This paper compares a number of different approaches for determining the Value at Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES) of hedge fund investment strategies. We compute VaR and ES through completely model-free methods, as well as through mean/variance and distribution model-based methods. Among...

This paper examines whether debt renegotiation mitigates the agency costs of asset substitution. Inspired by the studies of Mella-Barral and Perraudin (1997) and Leland (1998), we have developed an analytical continuous time model of a firm that has the option to switch to a higher risk activity...

We shed new light on the role of commodities in asset allocation for investors with and without liabilities who (a) believe that asset returns are time varying and predictable (b) have short and long term horizons and (c) have access, in addition to a standard passive commodity portfolio, to...

In this paper, we examine the language tone of comment letters issued to foreign firms listed on US stock exchanges and the impact of domestic enforcement. We find that the tone of SEC reviews has capital market implications following the dissemination of comment letters. Using a textual...

Determining the optimal mix of assets in the context of a portfolio construction involves “smart” forecasts of asset returns as well as good estimates of the asset return variances and covariances. Typically, sample moments are used as best estimates of the population moments. Several...