We use the informational content of VIX derivatives to infer implications on the non-affine modeling of the stock returns' variance dynamics. We find that both a non-affine diffusion and variance jumps are necessary to capture the short- and long-term implied volatility distribution. In- and...

Relax certificates are written on multiple underlying stocks. Their payoff depends on a barrier condition and is thus path-dependent. As long as none of the underlying assets crosses a lower barrier, the investor receives the payoff of a coupon bond. Otherwise, there is a cash settlement at...

Close-to-zero interest rates challenge standard economic models in which zero lower bound (ZLB) is absent. We estimate a recursive utility model which features time-varying latent expected real growth, expected inflation, and stochastic inflation volatility. Using an approximate solution to bond...

Variance contracts permit the trading of ’variance risk’, i.e. the risk that the realizedvariance of stock returns changes randomly over time. We discuss why investorsmight want to trade this type of risk, and why they might prefer a variance contractto standard calls and puts for this...

This paper deals with the superhedging of derivatives on incomplete markets, i.e.with portfolio strategies which generate payoffs at least as high as that of a givencontingent claim. The simplest solution to this problem is in many cases a staticsuperhedge, i.e. a buy-and-hold strategy...

The observed prices of out-of-the money put options seem too high given standardderivative pricing models. One possible explanation is a Peso problem: crashes (forwhich the payoff of a put is high) are taken into account for pricing, but are under-represented in the data sets used for empirical...

This paper analyzes the properties of and the differences between derivative pricingmodels that include stochastic volatility or stochastic jumps or both of these riskfactors. The focus is on the pricing of European options. In a first step, we discussthe impact of the parameters in stochastic...

The vast majority of approaches to risk management, hedging, or portfolio planningassume that some model is given. However, under model risk, the true data gener-ating process is not known. The focus of this paper is on problems related to thehedging of derivative contracts. We explain the main...

This paper provides a theoretical and numerical analysis of robust hedging strategies in diffusion?type models including stochastic volatility models. A robust hedging strategy avoids any losses as long as the realised volatility stays within a given interval. We focus on the effects of...

When options are traded, one can use their prices and price changes to draw inference about the set of risk factors and their risk premia. We analyze tests for the existence and the sign of the market prices of jump risk that are based on option hedging errors. We derive a closed-form solution...