Volatility DecayRiskPremiaFinal
Volatility DecayRiskPremiaFinal
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Ben Z. Schreiber
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Dan Galaia
Haim Kedar-Levyb
Ben Z. Schreiberc
*
We are thankful to Gordon Gemmill, the discussant, and participants of the International Risk Management
Conference 2014, Warsaw, Poland, for helpful comments. Special thanks are extended to Steve Figlewski, the
Editor, for insightful suggestions and comments that greatly improved the paper.
a Abe Gray Professor (Emeritus) of Banking and Finance at the School of Business Administration, Hebrew
University, Jerusalem, Israel dan.galai@ huji.ac.il and the center for Academic Studies, Or Yehuda. Partial financial
support of the Zagagi Center is acknowledged. T-(972) 2-5617234.
b Corresponding author. The Faculty of Business and Management, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer
Sheva, and Ono Academic College at Kiryat Ono, Israel. T-(972)8-6472569 hlevy@som.bgu.ac.il
c Head of Methodology and Economics Area, Information and Statistics Department, Bank of Israel, Jerusalem
Israel, and Bar Ilan University. T-(972) 2-6552595. ben.schreiber58@gmail.com
Volatility-Decay Risk Premia
Abstract
portfolios after positive and negative jumps occur, we show that the gains that these
hedged options' portfolios yield compensate investors for the uncertain magnitude
and duration of volatility decay, as well as for vega exposure. This paper adds to
the literature by distinguishing between the premia after positive versus negative
jumps, and by exploring premia patterns over time. In particular, we find that
GARCH(1,1) and GJR are inefficient identifiers of jumps, and show that Hampel
The finance profession has long recognized that models based on stochastic volatility
outperform models based on a constant variance assumption (e.g., Bollerslev [1986]; Engle
[1982]; Fama [1965]). With time varying volatility, the diffusion process of equities has been
used to estimate the compensation risk-averse investors require for bearing market risk, a.k.a.
volatility risk premium (e.g., Bakshi and Kapadia [2003]; Buraschi and Jackwerth [2001]; Coval
and Shumway [2001]). Further research acknowledged that stochastic volatility models do not
capture jump risks, and indeed, joint jump and stochastic volatility models outperform the former
(e.g., Bates [1988]; Pan [2002], Eraker, Johannes, and Polson [2003], Andersen, Bollerslev, and
Diebold [2007], and most recently, Christoffersen, Jacobs, and Ornthanalai [2012]).
If the level of diffusive volatility varies in a predictable pattern, volatility risk premium
must change accordingly, or else arbitrage opportunities may arise. In particular, a large body of
literature documents a sharp increase in diffusive volatility after the realization of a jump,
followed by a gradual decay toward the long-run level (e.g., Barndorff-Nielsen, and Shephard
[2002, 2004], Bates [2000], Bollerslev, Kretschmer, Pigorsch, and Tauchen [2009], Eraker,
[2004]).1 Consequently, investors can establish profitable trading strategies based on the
expectation that the level of post-jump diffusive volatility will gradually decline. However, the
magnitude of post-jump volatility is uncertain, as well as the pace by which it decays toward the
long-run level. Facing both sources of uncertainty, investors may demand compensation for
bearing post-jump volatility-decay risk. Additionally, both the level and pace of volatility decay
may depend on the sign of the realized jump, whether positive or negative. This paper explores,
1 Most diffusion and jump models assume that jump intensity and size, as well as investors’ aversion to those risks,
are independent of the level of diffusive volatility, or the arrival of a particular jump. We adopt those assumptions
1
by jump sign, whether the gap between post-jump and long-run volatility risk premia is explained
by the uncertain magnitude and pace of volatility decay, or whether profitable opportunities still
exist.
Our empirical approach is based on Bakshi and Kapadia [2003], whereby a dynamically
hedged portfolio of a long call and delta-hedged short position of the underlying asset earns the
riskless rate if volatility risk is either zero or not priced. However, if volatility-risk is priced, the
gain that this dynamically hedged portfolio earns reveals the sign and magnitude of volatility risk
premia. We conduct our tests following extreme returns (interchangeably jumps or outliers), as
those discerned by the Hampel [1971] methodology, and check robustness by using GARCH
While the Delta-Neutral (DN) portfolio of Bakshi and Kapadia [2003], Low and Zhang,
[2005], and others is robust for time-varying diffusive volatility, it is less robust when jump risks
are involved. Indeed, Bakshi and Kapadia implement the DN strategy also after a jump occurred,
and find zero jump-risk premia. As a result, we measure our post-jump volatility-decay premia in
two different ways: First, we write at the money call option one day after a jump occurs and buy
delta units of the underlying S&P500 index. However, because a jump has been realized, large
swings in moneyness typically follow, rendering the DN strategy an inappropriate hedge. Our
concurrently buying a short-term straddle following positive or negative jumps. This portfolio is
rebalanced daily to maintain Delta and Gamma Neutrality (hereafter DGN) until one day before
the short-term options expire. Under DGN the portfolio has a negative vega exposure, and
therefore it should gain on average from volatility decay. Volatility decay will generate gains for
the DGN strategy because the high value received for the written long-term straddle often more
2
than compensates for the change of value of the purchased short-term straddle. We test whether
this gain compensates risk-averse investors for the risks involved in the pace and duration of
volatility decay.
