Technical paper
Correlated defaults: let’s go back to the data
Estimates of asset value correlation are a key element of Merton-style credit portfolio models. Many practitioners have access to asset value data for a large universe of listed firms, so estimation is within reach. Alan Pitts describes a statistical…
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A balancing act
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A history lesson
Abstract: The size of bid/ask spreads in electricity options has both valuationand credit implications. Here, Ted Kury of The Energy Authority shows how toderive theoretical spreads using historical option price data so they can beused as liquidity…
PD estimates for Basel II
One of the main issues banks will have to face to comply with the new Basel II internal ratings-based approach is to prove that the long-run average probabilities of default they assign to their clients, which will be used as the basis for regulatory…
Time to adapt copula methods for modelling credit risk correlation
In an evolving market, a new standard for the price quotation of credit products that models correlated changes in credit spreads as well as default times is needed, argues Darrell Duffie.
Smile at the uncertainty
Smile-consistent alternatives to the Black-Scholes model are often too cumbersome to be used for large portfolios of exotic options. Damiano Brigo, Fabio Mercurio and Francesco Rapisarda propose an intuitive stochastic volatility model that is easy to…
An arbitrage-free interpolation of volatilities
Nabil Kahalé describes a new construction of an implied volatilities surface from a discrete set of implied volatilities that is arbitrage-free and satisfies some smoothness conditions. His method provides an excellent fit to the smile of the local…
Practical relative-value volatility trading
The rapid growth of fixed-income hedge funds has resulted in increased interest in identifying relative-value trade opportunities. Here, the author presents a consistent framework for finding value within interest rate options markets.
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Cash holdings grow
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Observations on the differences between operational risk regulatory and economic capital
In this article, Niklas Hageback takes a practical look at the difficulties in reconciling regulatory and economic capital calculation in the discipline of operational risk.
The matrix
Abstract: Portfolio-wide risk management requires a model that accounts correctlyfor the volatility of, and the correlations between electricity forward products.In this paper Kjersti Aas and KjetilK°aresen discuss a joint model for electricityforward…
Cross-market valuation
This article takes the guesswork out of what credit margin to use when valuing credit-risky derivatives, and also sheds light on how relative value trading and capital structure arbitrage may be analysed quantitatively.
PD estimates for Basel II
One of the main issues banks will have to face to comply with the new Basel II internal ratings-based approach is to prove that the long-run average probabilities of default they assign to their clients, which will be used as the basis for regulatory…
The effect of volatility
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