This paper presents a new approach to modeling the dynamics of implied distributions. First, we obtain a parsimonious description of the dynamics of the Samp;P 500 implied cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) by applying Principal Components Analysis. Subsequently, we develop new...

There is a growing literature on implied volatility indices in developed markets. However, no research has been conducted in the context of emerging markets. In this paper, an implied volatility index (GVIX) is constructed for the fast developing Greek derivatives market. Next, the properties of...

The fluctuation of shipping freight rates (freight rate risk) is an important source of market risk for all participants in the freight markets including hedge funds, commodity and energy producers. We measure the freight rate risk by the Value-at-Risk (VaR) approach. A range of parametric and...

We explore the ability of alternative popular continuous-time diffusion and jump diffusion processes to capture the dynamics of implied volatility indices over time. The performance of the various models is assessed under both econometric and financial metrics. To this end, data are employed...

Motivated by the growing literature on volatility options and their imminent introduction in major exchanges, this paper addresses two issues. First, we examine whether volatility options are superior to standard options in terms of hedging volatility risk. Second, we investigate the comparative...

This paper examines the pricing performance of various discrete-time option models that accept the variation of implied volatilities with respect to the strike price and the time-to-maturity of the option (implied volatility tree models). To this end, data from the Samp;P 100 options are...

This paper examines the systematic relationship between correlation mis-estimation and the corresponding Value-at-Risk (VaR) mis-calculation. To this end, first a semi-parametric approach, and then a parametric approach is developed. Both approaches are based on a simulation setup. Various...

The developing literature on quot;smile-consistentquot; no-arbitrage models has emerged from the need to price and hedge exotic options consistently with the prices of standard European options. This survey paper describes the steps through which this literature has evolved by providing a...

Volatility changes stochastically over time. This has implications for option pricing and risk management and it has motivated the development of stochastic volatility option pricing models. The fundamental building block of these models is the stochastic process that is used to model the...

Motivated by the implied stochastic volatility literature (Britten-Jones and Neuberger (1998), Derman and Kani (1997), Ledoit and Santa-Clara (1998)) this paper proposes a new and general method for constructing smile-consistent stochastic volatility models. The method is developed by...