different risks by means of the same risk distortion function. The information on which the procedure is based consists of the market prices of the risk. Here we extend that method to cover the case in which there may be uncertainties in the market prices of the risks.     

Event risk, contingent claims and the temporal resolution of uncertainty

We study the pricing and hedging of contingent claims that are subject to Event Risk which we define as rare and unpredictable events whose occurrence may be correlated to, but cannot be hedged perfectly with standard marketed instruments. The super-replication costs of such event sensitive contingent claims (ESCC), in general, provide little guidance for the pricing of these claims. Instead, we study utility based prices under two scenarios of resolution of uncertainty for event risk: when the event is continuously monitored, or when it is revealed only at the payment date. In both cases, we transform the incomplete market optimal portfolio choice problem of an agent endowed with an ESCC into a complete market problem with a state and possibly path-dependent utility function. For negative exponential utility, we obtain an explicit representation of the utility based prices under both information resolution scenarios and this in turn leads us to a simple characterization of the early resolution premium. For constant relative risk aversion utility functions we propose a simple numerical scheme and study the impact of size of the position, wealth and expected return on these prices.     

Nonmyopic optimal portfolios in viable markets

We provide a representation for the nonmyopic optimal portfolio of an agent consuming only at the terminal horizon when the single state variable follows a general diffusion process and the market consists of one risky asset and a risk-free asset. The key term of our representation is a new object that we call the “rate of macroeconomic fluctuation” whose properties are fundamental for the portfolio dynamics. We show that, under natural cyclicality conditions, (i) the agent’s hedging demand is positive (negative) when the product of his prudence and risk tolerance is below (above) two and (ii) the portfolio weights decrease in risk aversion. We apply our results to study a general continuous-time capital asset pricing model and show that under the same cyclicality conditions, the market price of risk is countercyclical and the price of the risky asset exhibits excess volatility.     

On the simulation of portfolios of interest rate and credit risk sensitive securities

We discuss extensions of reduced-form and structural models for pricing credit risky securities to portfolio simulation and valuation. Stochasticity in interest rates and credit spreads is captured via reduced-form models and is incorporated with a default and migration model based on the structural credit risk modelling approach. Calculated prices are consistent with observed prices and the term structure of default-free and defaultable interest rates. Three applications are discussed: (i) study of the inter-temporal price sensitivity of credit bonds and the sensitivity of future portfolio valuation with respect to changes in interest rates, default probabilities, recovery rates and rating migration, (ii) study of the structure of credit risk by investigating the impact of disparate risk factors on portfolio risk, and (iii) tracking of corporate bond indices via simulation and optimisation models. In particular, we study the effect of uncertainty in credit spreads and interest rates on the overall risk of a credit portfolio, a topic that has been recently discussed by Kiesel et al. [The structure of credit risk: spread volatility and ratings transitions. Technical report, Bank of England, ISSN 1268-5562, 2001], but has been otherwise mostly neglected. We find that spread risk and interest rate risk are important factors that do not diversify away in a large portfolio context, especially when high-quality instruments are considered.     

考虑线下渠道时销售商在团购网站上的最优销售策略研究

基于团购网站和销售商的典型合作模式,考虑了团购网站和线下市场的相互影响,用非线性优化理论为基础以销售商制定团购上限和团购项目定价为决策变量,考虑团购价格和最低团购数量的约束条件,建立模型优化,求解出销售商推出团购项目的最优策略。考虑到团购网站下限和团购网站销售成本以及网上销售的广告效用,分析了销售商是否应该制定团购上限,如何结合团购项目定价制定团购上限。探讨了在线低价限量销售的优势,以及顾客转移购买率和团购下限对销售商策略选择的影响。通过和单一线下渠道的最优销售策略相比较,得出销售商推出团购项目的前提条件。同时为团购网站运营商如何引导销售商推出低价团购项目提供了管理启示。     

Analysis of relationship between forward and spot markets in oligopolies under demand and cost uncertainties

In this paper, we consider interaction between spot and forward trading under demand and cost uncertainties, deriving the equilibrium of the multi-player dynamic games. The stochastic programming and worst-case analysis models based on discrete scenarios are developed to analyze the impact of demand uncertainty and risk aversion on oligopoly (forward and spot) markets’ structure in terms of the forwards and spot pricing, traded quantities and production. A real case of the Iberian electricity market is studied to illustrate performance of the models. The numerical experiments show that cost uncertainty impacts on the strategic decisions more than demand uncertainty.     

Scale-invariant asset pricing and consumption/portfolio choice with general attitudes toward risk and uncertainty

Motivated by notions of aversion to Knightian uncertainty, this paper develops the theory of competitive asset pricing and consumption/portfolio choice with homothetic recursive preferences that allow essentially any homothetic uncertainty averse certainty-equivalent form. The market structure is scale invariant but otherwise general, allowing any trading constraints that scale with wealth. Technicalities are minimized by assuming a finite information tree. Pricing restrictions in terms of consumption growth and market returns are derived and a simple recursive method for solving the corresponding optimal consumption/portfolio choice problem is established.     

