Installment Options and Static Hedging

This article discusses static hedges for installment options, which are finding broad application in cases where the option‐buyer may reduce up‐front premium costs via early termination of an option. An installment option is a European option in which the premium, instead of being paid up front, is paid in a series of installments. If all installments are paid, the holder receives the exercise value, but the holder has the right terminate payments on any payment date, in which case the option lapses with no further payments on either side. The authors summarize pricing and risk management concepts for these options, in particular, using static hedges to obtain both no‐arbitrage pricing bounds and very effective hedging strategies with almost no vega risk.