Implementing the DGN or DN strategies during normal volatility periods, i.e., excluding
jump days, and 10 days thereafter, reveals the long-run volatility (diffusive) risk premia net of
post-jump volatility decay risk. We conduct the tests over short- (<25 trading days), medium-
(25-50 days), and long-term (51-250 days). The 20-year sample, from 1/1991 to 12/2011, was
divided into four equal sub-periods.2 The sample captures the year 2000 internet bubble and
crash, as well as the 2008-2009 financial crisis; both had a measurable impact on the S&P500
index and its volatility. Interestingly though, we show that GARCH(1,1) fails to effectively
identify the more risky extreme returns primarily in the less turbulent periods, between 1991-
Post-jump, volatility-decay risk premia are 2.52% on average for a single DGN straddle
portfolio (relative to the S&P500 index). This premium is primarily generated following negative
jumps (3.03%) rather than positive jumps (1.91%). It is significantly higher than the one implied
by DN strategies, as they yield 1.55% on average, 2.07% post-positive jump, and 1.12% post-
negative jump.
Analyzing the post-jump volatility-decay risk premia over time, we find that DGN yields
the highest premium in the long-term, 5.77% per implemented straddle, while in the medium-
and short-terms it yields 3.11% and 1.53%, respectively. The DN strategy yields lower premia as
2 Starting in March 2004 volatility futures were available for investors to trade on the Volatility Index VIX, and
starting in February 2006 options on VIX were launched as well. As of now, it is unclear whether the introduction of
these derivatives has had an impact on the index (Becker, Clements, and McClellan [2009]; Zhang, Shu, and Brenner
[2010]).
3
compared to DGN, possibly due to its exposure to severe changes in moneyness. Nevertheless, it
Taking a skeptical view on the presence of arbitrage opportunities, we hypothesize that the
longer-term strategies yield increasing premia because of their extended exposure to risk factors.
well as on a GARCH(1,1) specification, following Bakshi and Kapadia [2003], Duan [1995],
Heston and Nandi [2000], Ritchken and Trevor [1999], and others. Our explanatory variables are
the squared percentage change in the underlying index, (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 ; the change in volatility, Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋,
which captures vega effects; and the duration of the straddle portfolio, 𝐷𝑇𝐸. We further control
for jump sign through a dummy variable, and for the three plausible interactions between those
factors, (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 ∗ 𝐷𝑇𝐸, (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 ∗ Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋, and 𝐷𝑇𝐸 ∗ Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋. We find that Hampel-based
volatility-decay risk premia are well explained by the three individual factors, as well as their
interactions, all of which are highly significant, except for 𝐷𝑇𝐸, which is marginally significant
(P<0.09). The most economically meaningful variables are (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 and Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋, and their
interaction. The positive jump dummy variable shows a negative and significant coefficient
(P<0.05), suggesting that volatility decay risk premia after positive jumps are smaller than those
after negative jumps. Regressing the GARCH-based premia on those factors reveals insignificant
coefficients in all, except for marginal significance for 𝐷𝑇𝐸. We therefore conclude that
Two key elements distinguish this study from prior art: First, we construct the strategies
only after a tail event occurs; second, our primary focus is on delta- and gamma-hedged
portfolios, rather than delta hedging only. Our rebalancing strategy differs from Bakshi and
4
Kapadia [2003] and Low and Zhang [2005]; while our approach is also model-free, we explore
The rest of the paper presents the hypotheses, methodology, and data in Section I, and
summary statistics in Section II. Volatility-decay risk premia are calculated and discussed in
Section III, Section IV identifies the explanatory factors for the premia, and Section V
summarizes.
Our primary goal is to explore whether the risks embedded in the uncertain magnitude and
duration of post-jump volatility-decay premia are priced. We start this section by defining and
measuring the volatility-decay premia, and then proceed to explore the factors that explain our
findings.
immediately after the realization of an extreme return in the S&P500 index. We apply a couple of
outlier identification procedures, which are presented next. High volatility after a jump has been
realized exposes the portfolio to large variations in moneyness, and hence to volatile options'
deltas. Therefore, it is important to control for both delta as well as gamma effects. We first
compare the gain of DGN strategy with the simpler strategy of maintaining delta neutrality alone,
DN. To estimate diffusive risk premia while avoiding post-jump, high diffusive risk, we measure
the profitability of initiating DGN and DN strategies on random trading days that are distant from
jump days. This Random Trade (RT) strategy is expected to capture the stationary, long-term
5
diffusive risk premia.3 As indicated in footnote 1, consistent with similar papers our null
hypothesis is of a zero change in volatility risk premia or jump frequency in all tests.
To conduct the tests one must first discern positive and negative extreme returns from the
body of the distribution. We apply two procedures for this purpose: First, we use the Hampel
[1971] measure of the breakdown point of a distribution4, and second we discern extreme events
by the GARCH (1,1) model. We have examined a number of alternatives to the Hampel measure,
such as ad hoc cut-off rules, as well as the Huber M-Estimator and extreme VIX returns, to verify
that our identification of the particular outliers is consistent with the Hampel identification.
Indeed, we found that the majority of jumps were classified as such across the different
techniques, except for GARCH(1,1). GARCH(1,1) identified a rather different set of outliers,
therefore it is compared here alongside Hampel. To verify our GARCH(1,1) results we further
used the GJR-GARCH model (Glosten, Jagannathan, and Runkle, 1993), which is reportedly
more relevant for stock returns, but found no material differences vs. the Hampel or GARCH(1,1)
models.
