Reduced-form models of default calibrated to expected default losses and comovements between default losses and an equity-based pricing kernel generate CDS spreads that tend to fall below historical values. In frictionless markets, resolving this credit spread puzzle requires credit-market...

Manipulation in the VIX settlement can cause significant losses to investors. Analysing high-frequency data, we present indications of VIX manipulation accelerating since 2017. Deviations have an upward direction and average at around 6%. Specific effects accompany settlement days. The put/call...

This paper investigates the systematic role of limits to arbitrage in the risk and return profile of hedge funds. We follow He et al. (2017) and define these frictions in financial markets as the shocks to the equity capital ratio of primary dealer counterparties of the New York Federal Reserve....

This paper examines the cross section of options implied volatility and corporate bond returns. We document a strong predictive ability of corporate bond returns using changes in call and put options implied volatility. Specifically, a strategy of buying (selling) the portfolio with lowest...

We propose a measure for the convexity of an option-implied volatility curve, IV convexity, as a forward-looking measure of excess tail-risk contribution to the perceived variance of underlying equity returns. Using equity options data for individual U.S.-listed stocks during 2000-2013, we find...

We investigate the relationship between ex-ante total skewness and holding returns on individual equity options. Recent theoretical developments predict a negative relationship between total skewness and average returns, in contrast to the traditional view that only coskewness should be priced....

We study the estimation, the dynamics, and the predictability of option-implied risk-neutral moments (variance, skewness, and kurtosis) for individual stocks from various perspectives. We first show that it is in the estimation of the higher moments essential to use an interpolation with a...

We document a curious feature of the German mutual fund industry. Unlike U.S. mutual funds, funds domiciled in Germany do not necessarily compute their net asset values (NAV) as of market close. Using a sample of German equity funds, we infer each fund's NAV closing time from the best-fit market...

We explore a large sample of analysts' estimates of cost of equity capital (CoE) revealed in analysts' reports to evaluate their determinants and ability to capture expected stock returns. We first document that CoE estimates are more likely to be provided by less experienced and less busy...

Structure and stability of private equity market risk are still nearly unknown, since market prices are mostly unobservable for this asset class. This paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing market risks of listed private equity vehicles. We show that aggregate market risk varies strongly over...