This paper analyzes the robustness of the standardized framework proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (2004b) to quantify the interest rate risk of banks. We generalize this framework and study the change in the estimated level of interest rate risk if the strict assumptions of...

This paper proposes a new method of estimating the interest rate risk of banks from the perspective of bank outsiders. The key innovation is the inclusion of time series of accounting-based data instead of using only the latest available reports to estimate the maturity structure of banks. Using...

This paper presents the first analysis of open-end leverage certificates on the German market. The major innovations of these certificates are twofold. First, issuers announce a price-setting formula according to which they are willing to buy and sell the certificates over time. Second, the...

This paper examines the risk-adjusted performance of mutual funds offered in Germany which exclusively invest in the 'rather new' capital market segment of euro-denominated investment grade corporate bonds. The funds are evaluated employing a single-index model and several multi-index and...

This paper analyzes bank margins in the German secondary market for exchange-traded structured financial products, with particular emphasis on the influence of banks' credit risk. A structural model allowing for the incorporation of correlation effects between market and credit risk is applied...

This paper explores the extent to which interest risk exposure is priced into bank margins. Our contribution to the literature is twofold: First, we extend the Ho and Saunders (1981) model to capture interest rate risk and expected returns from maturity transformation. Banks price interest risk...

This paper explores the extent to which interest risk exposure is priced in bank margins. Our contribution to the literature is twofold: First, we present an extended model of Ho and Saunders (1981) that explicitly captures interest rate risk and returns from maturity transformation. Banks price...

The implementation of the Markowitz optimization requires the knowledge of the parameters of the return distribution. These parameters cannot be observed, but have to be estimated. Merton (1980) and Jorion (1985) point out that especially the expected returns are hard to estimate from time...

Banks face a tradeoff between diversifying and focusing their loan portfolio. In this paper we carry out an empirical study for the German market to shed light on the question whether or not the benefits of risk sharing outweigh those of specialization. We use data from the Bundesbank's...