1. Hampel's [1971] method: A common rule for discerning an outlier is to find an observation
outside the limits of 3 . The problem with this rule is that the mean and standard deviations
are sensitive to outliers, therefore outliers may cause severe bias. Hampel's method is a robust
version of this rule as it is based on medians rather than means. It is based on robust estimators
3 The random sampling is uniform not only across months of the year, but also in the first and second halves of each
month.
4 Hampel [1971] defines the breakdown point of a distribution as the smallest percentage of outliers that may cause
an estimator to obtain arbitrary large values. See the Appendix for further details.
6
for the location and the scale of the distribution, i.e. median and MAD (Median Absolute
Deviations) rather than the mean and standard deviation. Hampel's limits are:
where MAD = 1.4826 Median x − Median( x) , is a scale estimator and z1− / 2 is the 1-α/2
percentile of the z distribution. For a normally distributed sample, MAD is a consistent estimator
of the standard deviation, and α is the type 1 error for detecting an outlier (Olewuezi [2011]). The
moving window to calculate MAD was 225 trading days, and an outlier is detected if MADt is
outside Limit.
t2 = + t2−1 + t2−1 ,
where t-1 is the error term from the ARCH equation 𝑟𝑡 = 𝜇𝑡 + 𝜀𝑡 . Usually, captures persistence
in volatility and + ≤ 1. The day t rate of return is divided by the conditional standard deviation at
t to obtain a volatility adjusted rate of return (𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑡 = 𝑟𝑡 ⁄𝜎𝑡 ).Theoretically, varort should have a
standard normal distribution, however the realized distribution is often not normal. Thus, a positive
(negative) outlier is detected if varort> var or + k var or , (varort< var or − k var or ), where
var or , var or are the mean and the standard deviation of varort ~N(0,1).
The DGN strategy is composed of writing a long-term straddle and concurrently buying a
short-term straddle on day t if a jump occurred on day t-1. This strategy is rebalanced daily to
maintain delta and gamma neutrality until one day before the expiration of the short-term options.
7
On that day, the long-term options are sold at prevailing closing prices.5 As Bakshi and Kapadia
[2003] note, it is advantageous to use the Black and Scholes model with constant standard
deviation, because the hedged portfolio will be immunized to all changes except changes in
measures of risk. In our case, this would capture the volatility-decay risk through vega.
examine post-jump risk premia over short- (<25 days), medium- (25-50 days), and long-term (51-
250 days) horizons. Additionally, we condition the tests on the sign of jumps, positive versus
negative. Among others, Bakshi and Kapadia [2003] highlight that volatility risk premia should
compensate investors for bearing the risks of negative extreme returns. However, if diffusive
volatility increases after positive jumps as well, and its level and duration are uncertain, then we
The underlying asset for both straddles is the S&P500 index, and all options have an
identical striking price. We use at-the-money opening option prices for all transactions. Let
VDGN ,t be the value of a portfolio that makes the DGN strategy on day t,
VDGN ,t = StraddleS ,t − StraddleL,t = QSC CS ,t + QSP PS ,t − QLC,t CL,t − QLP,t PL,t , (1)
where StraddleS ,t and StraddleL,t are the values of the short-position (long-term) and long-
position (short-term) straddles at t, respectively. t = 0, 1, 2,...,T where t=0 is the day after a jump
occurred, and T is one day before the short-term (long-position) straddle expires (T < 250).
Quantities are represented by Q, and C and P are call and put premiums. The straddle held in
long-position is composed of one call and one put options, while quantities of the options making
the short-position straddle are determined daily to comprise the DGN strategy. With respect to
5 We ignore accumulated interest rate profits/losses on both straddles due to their small net amount.
8
(1), we let QL = QL = 1 , thus the target variables that solve for ΔVDGN ,t = ΓVDGN ,t = 0 t
C P
ΔVDGN ,t = QSC,t N (hS )t + QSP,t (N (hS )t − 1) − 2N (hL )t − 1 = 0 , (2)
where the hedge ratios for the Call and the Put options are ΔtC = N (h)t , and ΔtP = N (h)t − 1 ,
Ln ( St e − d / Ke − r ) + 0.5 t2
respectively. ht = , and N ( h) t is the cumulative standard normal
t
S&P500 index at t, K is the strike price common to all four options, is time to expiration in
annual terms, d is the instantaneous dividend yield of the S&P500 and r is the riskless interest
rate, which is measured based on current three month T-bills. t is the standard deviation of the
underlying asset’s return, where the proxy for t is the current VIX.6 The second equation solves
for Γ PDGN = 0 ,
6 VIX is preferable to other measures, such as historical standard deviation as it reflects the market expectation of
future variability. Our qualitative results did not change when the procedure was tested based on historical standard
deviations.
9
2 N ' ( hL ) t S
QSC,t = [1 − N ( hS ) t ] + [ 2 N ( hL ) t − 1] , (4)
N ' ( hS ) t L
2 N ' (hL ) t S
QSP,t = N (hS ) t − [ 2 N (hL ) t − 1] . (5)
N ' (hS ) t L
Thus, QSC,t and QSP,t of the short-position straddle are determined each day in order to
maintain a delta and gamma neutral position. The profit or loss of a single straddle portfolio on
T −1
Π DGN ,T = VDGN , 0 − Max ( ST − K , K − ST ) + (QSC,t − QSC,t −1 )CS ,t + (QSP,t − QSP,t −1 ) PS ,t , (6)
t =1
where the first and the second terms on the RHS of the equation are cumulative cash flows from
the entire portfolio on day 0 and the long-position (short-term) straddle on day T, respectively.
