You are on page 1of 3

CALCULATING

VALUE AT RISK

By Jawwad Ahmed Farid


C A L C U L A T I N G V A L U E A T R I S K

CONTENTS
CALCULATING VALUE AT RISK ....................................................................................................................... 4
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 4
2. VAR METHODS .................................................................................................................................. 5
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
3.

Variance Covariance Approach ......................................................................................................... 6


Historical Simulation Method ............................................................................................................ 7
Monte Carlo Simulation ..................................................................................................................... 7
Quick Review ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Implementing VaR .............................................................................................................................. 8
METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 8

a. Setting the Scene ................................................................................................................................ 8


Sample Portfolio ............................................................................................................................ 8
b. Preliminary steps ............................................................................................................................... 9
c. VaR Approach Specific Steps .............................................................................................................. 12
Variance-Covariance (VCV) VaR .................................................................................................... 12
Determining Historical Simulation daily VaR ................................................................................ 14
d. Scaling of the daily VaR ...................................................................................................................... 15
4. CAVEATS, QUALIFICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND ISSUES ................................................................................ 15
5. CASE STUDY RISK FOR THE OIL AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY ................................................................. 17
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

A Framework for Risk Management ................................................................................................... 17


Risk Policy ........................................................................................................................................... 18
Good Data and a First Look at Models ............................................................................................... 19
Models and Tools ............................................................................................................................... 20
Metrics and Sensitivities .................................................................................................................... 24
Limits and Control Process .................................................................................................................. 27
Operational (Exception or Management Action) Limits ................................................................ 28
Capital Loss & Stop Loss Limits ..................................................................................................... 28
Inventory Age Limits ..................................................................................................................... 28
Concentration Limits ..................................................................................................................... 28
Transaction Limits ......................................................................................................................... 28
Exposure and Sensitivity Limits ..................................................................................................... 28
Pre-Settlement Risk (PSR) and Potential Future Exposure (PFE) Limits ........................................ 28
Hierarchy of Limits ........................................................................................................................ 29
g. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 30
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................... 31
DISCLAIMER .............................................................................................................................................. 32

Please do not photocopy or distribute without permission. All rights reserved Alchemy Software Pvt Limited.
http://FourQuants.com
Page 3 of 32

C A L C U L A T I N G V A L U E A T R I S K

B IBLIOGRAPHY
1. Understanding Market, Credit and Operational Risk- The Value at Risk Approach, Linda Allen,
Jacob Boudoukh and Anthony Saunders,Blackwell Publishing, 2004
2. Beyond Value at Risk, The New Science of Risk Management, Kevin Dowd, John Wiley &
Sons, 1998
3. Higher-Order Simulations: Strategic Investment Under Model-Induced Price Patterns, Gilbert
Peffer and Brbara Llacay, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation vol. 10, no. 2, 6
<http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/10/2/6.html>, 2007
4. The Black Swan, the impact of the highly improbable, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Random
House, 2007
5. Risk Frameworks and Applications- 2nd Edition, Jawwad A. Farid, 2011

Please do not photocopy or distribute without permission. All rights reserved Alchemy Software Pvt Limited.
http://FourQuants.com
Page 31 of 32

You might also like