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Evaluating the RiskMetrics methodology in measuring volatility and Value-at-Risk in financial markets

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  • Pafka, Szilárd
  • Kondor, Imre

Abstract

We analyze the performance of RiskMetrics, a widely used methodology for measuring market risk. Based on the assumption of normally distributed returns, the RiskMetrics model completely ignores the presence of fat tails in the distribution function, which is an important feature of financial data. Nevertheless, it was commonly found that RiskMetrics performs satisfactorily well, and therefore the technique has become widely used in the financial industry. We find, however, that the success of RiskMetrics is the artifact of the choice of the risk measure. First, the outstanding performance of volatility estimates is basically due to the choice of a very short (one-period ahead) forecasting horizon. Second, the satisfactory performance in obtaining Value-at-Risk by simply multiplying volatility with a constant factor is mainly due to the choice of the particular significance level.

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  • Pafka, Szilárd & Kondor, Imre, 2001. "Evaluating the RiskMetrics methodology in measuring volatility and Value-at-Risk in financial markets," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 299(1), pages 305-310.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:299:y:2001:i:1:p:305-310
    DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(01)00310-7
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    3. Dimitrakopoulos, Dimitris N. & Kavussanos, Manolis G. & Spyrou, Spyros I., 2010. "Value at risk models for volatile emerging markets equity portfolios," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 515-526, November.
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    5. Del Brio, Esther B. & Mora-Valencia, Andrés & Perote, Javier, 2014. "Semi-nonparametric VaR forecasts for hedge funds during the recent crisis," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 401(C), pages 330-343.
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    7. Saralees Nadarajah & Bo Zhang & Stephen Chan, 2014. "Estimation methods for expected shortfall," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 271-291, February.
    8. Carl H. Korkpoe & Peterson Owusu Junior, 2018. "Behaviour of Johannesburg Stock Exchange All Share Index Returns - An Asymmetric GARCH and News Impact Effects Approach," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 68(1), pages 26-42, January-M.
    9. Matei, Marius, 2010. "Risk analysis in the evaluation of the international investment opportunities. Advances in modelling and forecasting volatility for risk assessment purposes," Working Papers of Institute for Economic Forecasting 100201, Institute for Economic Forecasting.
    10. Apergis, Emmanuel & Apergis, Iraklis & Apergis, Nicholas, 2019. "A new macro stress testing approach for financial realignment in the Eurozone," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 52-80.
    11. Sang Hoon Kang & Seong-Min Yoon, 2009. "Value-at-Risk Analysis for Asian Emerging Markets: Asymmetry and Fat Tails in Returns Innovation," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 25, pages 387-411.
    12. Hugh Christensen & Simon Godsill & Richard E Turner, 2020. "Hidden Markov Models Applied To Intraday Momentum Trading With Side Information," Papers 2006.08307, arXiv.org.
    13. Degiannakis, Stavros & Floros, Christos & Livada, Alexandra, 2012. "Evaluating Value-at-Risk Models before and after the Financial Crisis of 2008: International Evidence," MPRA Paper 80463, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Rebekka Buse & Konstantin Gorgen & Melanie Schienle, 2022. "Predicting Value at Risk for Cryptocurrencies With Generalized Random Forests," Papers 2203.08224, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2024.
    15. Tomáš Jeøábek, 2020. "The Efficiency of GARCH Models in Realizing Value at Risk Estimates," ACTA VSFS, University of Finance and Administration, vol. 14(1), pages 32-50.
    16. Liu, Wei & Semeyutin, Artur & Lau, Chi Keung Marco & Gozgor, Giray, 2020. "Forecasting Value-at-Risk of Cryptocurrencies with RiskMetrics type models," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
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