The cash flow on day 0, VDGN,0 is positive, as the long-term (short-position) option premiums are
higher than their respective short-term (long-position) ones. The cash flow on day T depends on
the difference between ST and K of the short-term straddle ( Max(ST -K, K-ST ) ). The third term
represents the rebalancing costs necessary to maintain delta-gamma neutrality over the holding
period. Rebalancing costs depend on the buying or selling amounts of the long-term options
during the holding period, and hence on the changes in volatility and duration of volatility decay.
1 n DGN ,i ,T
The average yield of DGN is defined by RDGN =
n i =1 S0
, where n is the number of
To estimate volatility risk premium we construct a DN portfolio one day after a jump
occurs by writing an at-the-money call option and concurrently buying delta of the S&P500
10
index. The resulting portfolio will be instantaneously hedged against small changes in the index,
but not against changes in the level of diffusive risk. As a result, this estimation methodology is
expected to reveal volatility risk premia when implemented on non-jump days, but it might be at
variance with these premia when applied for post-jump risk. Following Bakshi and Kapadia
T −1
Π DN ,T = Max( ST − K ,0) − CT − N (h) t −1 ( S t − S t −1 ) . (8)
t =1
1 n DN ,i ,T
The average yield is given by RDN =
n i =1 S0
, and it is calculated across the n
We analyze the strategy after positive, negative, and all jumps, as well as for short-,
medium-, and long-term options. By doing so, we expect to shed light on the applicability of DN
The premia we estimate after the realization of positive and negative jumps are compared
with the long-term diffusive volatility. To estimate the long-term diffusive risk premia we
compare the DN or DGN immunization strategies on randomly sampled days (jump days and 10
trading days after a jump occurred are excluded), with the relevant post-jump premia (positive,
negative, and total). As noted, we refer to this test as the Random Trade (RT) strategy.
11
Data
The datasets used in this study are made up of the following time series:
• The S&P500 index (adjusted for dividends and other distributions) and its daily-
adjusted rates of return over 22 years, between January 1, 1990 and December 30,
• Daily call and put options prices between 1991 and 2011, written on the S&P500
index, with maturities ranging from 7 to 250 days. While our dataset does not include
bid and ask quotes, none of our profitability measures should be systematically biased.
Summary statistics of the S&P500 daily returns are presented in panel A of Exhibit 1. The
rest of Exhibit 1 demonstrates how eliminating extreme returns affect the statistical properties of
the sample: in panel B returns are trimmed by removing extreme returns as discerned by the
Hampel method, while in panel C the removed extreme returns are discerned by GARCH(1,1).
There are 5,546 observations in panel A, out of which 219 were classified as extreme returns by
both the Hampel and GARCH(1,1) methods (3.9%). Hence, 5,327 observations make up the
reminder, Trimmed Data samples.7 Each panel is broken down across the years of our sample
period.
7 An issue may arise if several jumps occur sequentially, causing a number of holding periods to overlap, and hence
their gains might be correlated. To test for independency of nearby jump days we fit an AR model of the form:
DGN_DROR = c + AR(1), where DGN_DROR is the daily mean of the DGN strategy gain under the Hampel
12
[Exhibit 1]
Daily mean returns increase after excluding extreme returns from 0.023% to 0.040% in
panel B, and to 0.053% in panel C. This means that the Hampel method eliminated less, and/or
smaller, negative returns than GARCH(1,1), or that it has eliminated more of the positive
extreme returns than GARCH(1,1).One can see that both the minimum (maximum) returns of
panel B are higher (lower) in the Hampel method, than the GARCH(1,1) method. i.e., more of the
positive and negative extreme returns remained under GARCH(1,1) but were eliminated by
Hampel (panel C vs. panel A). The reason for this appears to be the rather high conditional
volatility of GARCH(1,1) prior to the arrival of extreme returns. An important indication that the
Hampel method tends to be more efficient than GARCH(1,1) in identifying extreme returns can
be seen through the decline in standard deviations in almost all sub-periods: While the full-
sample standard deviation was 1.186%, it declined to 0.889% after trimming jumps by the
Hampel method (a -25% decline), but when using GARCH(1,1) it declined to 1.010% (only -
15%).
Standard deviation of all daily returns was highest during the financial crisis years; it
declined sharply after removing observations based on the Hampel method (from 1.681% to
1.011%), but moderately changed when outliers were discerned by GARCH (1.681% vs.
1.393%). This finding indicates that the two methods identify outliers differently, possibly with
an overlap. Delving into the details, we found that out of the 219 GARCH outliers and 219
A detailed distribution of the count and magnitude of positive and negative outliers along
method. Normal days were remarked as NA. We find that c is positive and significantly different from 0 (t-test = 4.4;
p<0.01). Therefore, AR(1) is insignificant, i.e., jump days are not autoregressive.
