The foreign exchange options market is one of the largest and most liquid OTC derivative markets in the world. Surprisingly, very little is known in the academic literature about the construction of the most important object in this market: The implied volatility smile. The smile construction...

Bei der Altersvorsorge von Privatanlegern ergibt sich in der derzeitigen Marktsituation die Frage nach der Einführung von Anlageprodukten mit Garantien. Garantien können sich auf das Kapital oder auf eine Mindestrendite beziehen. Produktvarianten können Fonds oder Zertifikate sein. Aus Furcht...

Bei der Altersvorsorge von Privatanlegern boomt in der derzeitigen Marktsituation die Vermarktung von Riesterverträgen. Verschiedene Anbieter versuchen, sich diesen Markt zu erschließen. Neben den Versicherungen haben auch Banken und Investmentgesellschaften Angebote auf den Markt gebracht. In...

The vanna-volga method, also called the traders' rule of thumb is an empirical procedure that can be used to infer an implied-volatility smile from three available quotes for a given maturity. It is based on the construction of locally replicating portfolios whose associated hedging costs are...

Bei der Altersvorsorge von Privatanlegern boomt in der derzeitigen Marktsituation die Vermarktung von Riesterverträgen. Verschiedene Anbieter versuchen, sich diesen Markt zu erschließen. Neben den Versicherungen haben auch Banken und Investmentgesellschaften Angebote auf den Markt gebracht. In...

A quanto option can be any cash-settled option, whose payoff is converted into a third currency at maturity at a pre-specified rate, called the quanto factor. There can be quanto plain vanilla, quanto barriers, quanto forward starts, quanto corridors, etc. The valuation theory is covered for...

We investigate the robustness of existing methods to calibrate the Cheyette interest rate model to at-the-money swaption, caps and floors. Existing algorithms may fail, because they suffer from numerical instability of derivatives. Therefore, we apply derivative-free techniques and find that...

This paper analyzes the evolution of the structured products market focusing on the tools available for private investors, on which they rely for the selection process. The selection process is extremely difficult because there is a myriad of products, because of the dynamic nature of the market...

We have compared the performance of savings plans within the class of difference capital guarantee mechanisms: from the stop loss to classic investments in actuarial reserve funds. CPPI strategies with different leverage factors can be viewed as a compromises between these two extremes. In...