Implementing Models in Quantitative Finance: Methods and Cases

This book puts numerical methods in action for the purpose of solving practical problems in quantitative finance. It fills a gap in the current published literature by delivering a case-study collection together with a self-contained course on major numerical methods developed and used by the finance industry. This book puts numerical methods into action for the purpose of solving concrete problems arising in quantitative finance. Part one develops a comprehensive toolkit including Monte Carlo simulation, numerical schemes for partial differential equations, stochastic optimization in discrete time, copula functions, transform-based methods and quadrature techniques. The content originates from class notes written for courses on numerical methods for finance and exotic derivative pricing held by the authors at Bocconi University since the year 2000. Part two proposes eighteen self-contained cases covering model simulation, derivative valuation, dynamic hedging, portfolio selection, risk management, statistical estimation and model calibration. It encompasses a wide variety of problems arising in markets for equity, interest rates, credit risk, energy and exotic derivatives. Each case introduces a problem, develops a detailed solution and illustrates empirical results. Proposed algorithmsare implemented using either Matlab® or Visual Basic for Applications® in collaboration with contributors. This book puts numerical methods in action for the purpose of solving practical problems in quantitative finance. The first part develops a toolkit in numerical methods for finance (Monte Carlo, PDE, Stochastic Optimization, Copula, Econometrics). The second part proposes twenty self-contained cases covering model simulation, asset pricing and hedging, risk management, statistical estimation and model calibration. Each case develops a detailed solution to a concrete problem arising in applied financial management and guides the user towards a computer implementation. The appendices contain "crash courses" in VBA and Matlab programming languages. A companion CD provides ready-to-run codes (VBA, MATLAB). The book originates from class notes and case studies developed within a course on numerical methods in finance held by the authors at Bocconi University.