Narrow Results

From the empirical viewpoint, the Expectation Hypothesis Theory (EHT) of the term structure of interest rates has been extensively tested and rejected for US term structure data. Dai and Singleton [6] show that under the settings of Affine term structure models it is possible that one matches both the historical term structure dynamics and capture an important stylized fact that have contradicted the EHT: Time-varying risk premia. In emerging markets, economic conditions tend to be much less stable than in developed markets. For this reason, if risk premia is dynamic in such markets, intuition would suggest that it is more volatile than in developed markets, implying a stronger statistical rejection of the EHT. In this paper, we verify the robustness of Dai and Singleton's results under these more extreme market conditions. We estimate an arbitrage free Affine Gaussian model for the term structure of swaps in the Brazilian market. We propose an extensive empirical analysis which consists on: defining the optimal number of factors to be used in the model, estimating the model, giving interpretation to the state variables in terms of risk factors, and studying the model implied risk premia. In the end, we propose an application for risk management of interest rates futures portfolios.

We introduce a new class of lattice models based on a continuous time Markov chain approximation scheme for affine processes, whereby the approximating process itself is affine. A key property of this class of lattice models is that the location of the time nodes can be chosen in a payoff dependent way and one has the flexibility of setting them only at the relevant dates. Time stepping invariance relies on the ability of computing node-to-node discounted transition probabilities in analytically closed form. The method is quite general and far reaching and it is introduced in this article in the framework of the broadly used single-factor, affine short rate models such as the Vasiček and CIR models. To illustrate the use of affine lattice models in these cases, we analyze in detail the example of Bermuda swaptions.

Forward start options are examined in Heston's (Review of Financial Studies6 (1993) 327–343) stochastic volatility model with the CIR (Econometrica53 (1985) 385–408) stochastic interest rates. The instantaneous volatility and the instantaneous short rate are assumed to be correlated with the dynamics of stock return. The main result is an analytic formula for the price of a forward start European call option. It is derived using the probabilistic approach combined with the Fourier inversion technique, as developed in Carr and Madan (Journal of Computational Finance2 (1999) 61–73).

Multi-factor interest-rate models are widely used. Contingent claims with early exercise features are often valued by resorting to trees, finite-difference schemes and Monte Carlo simulations. When jumps are present, however, these methods are less effective. In this work we develop an algorithm based on a sequence of measure changes coupled with Fourier transform solutions of the pricing partial integro-differential equation to solve the pricing problem. The new algorithm, which we call the irFST method, also neatly computes option sensitivities. Furthermore, we are also able to obtain closed-form formulae for accrual swaps and accrual range notes. We demonstrate the versatility and precision of the method through numerical experiments on European, Bermudan and callable bond options, accrual swaps and accrual range notes.

We consider a stochastic-factor financial model wherein the asset price and the stochastic-factor processes depend on an observable Markov chain and exhibit an affine structure. We are faced with a finite investment horizon and derive optimal dynamic investment strategies that maximize the investor's expected utility from terminal wealth. To this end we apply Merton's approach, because we are dealing with an incomplete market. Based on the semimartingale characterization of Markov chains, we first derive the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equations that, in our case, correspond to a system of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations (PDE). Exploiting the affine structure of the model, we derive simple expressions for the solution in the case with no leverage, i.e. no correlation between the Brownian motions driving the asset price and the stochastic factor. In the presence of leverage, we propose a separable ansatz that leads to explicit solutions. General verification results are also proved. The results are illustrated for the special case of a Markov-modulated Heston model.

In this paper, we study optimal mortgage decisions in a cross-currency setting. In particular, we address the question on how a household should optimally split its mortgage portfolio in a fixed rate mortgage in the domestic currency and an adjustable rate mortgage denominated in a foreign currency subject to some risk constraints. We propose an affine factor model which allows to jointly investigate the impact of variations in interest rates as well as of exchange rate fluctuations on mortgage decisions. As a case study, we apply our model to real data on Swiss and German mortgage markets and we estimate parameters using a quasi-Kalman filter approach. We then study the impact of different income splits, risk attitudes, and mortgage specifications on the household’s portfolio choice in a mean–variance optimization approach.

This paper presents a generalization of forward start options under jump diffusion framework of Duffie et al. [Duffie, D, J Pan and K Singleton (2000). Transform analysis and asset pricing for affine jump-diffusions, Econometrica 68, 1343–1376.]. We assume, in addition, the short-term rate is governed by the CIR dynamics introduced in Cox et al. [Cox, JC, JE Ingersoll and SA Ross (1985). A theory of term structure of interest rates, Econometrica 53, 385–408.]. The instantaneous volatilities are correlated with the dynamics of the stock price process, whereas the short-term rate is assumed to be independent of the dynamics of the price process and its volatility. The main result furnishes a semi-analytical formula for the price of the Forward Start European call option. It is derived using probabilistic approach combined with the Fourier inversion technique, as developed in Ahlip and Rutkowski [Ahlip, R and M Rutkowski (2014). Forward start foreign exchange options under Heston’s volatility and CIR interest rates, Inspired By Finance Springer, pp. 1–27], Carr and Madan [Carr, P and D Madan (1999). Option valuation using the fast Fourier transform, Journal of Computational Finance 2, 61–73, Carr, P and D Madan (2009). Saddle point methods for option pricing, Journal of Computational Finance 13, 49–61] as well as Levendorskiĩ [Levendorskiĩ, S (2012). Efficient pricing and reliable calibration in the Heston model, International Journal of Applied Finance 15, 1250050].

We consider the problem of computing some basic quantities such as defaultable bond prices and survival probabilities in a credit risk model according to the intensity based approach. We let the default intensities depend on an external factor process that we assume is not observable. We use stochastic filtering to successively update its distribution on the basis of the observed default history. On one hand this allows us to capture aspects of default contagion (information-induced contagion). On the other hand it allows us to evaluate the above quantities also in our incomplete information context. We consider in particular affine credit risk models and show that in such models the nonlinear filter can be computed via a recursive procedure. This then leads to an explicit expression for the filter that depends on a finite number of sufficient statistics of the observed interarrival times for the defaults provided one chooses an initial distribution for the factor process that is of the Gamma type.