13
[Exhibit 2]
The Hampel method discerned more negative outliers than positive ones (123 vs. 96), like
GARCH, which identified 139 negative and 80 positive jumps. The average return of full-period
positive outliers is higher in the Hampel case than in the GARCH(1,1) case (3.87% vs. 2.91%),
and the average of negative jumps was -3.73% for Hampel outliers, but -2.80% for GARCH(1,1)
outliers. These findings show from an additional perspective that GARCH(1,1) fails to identify
the most extreme returns, possibly due to the changing level of conditional volatility. As a result,
it would not be surprising to find that the GARCH(1,1) model underestimates the premia. While
beyond the scope of this paper, it appears that these findings highlight the importance of joint
jump and diffusion conditional models when estimating jump risk premia (Christoffersen, Jacobs,
This section analyzes average volatility-decay premia of the two trading strategies, DGN
and DN, following Hampel-based and GARCH-based jumps. First, we initiate DGN strategies
one day after a positive or negative jump occurred, and compute their average volatility-decay
premia over short-, medium-, and long-terms. Second, we initiate covered call strategies on the
same days, but maintain DN hedging over the same terms. In each case, we further report the
The top row in Exhibit 3 shows the count of extreme returns for each period, with a total of
219, and the following row shows the number of straddle portfolios we were able to construct –
513. Average volatility decay premia from implementing DGN strategies after extreme S&P500
returns are presented in Exhibit 3, Panel A. The results are given across the years 1991-2011, and
14
they are broken down by sign; Positive versus Negative, as well as All Jumps. Each of these
categories is further broken down by the terms: short-, medium-, and long-term straddles.
[Exhibit 3[
Panel A shows that 233 of the 513 strategies follow positive jumps and 280 follow negative
jumps, depending on options' availability and jump count. The majority of straddle portfolios,
whether following a positive or a negative jump, are over the short-term, and the minority over
long-term. About 73% of all strategies were profitable, irrespective of the jump sign.
The average volatility-decay risk premium across all terms and both positive and negative
jumps is 2.52% for the average straddle portfolio. It is highest at the long-term, 5.77%, declining
to 3.11% and 1.53% in the medium- and short-terms, respectively. The increasing premium level
The average volatility-decay premium after negative jumps is 3.03%. It is highest at the
long-term, 6.69%, declining to 4.19% and 1.72% in the medium- and short-terms, respectively.
The premia after positive jumps are smaller than the premia after negative jumps in almost all
sub-periods, and overall. These economically and statistically significant large differences
capture the higher aversion that investors exhibit toward negative rather than positive jumps.
predominantly attributed to negative jumps, our findings highlight the importance of jump sign.
Panel B presents the cost of hedging steady-state volatility risk over the short-, medium-,
and long-terms through DGN straddle portfolios that were initiated on randomly sampled, non-
jump days. The average premia across all holding periods are an insignificant -0.48%, just like
the insignificant individual term premia. Those insignificant gains highlight the absence of
diffusive volatility risk premia in those periods, possibly since the long-term diffusive volatility,
Exhibit 4 shows the results of initiating covered call positions and maintaining delta-
neutrality until the option expires at the relevant horizon. This strategy does not effectively hedge
severe changes in moneyness that typically follow extreme returns. It may be more efficient,
[Exhibit 4 here[
Our findings indicate that the average volatility-decay premium after all jumps and across
all terms is 1.55%, significantly different from zero (P<0.01). Short-term DN strategies earn
0.59% (P<0.05); however, in the medium- and long-terms the average premia are 2.22% and
4.24%, respectively, and both are significant (P<0.01). The finding whereby the gain increases
with the term of the strategies is attributed to volatility and time decay, as the value of the written
call option declines. These findings are consistent with the same test that Bakshi and Kapadia
[2003] conducted. They found zero gain from initiating DN strategies after jumps, but an annual
average gain of about 3% if initiated randomly. Our findings show how much of the jump risk
premia is lost due to the imperfect hedge of the DN strategy, over time, and contingent on the
jump sign. Because we found an overall 2.52% gain when the DGN was implemented after same
jumps, but 1.55% under DN (highly significant difference, P<0.05), we conclude that about 40%
of the post-jump risk premia is lost by ignoring gamma effects. The differences in volatility
decay premia after positive jumps are not significant, as detailed below.
The average gain from DN strategies that were initiated following negative jumps is 1.12%
(P<0.01). Recalling that the DGN strategy yields an average of 3.03% after negative jumps, we
conclude that the imperfect hedge of the DN strategy implies a loss of more than 60% of the
premia in these states (highly significant difference, P<0.01). Breaking down the post-negative
jumps premia over terms, we find a 0.55% (insignificant) in the short term, 1.66% in the
16
medium-term (P<0.01), and 2.44% in the long-term (insignificant). Volatility decay premia after
positive jumps increase with the terms of the straddles (from 0.63% in the short-term, to 2.84%
and 5.90% in the medium- and long-terms). The medium- and long-term gains are highly
significant, possibly due to a combination of effects, such as reversion of the index to its pre-
jump level, volatility decay, and/or time decay. It should be noted that unlike DGN, under DN
DN strategies initiated on random dates yield rather small and insignificant returns,
suggesting that volatility risk is not priced. Recall that the gain from the hedged position should
pay a premium (in excess of the riskless rate, as we measure here), if volatility risk is priced.
However, if it is not priced, either because volatility is not risky or because investors do not
demand premia for it, the strategy should yield zero return. Our findings highlight that if sampled
10 days or longer after jumps occurred, DN-based volatility risk is not priced.
