This paper improves continuous-time variance swap approximation formulas to derive exact returns on benchmark VIX option portfolios. The new methodology preserves the variance swap interpretation that decomposes returns into realized variance and option implied-variance.We apply this new...

This paper considers the valuation of equity-linked life insurance contracts that offer an annually guaranteed minimum return. The policy premiums are invested in a reference portfolio that is modeled by means of a regime switching Lévy process where the model parameters depend on a continuous,...

In this paper, we combine modern portfolio theory and option pricing theory so that a trader who takes a position in a European option contract and the underlying assets can construct an optimal portfolio such that at the moment of the contract's maturity the contract is perfectly hedged. We...

This paper presents an option positioning that allows us to infer forward variances from option portfolios. The forward variances we construct from equity index options help to predict (i) growth in measures of real economic activity, (ii) Treasury bill returns, (iii) stock market returns, and...

We document profitable cross-sectional and time-series momentum in a broad set of 56 option factors constructed from monthly sorts on daily delta-hedged option positions. Option factor returns are highly autocorrelated, but momentum profits of strategies with longer formation periods are mainly...

This paper investigates the performance of option investments across different stocks by computing monthly returns on at-the-money straddles on individual equities. It finds that options with high historical returns continue to significantly outperform options with low historical returns over...

The optimal portfolio of a utility-maximizing investor trading in the S&P 500 index and cash, subject to proportional transaction costs, becomes stochastically dominated when overlaid with a zero-net-cost portfolio of S&P 500 options bought at their ask and written at their bid price in most...

This paper surveys the literature that deals with the informational content of market option prices for the purposes of quantitative asset management. We review studies that have investigated whether market option prices may help a portfolio manager in the stock selection process, portfolio...

This paper proposes a simple scheme for static hedging of defaultable contingent claims. It is a kind of generalization of the technique developed by Carr and Chou (1997), Carr and Madan (1998), and Takahashi and Yamazaki (2009a) into unified credit-equity modelings. Our scheme provides a...

We provide evidence that speculative capital of hedge funds is a key determinant for the profitability of optimal carry and momentum strategies in futures markets across asset classes. We construct optimal carry and momentum portfolios from the perspective of a utility maximizing risk averse...