This paper presents a new transform-based approach for path-independent lattice construction for pricing American options under low-dimensional stochastic volatility models. We derive multidimensional transforms which allow us to construct efficient path-independent lattices for virtually all...

This paper explores the application of contingent claims analysis (CCA) to two quot;hotquot; issues in life-cycle finance: (1) investing for retirement and (2) deciding when, if ever, to switch careers. Participants in individual retirement accounts do not have the time or the knowledge to make...

The paper analyzes one of the most common life insurance products — the so-called participating (or with profits) policy. This type of contract stands in contrast to unit-linked (UL) products in that interest is credited to the policy periodically according to some mechanism which smoothes...

In this paper we analyse how the policyholder surrender behaviour is influenced by changes in various sources of risk impacting a variable annuity (VA) contract embedded with a guaranteed minimum maturity benefit rider that can be surrendered anytime prior to maturity. We model the underlying...

This work introduces two new financial derivatives into the finance literature. The first is the Return Barrier Option, which has emerged recently as a popular contract in the OTC markets. This contract is similar to a barrier option, but the knock-out event depends on an asset's returns, rather...

We study whether prices of traded options contain information about future extreme market events. Our option-implied conditional expectation of market loss due to tail events, or tail loss measure, predicts future market returns, magnitude, and probability of the market crashes, beyond and above...

We study the intra-horizon value at risk (iVaR) in a general jump diffusion setup and propose a new model of asset returns called displaced mixed-exponential model, which can arbitrarily closely approximate finite-activity jump-diffusions and completely monotone Levy processes. We derive...

We explore a multi-asset jump-diffusion pricing model, combining a systemic risk asset with several conditionally independent ordinary assets. Our approach allows for analyzing and modeling a portfolio that integrates high-activity security, such as an exchange trading fund (ETF) tracking a...

The combination of stochastic derivative pricing models and downside risk measures often leads to the paradox (risk, return) = (−infinity, +infinity) in a portfolio choice problem. The construction of a portfolio of derivatives with high expected returns and very negative downside risk...

We derive risk-neutral option price formulas for plain-vanilla temperature futures derivatives on the basis of several multi-factor Ornstein-Uhlenbeck temperature models which allow for seasonality in the mean level and volatility. Our main innovation consists in an incorporation of omnipresent...