Impact of non-normal return and market capitalization on estimation of VaR

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the effect of non-normality in returns and market capitalization of stock portfolios and stock indices on value at risk and conditional VaR estimation. It is a well-documented fact that returns of stocks and stock indices are not normally distributed, as Indian financial markets are more prone to shocks caused by regulatory changes, exchange rate fluctuations, financial instability, political uncertainty and inadequate economic reforms. Further, the relationship of liquidity represented by volume traded of stocks and the market risk calculated by VaR of the firms is studied. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, VaR is estimated by fitting empirical distribution of returns, parametric method and by using GARCH(1,1) with Student’s t innovation method. Findings – It is observed that both the stocks, stock indices and their residuals exhibit non-normality; therefore, conventional methods of VaR calculation are not accurate in real word situation. It is observed that parametric method of VaR calculation is underestimating VaR and CVaR but, VaR estimated by fitting empirical distribution of return and finding out 1-a percentile is giving better results as non-normality in returns is considered. The distributions fitted by the return series are following Logistic, Weibull and Laplace. It is also observed that VaR violations are increasing with decreasing market capitalization. Therefore, we can say that market capitalization also affects accurate VaR calculation. Further, the relationship of liquidity represented by volume traded of stocks and the market risk calculated by VaR of the firms is studied. It is observed that the decrease in liquidity increases the value at risk of the firms. Research limitations/implications – This methodology can further be extended to other assets’ VaR calculation like foreign exchange rates, commodities and bank loan portfolios, etc. Practical implications – This finding can help risk managers and mutual fund managers (as they have portfolios of different assets size) in estimating VaR of portfolios with non-normal returns and different market capitalization with precision. VaR is used as tool in setting trading limits at trading desks. Therefore, if VaR is calculated which takes into account non-normality of underlying distribution of return then trading limits can be set with precision. Hence, both risk management and risk measurement through VaR can be enhanced if VaR is calculated with accuracy. Originality/value – This paper is considering the joint issue of non-normality in returns and effect of market capitalization in VaR estimation.