The DGN premia reported in Exhibit 5, coupled with the count of strategies that
GARCH(1,1) identified across periods, highlight the key weakness of GARCH(1,1) in trading on
volatility decay. Note first that out of the total 927 strategies, 397 were implemented between
1991-1996, and 312 between 2002-2006, a total of 709, or 76.5%. These two sub-periods were
the least volatile in our sample: as shown in Panel A of Exhibit 1, daily standard deviation of the
S&P500 return was lowest between 1990-1996, 0.723%, followed by 1.014% between 2002-
[Exhibit 5]
Apparently, the low conditional volatility during those periods made many relatively
extreme returns appear as if they were jumps for the GARCH(1,1) procedure, while their absolute
return was rather small. This can be seen in Exhibit 2, where the average return of positive
17
GARCH-based jumps were 1.75% between 1991-1996 and 2.61% between 2002-2006, lower
than the average, 2.91%. A similar finding holds for negative GARCH-based jumps during those
years: -1.86% and -2.18%, against an average of -2.80%. These GARCH-based outliers are
materially smaller than Hampel-based outliers in those two sub-periods: 3.29% and 3.74% in the
positive domain, and -3.14% and -3.12% in the negative domain. Still, during those low-volatility
periods, the average GARCH-based DGN premia was positive, 2.11% between 1991-1996, and
0.17% between 2002-2006. However, during the more volatile periods – 1997-2001 of the
internet bubble and 2007-2011 of the housing bubble and the financial crisis, the strategy was
losing. Overall, then, GARCH-based strategies performed poorer than Hampel-based strategies,
0.89% vs. 2.52%. Technically, it seems like GARCH follows the auto-regressive trend, including
the volatility decay, and therefore cannot reveal the volatility-decay risk premia.
The premia that DGN strategies reveal after a jump occurs would be considered a riskless
arbitrage opportunity if investors could implement them and reap a riskless profit. Alternatively,
risky arbitrage opportunities would prevail if the premia were highly correlated with some factor.
Efficient market arguments rule out riskless premia, therefore if a premium is found in the data it
would imply either that the market is inefficient, or that the premium is risky. We test the latter
alternative on plausible risk factors by using a regression model that accounts for the following
explanatory variables:
(Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 – Squared percentage change of the S&P500 index from its’ period zero
level, S 0 , throughout the span of each DGN strategy. Hence, this variable captures
18
Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋 – Change in volatility, between the first and last days of each DGN strategy,
which proxies for vega effects (a positive gap implies volatility decay).
In addition, we account for possible interactions between the first three variables. The
Note that because the variables are denominated in different terms, e.g., VIX in percentage
points while SPX in points, we present elasticities-at-mean. This technique allows one to
compare the relative impact of each variable (at the mean) on the dependent variable, irrespective
of its nominal level. The sum of elasticities-at-mean coefficients is 1.0. In order to account for
possible overlapping observations, the regression models use the HAC (Heteroskedasticity and
We implemented the regression model (9) three times: First for DGN strategies that were
initiated after Hampel based jumps, and second after GARCH(1,1) jumps. These will differ as
long as the specific method-based jumps differ in their magnitude, duration, or sign. Third, we
regress those explanatory factors on DGN strategies that were initiated on randomly sampled
days away from jump events. In the latter case, the null hypothesis is that no factor be significant,
except for time decay. The regressions results are summarized in Exhibit 6.
[Exhibit 6]
19
Focusing first on Hampel-based results, we find highly significant coefficients for
(Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 , Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋, and each of the interactions variables, (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 ∗ 𝐷𝑇𝐸, (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 ∗ Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋, and
𝐷𝑇𝐸 ∗ Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋. Other than (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 ∗ Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋, all of these factors have economically large elasticity-
at-mean factor loadings, and an insignificant intercept (P=0.10), highlighting a good explanatory
power for volatility decay premia. This is evident by the relatively high Adjusted 𝑅 2 of this
regression, 33%. Lastly, the dummy coefficient for positive jumps turns out to be negative and
significant, suggesting that the volatility decay premia after positive Hampel-based jumps are
Further exploring elasticity-at-mean values, one can readily notice that VIX (volatility
decay) has the largest positive impact (6.993) on Hampel-based DGN gains, followed by DTE
(4.163). On the other hand, squared changes in moneyness, (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 , are negatively related to
DGN gains (-2.402). These results are consistent with those of Exhibit 3 regarding the effects that
vega, DTE, and positive versus negative jumps had on the DGN gains.
Second, we turn to explore the volatility decay premia that DGN strategies gained after
GARCH(1,1) extreme returns, in the middle section of Exhibit 6. One can readily notice that
none of the factors is significant, except for marginal significance of the interaction (Δ𝑆𝑃𝑋)2 ∗
Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋, with P=0.09. In particular, the intercept is significant, and unlike the Hampel-based
regression, it is positive instead of being negative. The regression’s Adjusted 𝑅 2 is 10%, far
lower than the Hampel-based regression. We therefore conclude that the GARCH(1,1) model
fails to identify those jumps for which the market pays a volatility-decay premium. As noted
above, we further used the GJR-GARCH model, which allows the conditional variance to
respond differently to past positive and negative innovations, but the qualitative results remain
20
The third regression, in the left section of Exhibit 6, presents the explanatory power of the
factors when the DGN strategy was implemented on randomly sampled, non-jump days. As
expected, none of the factors is significant, with the one exception of marginal significance for
Δ𝑉𝐼𝑋 (P=0.07). This regression has the lowest adjusted 𝑅 2 of the three – 9%.
