While empirical studies have established that the log-normal stochastic volatility (SV) model is superior to its alternatives, the model does not allow for the analytical solutions available for affine models. To circumvent this, we show that the joint moment generating function (MGF) of the...

We consider calibration of log-normal stochastic volatility model and computation of option delta consistently with statistical dynamics of the asset price and its implied volatility surface. We introduce the concept of volatility skew-beta which serves as an empirical adjustment for empirical...

We present a dynamic model for the joint evolution of the balance sheet, equity stock price, and the credit default spread (CDS). We illustrate why the structural default model cannot explain the dynamics of CDS rates. We then introduce the credit risk-premium to model spikes in CDS rates during...

We present some empirical evidence for short volatility strategies and for the cyclical pattern of their P&L. The cyclical pattern of the short volatility strategies produces an alpha in good times but collapses to the beta in bad times. We introduce a factor model with risk-aversion to explain...

What is the most significant contributing factor to the performance of a quantitative fund: its signal generators or its risk allocators? Can we still succeed if we have good signal generators but poor risk management?We consider the risk of the skewness and the cyclicality of the key...

We consider the delta-hedging strategy for a vanilla option under the discrete hedging and transaction costs, assuming that an option is delta-hedged using the Black-Scholes-Merton model with the log-normal volatility implied by the market price of the option. We analyze the expected...

We provide a practical and technical overview of volatility trading strategies:1) The insight for the design and back-testing of systematic volatility strategies2) Understanding of risk-reward trade-off and potential pitfalls of volatility strategies We focus on systematic and rule-based trading...

Academics and practitioners have developed many models for volatility measurement and forecast – I estimate that the total number of available models to be about 200-300 if we count all modifications of intraday estimators, GARCH-type and continuous-time models.In practice, the estimate and...