Ensemble methods aim at improving the predictive performance of a given statistical learning or model fitting technique. The general principleof ensemble methods is to construct a linear combinationof some model fitting methods, instead of using a single fit of the method.

We propose a flexible generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroscedasticity type of model for the prediction of volatility in financial time series. The approach relies on the idea of using multivariate "B"-splines of lagged observations and volatilities. Estimation of such a "B"-spline...