In summary, volatility decay premia turn out to be a risky gain that can be explained by the
variation of the underlying index return, by time to expiration, and by the uncertain changes in
volatility (vega effects), as well as by the interactions between these three variables.
Nevertheless, in order to identify and price this risk one must distinguish effectively between
periods of high and periods of low diffusive volatility. Our findings indicate that the Hampel
method outperforms GARCH(1,1) in identifying jumps, and hence measures more effectively
volatility-decay risk premia, possibly due to the changing level of conditional volatility. Put
differently, given low conditional volatility GARCH(1,1) might identify a rather small extreme
return as a jump, while given high conditional volatility it might overlook more substantial
extreme returns. An alternative explanation is that under GARCH the tails are conditionally
normal (by assumption), and for typical parameter values the conditional volatility adjusts
quickly to new data. Therefore, in GARCH models the effect of historical extreme returns decays
rapidly, while the Hampel procedure has a “longer memory”. Eventually, a big GARCH
V. SUMMARY
Empirical evidence suggests that once a jump event has occurred, diffusive risk is often
higher than its long-run level, and it decays gradually. This gradual decay property suggests that
diffusive risk premia may be time-varying as well: higher immediately after a jump has been
21
realized and gradually declining toward the long-run level. Since investors can form options
positions that would yield positive gains based on the declining level of volatility, and hedge
those positions dynamically, these predictable patterns offer a potentially profitable opportunity.
This paper analyses volatility-decay risk premia by deploying options' portfolios aimed at
gaining from this specific timing, and comparing between the gains of delta hedging alone (DN)
and delta-gamma hedging (DGN) for short-, medium-, and long-term horizons, while controlling
for jump sign. Further, we apply two different techniques for identifying jumps – the Hampel
[1971] method, and the commonly used GARCH(1,1) and GJR methods.
We find that the average gain that DGN strategies yield is higher than DN strategies, and
that Hampel-based jumps are informative for the distinction between high- versus low-post-jump
volatility. The resulting premia are risky, and they are explained by changes in the level of the
volatility index VIX, changes in the S&P500 index, and time-to-expiration of the options
portfolio. We further find that interactions of these variables are significantly and economically
important, and that positive jumps carry a lower volatility-decay risk premia.
An important finding pertains to the failure of GARCH(1,1), as well as the GJR model that
appears to fit best equity returns, to identify the particular extreme returns after which diffusive
22
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25
Exhibit 1
Summary Statistics 1991-2011 S&P500 Returns, and Trimmed Data
S&P500 returns are based on closing values. Non-consecutive trading days (other than Friday-Monday) were
excluded from the sample for not being daily returns. "Trimmed data" refers to original data without extreme
observations, as those were identified by the specific method.
26
Exhibit 2
Average Extreme Returns by Type and by Year, 1991-2011
Nonconsecutive trading day returns were excluded for being non-daily returns.
27
Exhibit 3
Delta-Gamma-Neutral (DGN) Strategies after Jumps versus Random Trade
Years 1991-1996 1997-2001 2002-2006 2007-2011 Total
# of extreme obs. 5 55 33 126 219
# of DGN strategies 10 95 52 356 513
Panel A: Delta-Gamma-Neutral Strategies after jumps
Positive jumps Count Yield Count Yield Count Yield Count Yield Count Yield
Long term 0 0.00% 4 2.71% 4 3.49% 16 5.84% 24 4.93%***
Medium term 2 0.53% 20 0.68% 11 1.77% 61 2.37% 94 1.90%**
Short term 3 -1.76% 33 0.31% 10 4.05% 69 1.48% 115 1.28%***
All 5 -0.85% 57 0.61% 25 2.96% 146 2.33% 233 1.91%***
Negative jumps
Long term 2 2.81% 3 9.43% 3 8.44% 14 6.29% 22 6.69%
Medium term 3 1.72% 15 1.70% 8 2.51% 79 4.92% 105 4.19%***
Short term 0 NA 20 2.32% 16 2.66% 117 1.49% 153 1.72%**
All 5 2.15% 38 2.64% 27 3.26% 210 3.10% 280 3.03%***
All jumps
