A P-sigma-martingale density for a given stochastic process S is a local P-martingale Z0 starting at 1 such that the product ZS is a P-sigma-martingale. Existence of a P-sigma-martingale density is equivalent to a classic absence-of-arbitrage property of S, and it is invariant if we replace the...

While CBOE's VIX index is widely acknowledged as a broad-based investor “fear gauge” for its strong inverse relationship with major equity indexes, one cannot necessarily expect it to translate to the level of future turbulence or investor risk aversion in fixed-income markets. Indeed,...

We introduce the class of linear-rational term structure models in which the state price density is modeled such that bond prices become linear-rational functions of the factors. This class is highly tractable with several distinct advantages: i) ensures nonnegative interest rates, ii) easily...

We study American swaptions in the linear-rational (LR) term structure model introduced. The American swaption pricing problem boils down to an optimal stopping problem that is analytically tractable. It reduces to a free-boundary problem that we tackle by the local time-space calculus. We...

We develop a novel contract design, the fed funds futures (FFF) variance futures, which reflects the expected realized basis point variance of an underlying FFF rate. The valuation of short-term FFF variance futures is completely model-independent in a general setting that includes the cases...

In the standard model for insurance demand, the risk is totally exogenous and the insurance premium is paid for out of riskless wealth. This model yields results that are mostly in contradiction to everyday observation and have been used to question the pertinence of expected utility theory on...

We establish the existence and characterization of a primal and a dual facelift - discontinuity of the value function at the terminal time - for utility maximization in incomplete semimartingale-driven financial markets. Unlike in the lower- and upper-hedging problems, and somewhat unexpectedly,...

In light of the growing use, acceptance of, and demand for, machine learning in many fields, notably data science, but also other fields such as finance -- and this in both industry and academics, some university departments might wish, or find themselves forced to, accord to the winds of change...

The increase in life expectancy over the past several decades has been impressive and represents a key challenge for institutions that provide life insurance products. Indeed, when a new actuarial table is released with updated survival and death rates, such institutions need to update the...