投资者看法差异与风险资产定价

股票市场中投资者的看法差异是否影响定价?将投资者之间由于信息不对称引起的看法差异和对称信息下由于信念异质引起的看法差异,纳入统一的一个理性预期模型,推导出基于信息性风险和异质信念下的风险资产定价模型,对几种不同来源性质的看法差异进行剥离并通过对均衡价格的比较静态分析证明了:由信息不对称造成的看法差异与投资者要求的预期收益率正相关,而由信念异质引起的看法差异与预期收益率负相关.这表明:投资者对逆向选择风险要求额外的风险贴水,而相反会忽视赢者诅咒风险,投资者的看法差异越大越会造成股票价格的高估.     

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.     

A tractable LIBOR model with default risk

We develop a model for the dynamic evolution of default-free and defaultable interest rates in a LIBOR framework. Utilizing the class of affine processes, this model produces positive LIBOR rates and spreads, while the dynamics are analytically tractable under defaultable forward measures. This leads to explicit formulas for CDS spreads, while semi-analytical formulas are derived for other credit derivatives. Finally, we give an application to counterparty risk.     

Mean field game of controls and an application to trade crowding

In this paper we formulate the now classical problem of optimal liquidation (or optimal trading) inside a mean field game (MFG). This is a noticeable change since usually mathematical frameworks focus on one large trader facing a “background noise” (or “mean field”). In standard frameworks, the interactions between the large trader and the price are a temporary and a permanent market impact terms, the latter influencing the public price. In this paper the trader faces the uncertainty of fair price changes too but not only. He also has to deal with price changes generated by other similar market participants, impacting the prices permanently too, and acting strategically. Our MFG formulation of this problem belongs to the class of “extended MFG”, we hence provide generic results to address these “MFG of controls”, before solving the one generated by the cost function of optimal trading. We provide a closed form formula of its solution, and address the case of “heterogenous preferences” (when each participant has a different risk aversion). Last but not least we give conditions under which participants do not need to instantaneously know the state of the whole system, but can “learn” it day after day, observing others’ behaviors.     

Duality and martingales: a stochastic programming perspective on contingent claims

The hedging of contingent claims in the discrete time, discrete state case is analyzed from the perspective of modeling the hedging problem as a stochastic program. Application of conjugate duality leads to the arbitrage pricing theorems of financial mathematics, namely the equivalence of absence of arbitrage and the existence of a probability measure that makes the price process into a martingale. The model easily extends to the analysis of options pricing when modeling risk management concerns and the impact of spreads and margin requirements for writers of contingent claims. However, we find that arbitrage pricing in incomplete markets fails to model incentives to buy or sell options. An extension of the model to incorporate pre-existing liabilities and endowments reveals the reasons why buyers and sellers trade in options. The model also indicates the importance of financial equilibrium analysis for the understanding of options prices in incomplete markets. Received: June 5, 2000 / Accepted: July 12, 2001?Published online December 6, 2001     

Optimal insurance with belief heterogeneity and incentive compatibility

People may evaluate risk differently in the insurance market. Motivated by this, we examine an optimal insurance problem allowing the insured and the insurer to have heterogeneous beliefs about loss distribution. To reduce ex post moral hazard, we follow Huberman et al. (1983) to assume that alternative insurance contracts satisfy the principle of indemnity and the incentive-compatible constraint. Under the assumption that the insurance premium is calculated by the expected value principle, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for an optimal insurance solution and provide a practical scheme to improve any suboptimal insurance strategy under an arbitrary form of belief heterogeneity. By virtue of this condition, we explore qualitative properties of optimal solutions, and derive optimal insurance contracts explicitly for some interesting forms of belief heterogeneity. As a byproduct of this investigation, we find that Theorem 3.6 of Young (1999) is not completely true.     

Black-Scholes期权定价的风险(英文)

Black-Scholes期权定价的推导假定对冲是连续的以达到无风险. 但事实上, 股市收市后将不再有交易, 所以投资者不能连续的调整其投资组合, 故期权定价的风险是存在的. 本文讨论了这种不连续对冲带来的期权定价的风险, 并以美国股市的几种指标股为例, 给出其比率. 比率多在5%以上, 有的可以达到38%, 可见传统期权定价的风险不容小觑.     

利用传染模型对含有对手风险的信用证券定价(英文)

本文利用传染模型研究了可违约债券和含有对手风险的信用违约互换的定价。我们在约化模型中引入具有违约相关性的传染模型,该模型假设违约过程的强度依赖于由随机微分方程驱动的随机利率过程和交易对手的违约过程.本文模型可视为Jarrow和Yu(2001)及Hao和Ye(2011)中模型的推广.进一步地,我们利用随机指数的性质导出了可违约债券和含有对手风险的信用违约互换的定价公式并进行了数值分析.     

需求中断下具有提前期的双渠道供应链的风险规避决策

讨论了由一个制造商和一个零售商所组成的双渠道供应链在需求中断下具有提前期的双渠道供应链的风险规避问题.给出了在需求中断前后的最优价格、最优提前期和最优生产决策.研究表明决策变化量是需求中断量的线性函数,在集中式下最优的决策和销售量与供应链的市场份额和需求中断有关,模型的最优生产体现了一定的稳健性.对于提前期来说,当市场份额较大时,最优提前期关于风险规避系数呈正比例,当市场份额较小时,最优提前期关于风险规避系数呈反比例.