Long term 2 2.81% 7 5.59% 7 5.61% 30 6.05% 46 5.77%***
Medium term 5 1.24% 35 1.12% 19 2.08% 140 3.81% 199 3.11%***
Short term 3 -1.76% 53 1.07% 26 3.19% 186 1.48% 268 1.53%***
All 10 0.65% 95 1.42% 52 3.11% 356 2.78% 513 2.52%***
Panel B: Delta-Gamma-Neutral strategies on Random days
28
Exhibit 4
Delta-Neutral (DN) Strategies: After Jumps versus Random Trade
Years 1991-1996 1997-2001 2002-2006 2007-2011 Total
# of jumps 5 55 33 126 219
# of DN strategies 10 95 52 356 513
Panel A: Delta Neutral Strategies after jumps
Positive jumps Count Yield Count Yield Count Yield Count Yield Count Yield
Long term 0 NA 4 2.03% 4 7.58% 16 6.44% 24 5.90%***
Medium term 2 1.86% 20 1.08% 11 2.11% 61 3.59% 94 2.84%***
Short term 3 -1.34% 33 -0.82% 10 0.16% 69 1.48% 115 0.63%
All 5 -0.06% 57 0.05% 25 2.21% 146 2.90% 233 2.07%***
Negative jumps
Long term 2 -2.05% 3 7.57% 3 1.75% 14 2.12% 22 2.44%
Medium term 3 0.75% 15 -1.20% 8 0.15% 79 2.39% 105 1.66%***
Short term 0 NA 20 -1.40% 16 0.07% 117 0.95% 153 0.55%
All 5 -0.37% 38 -0.61% 27 0.28% 210 1.57% 280 1.12%***
All jumps
Long term 2 NA 7 4.41% 7 5.08% 30 4.43% 46 4.24%***
Medium term 5 1.20% 35 0.10% 19 1.29% 140 2.91% 199 2.22%***
Short term 3 -1.34% 53 -1.04% 26 0.10% 186 1.15% 268 0.59%**
All 10 -0.21% 95 -0.22% 52 1.21% 356 2.12% 513 1.55%***
Panel B: Delta-Gamma-Neutral strategies on Random days
Long term 10 0.63% 5 2.75% 34 -1.10% 22 1.59% 71 0.16%
Medium term 90 0.37% 32 0.43% 94 -0.60% 83 -0.28% 299 -0.09%
Short term 121 -0.11% 66 0.55% 154 -0.08% 94 0.29% 435 0.09%
All 221 0.13% 103 0.60% 282 -0.37% 199 0.19% 805 0.03%
Yield is calculated by dividing the monetary gain or loss by the S&P500 index for each strategy. We simulate the strategy on Hampel-based outliers (Panel A),
and on random days (Panel B). DN loses on average in all sub-periods and across all terms. While DN yields are significantly negative, Random Trade yields are
negative, albeit not significantly. Significance level is presented for the entire period only. * = P<0.10; ** = P<0.05; *** = P<0.01
29
Exhibit 5
Delta-Gamma-Neutral (DGN) Strategies after GARCH(1,1) Jumps
Years 1990-1996 1997-2001 2002-2006 2007-2011 Total
# of extreme obs. 53 51 45 70 219
# of DGN strategies 397 55 312 163 927
Panel A: Delta-Gamma-Neutral Strategies after extreme observations
Positive extreme Coun Coun Coun Coun Coun
obs. t Yield t Yield t Yield t Yield t Yield
Long term 16 15.27% 2 -8.40% 21 -1.13% 9 0.03% 48 4.25%
Medium term 118 0.29% 7 1.94%* 66 -0.42% 12 -1.39% 203 0.01%
Short term 114 1.08%* 14 -5.72% 91 -0.06% 22 -0.26% 241 0.13%
All 248 1.62%** 23 -3.62% 178 -0.32% 43 -0.52% 492 0.48%
Negative extreme obs.
Long term 6 1.10% 4 5.07% 26 2.88% 20 -1.11% 56 1.42%
Medium term 62 6.01%** 9 2.92% 37 0.43% 33 2.13% 141 3.44%**
Short term 81 0.73% 19 1.45% 71 0.28% 67 -1.32%** 238 0.08%
All 149 2.94%** 32 2.32%* 134 0.83% 120 -0.33% 435 1.34%**
All extreme obs.
Long term 22 11.41%* 6 0.58% 47 1.09% 29 -0.75% 104 2.73%
Medium term 180 2.26%** 16 2.49%* 103 -0.12% 45 1.19% 344 1.42%**
Short term 195 0.93%** 33 -1.59% 162 0.09% 89 -1.06%** 479 0.10%
All 397 2.11%** 55 -0.17% 312 0.17% 163 -0.38% 927 0.89%**
Panel B: Delta-Gamma-Neutral strategies on Random days
Long term 14 7.29% 4 -2.49% 33 -5.06% 17 -1.93% 68 -1.58%
Medium term 102 3.02%* 30 1.05% 92 -0.92% 72 -0.79% 296 0.67%
Short term 130 0.79%** 66 -1.10%** 154 0.41%** 93 -0.81% 443 0.04%
All 246 2.08%** 100 -0.51% 279 -0.67% 182 -0.91% 807 0.13%
This table is similar to Exhibit 3, except for the identification of outlying days, which are determined here by GARCH(1,1) rather than Hampel's method (for
details see Exhibit 3).
30
Exhibit 6
The Factors affecting Volatility Decay Premia
Hampel GARCH(1,1) Control group
Coef. Elasticity Coef. Elasticity Coef. Elasticity
Variable [Prob.] at mean [Prob.] at mean [Prob.] at mean
Intercept -0.83 -4.025 0.64 7.358 -0.06 -2.480
[0.10] [0.03] [0.85]
SPX2 -210.11 -2.402 -54.51 -0.522 -128.64 -4.474
[0.04] [0.81] [0.65]
DTE 0.27 4.163 -0.15 -5.779 0.04 5.169
[0.09] [0.09] [0.69]
VIX 30.80 6.993 5.87 0.016 23.82 -2.819
[0.00] [0.46] [0.07]
SPX2*DTE 73.66 2.694 2.42 0.079 29.22 3.357
[0.03] [0.97] [0.73]
SPX2*VIX -1,184.98 -0.695 -837.12 -0.051 106.43 -0.029
[0.00] [0.09] [0.84]
DTE*VIX -7.01 -5.317 0.01 0.000 -5.53 2.276
[0.00] [0.99] [0.16]
Positive -0.19 -0.411 -0.02 -0.102
[0.05] [0.79]
31