We examine the risk characteristics and capital adequacy of hedge funds through the Value-at-Risk approach. Using extensive data on nearly fifteen hundred hedge funds, we find that only 3.7% live and 10.9% dead funds are under-capitalized as of March 2003. Moreover, the under-capitalized funds...

We address three questions relating to the interest rate options market: What is the shape of the smile? What are the economic determinants of the shape of the smile? Do these determinants have predictive power for the future shape of the smile and vice versa? We investigate these issues using...

This article examines how the number of stochastic drivers and their associated volatility structures affect pricing accuracy and hedging performance in the swaption market. In spite of the fact that low dimensional one and two-factor models do not reflect historical correlations that exist...

We examine whether banks price expected liquidity in U.S. syndicated term loans. Using extensive data we show that loans with higher expected liquidity have significantly lower spreads at origination, controlling for other determinants of loan spreads such as borrower, loan, syndicate and...

This paper examines whether higher order multifactor models, with state variables linked to underlying LIBOR-swap rates, are by themselves capable of explaining and hedging interest rate derivatives, or whether models explicitly exhibiting features such as unspanned stochastic volatility are...

This paper examines the convexity bias introduced by pricing interest rate swaps off the Eurocurrency futures curve and the market's adjustment of this bias in prices over time. Theconvexity bias arises because of the difference between a futures versus a forward contract on interest rates,...

Can the liquidity premium in asset prices, as documented in the exchange-traded equity and bond markets, be generalized to the over-the-counter (OTC) derivative markets? Using OTC euro (euro;) interest rate cap and floor data, we find that illiquid options trade at higher prices relative to...

This paper examines the static and dynamic accuracy of interest rate option pricing models in the U.S. dollar interest rate cap and floor markets. We evaluate alternative one-factor and two-factor term structure models of the spot and the forward interest rates on the basis of their...