No Arabic abstract
This paper introduces an intermediary between conditional expectation and conditional sublinear expectation, called R-conditioning. The R-conditioning of a random-vector in $L^2$ is defined as the best $L^2$-estimate, given a $sigma$-subalgebra and a degree of model uncertainty. When the random vector represents the payoff of derivative security in a complete financial market, its R-conditioning with respect to the risk-neutral measure is interpreted as its risk-averse value. The optimization problem defining the optimization R-conditioning is shown to be well-posed. We show that the R-conditioning operators can be used to approximate a large class of sublinear expectations to arbitrary precision. We then introduce a novel numerical algorithm for computing the R-conditioning. This algorithm is shown to be strongly convergent. Implementations are used to compare the risk-averse value of a Vanilla option to its traditional risk-neutral value, within the Black-Scholes-Merton framework. Concrete connections to robust finance, sensitivity analysis, and high-dimensional estimation are all treated in this paper.
We introduce the general arbitrage-free valuation framework for counterparty risk adjustments in presence of bilateral default risk, including default of the investor. We illustrate the symmetry in the valuation and show that the adjustment involves a long position in a put option plus a short position in a call option, both with zero strike and written on the residual net value of the contract at the relevant default times. We allow for correlation between the default times of the investor, counterparty and underlying portfolio risk factors. We use arbitrage-free stochastic dynamical models. We then specialize our analysis to Credit Default Swaps (CDS) as underlying portfolio, generalizing the work of Brigo and Chourdakis (2008) [5] who deal with unilateral and asymmetric counterparty risk. We introduce stochastic intensity models and a trivariate copula function on the default times exponential variables to model default dependence. Similarly to [5], we find that both default correlation and credit spread volatilities have a relevant and structured impact on the adjustment. Differently from [5], the two parties will now agree on the credit valuation adjustment. We study a case involving British Airways, Lehman Brothers and Royal Dutch Shell, illustrating the bilateral adjustments in concrete crisis situations.
Risk assessment under different possible scenarios is a source of uncertainty that may lead to concerning financial losses. We address this issue, first, by adapting a robust framework to the class of spectral risk measures. Second, we propose a Deviation-based approach to quantify uncertainty. Furthermore, the theory is illustrated with a practical case study from NASDAQ index.
We consider the problem of designing policies for partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) with dynamic coherent risk objectives. Synthesizing risk-averse optimal policies for POMDPs requires infinite memory and thus undecidable. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a method based on bounded policy iteration for designing stochastic but finite state (memory) controllers, which takes advantage of standard convex optimization methods. Given a memory budget and optimality criterion, the proposed method modifies the stochastic finite state controller leading to sub-optimal solutions with lower coherent risk.
We present the Shortfall Deviation Risk (SDR), a risk measure that represents the expected loss that occurs with certain probability penalized by the dispersion of results that are worse than such an expectation. SDR combines Expected Shortfall (ES) and Shortfall Deviation (SD), which we also introduce, contemplating two fundamental pillars of the risk concept, the probability of adverse events and the variability of an expectation, and considers extreme results. We demonstrate that SD is a generalized deviation measure, whereas SDR is a coherent risk measure. We achieve the dual representation of SDR, and we discuss issues such as its representation by a weighted ES, acceptance sets, convexity, continuity and the relationship with stochastic dominance. Illustrations with real and simulated data allow us to conclude that SDR offers greater protection in risk measurement compared with VaR and ES, especially in times of significant turbulence in riskier scenarios.
This paper proposes a paradigm shift in the valuation of long term annuities, away from classical no-arbitrage valuation towards valuation under the real world probability measure. Furthermore, we apply this valuation method to two examples of annuity products, one having annual payments linked to a mortality index and the savings account and the other having annual payments linked to a mortality index and an equity index with a guarantee that is linked to the same mortality index and the savings account. Out-of-sample hedge simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of real world valuation. In contrast to risk neutral valuation, which is a form of relative valuation, the long term average excess return of the equity market comes into play. Instead of the savings account, the numeraire portfolio is employed as the fundamental unit of value in the analysis. The numeraire portfolio is the strictly positive, tradable portfolio that when used as benchmark makes all benchmarked nonnegative portfolios supermartingales. The benchmarked real world value of a benchmarked contingent claim equals its real world conditional expectation. This yields the minimal possible value for its hedgeable part and minimizes the fluctuations for its benchmarked hedge error. Under classical assumptions, actuarial and risk neutral valuation emerge as special cases of the proposed real world valuation. In long term liability and asset valuation, the proposed real world valuation can lead to significantly lower values than suggested by classical approaches when an equivalent risk neutral probability measure does not exist.