We perform an empirical analysis of trading strategies based on the systematic selling of delta hedged options, aiming at capturing the so-called volatility risk premium. We compare the performance across different strikes and maturities, and perform a breakdown of the drivers of performance. We...

These days it's become convention (reinforced by the media's treatment of wealth) to assess our net worth by tallying up the market value of our financial assets, even though it's more natural and useful to think of our wealth as a stream of dollars over time given the nature of our income and...

The longest bull market in US stock market history is over. Uncertainty over the public health and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will keep markets extremely volatile, making it likely we'll touch a wide range of price levels in the months ahead. Amidst such uncertainty, it's a...

Volatility is usually considered as a synonym for risk. Mainstream financial theory states that higher portfolio volatility is translated into higher expected returns while diversification helps eliminate idiosyncratic risks. This leaves us with an apparent anomaly as low-risk (low-beta) stocks...

Lotteries are a curious phenomenon in financial markets, as they seem to contradict traditional utility models that predict rational behavior under uncertainty. Despite this, lotteries continue to attract the interest of many investors who knowingly or unknowingly trade their expectations of...

We consider the derivatives pricing problem in credit risk. By assessing a market price to the hedged risks and a Capital Asset Pricing Model price to the unhedged part, we derive a generalized pricing formula that nests both the classic “Capital Markets” and “Corporate Finance” models....

In power markets one frequently encounters a risk premium being positive in the short end of the forward curve, and negative in the long end. Economically it has been argued that the positive premium is reflecting retailers aversion for spike risk, wheras in the long end of the forward curve the...

We compare zero yield and asset swap spreads both being used to specify the credit risk component in bond pricing. We investigate how these both figures are related and how the asset swap spread depends on other pricing factors such as the riskfree yield, all in terms of numerical examples...

Understanding variance risk is of key importance in mathematical finance since it affects risk management, asset allocation and derivative pricing. Variance risk is priced in financial markets by the so-called variance risk premium (VRP), which refers to the premium demanded for holding assets...

The combination of last year’s large sell-off in the financial markets, a challenging macroeconomic environment, and heightened volatility has led institutional investors to reassess their strategic asset allocation. Guiding these reassessments is the central question of how best to fulfill...