Calibration of multivariate generalized hyperbolic distributions using the EM algorithm, with applications in risk management, portfolio optimization and portfolio credit risk

The distributions of many financial quantities are well-known to have heavy tails, exhibit skewness, and have other non-Gaussian characteristics. In this dissertation we study an especially promising family: the multivariate generalized hyperbolic distributions (GH). This family includes and generalizes the familiar Gaussian and Student t distributions, and the so-called skewed t distributions, among many others.;The primary obstacle to the applications of such distributions is the numerical difficulty of calibrating the distributional parameters to the data. In this dissertation we describe a way to stably calibrate GH distributions for a wider range of parameters than has previously been reported. In particular, we develop a version of the EM algorithm for calibrating GH distributions. This is a modification of methods proposed in McNeil, Frey, and Embrechts (2005), and generalizes the algorithm of Protassov (2004). Our algorithm extends the stability of the calibration procedure to a wide range of parameters, now including parameter values that maximize log-likelihood for our real market data sets. This allows for the first time certain GH distributions to be used in modeling contexts when previously they have been numerically intractable.;Our algorithm enables us to make new uses of GH distributions in three financial applications. First, we forecast univariate Value-at-Risk (VaR) for stock index returns, and we show in out-of-sample backtesting that the GH distributions outperform the Gaussian distribution. Second, we calculate an efficient frontier for equity portfolio optimization under the skewed-t distribution and using Expected Shortfall as the risk measure. Here, we show that the Gaussian efficient frontier is actually unreachable if returns are skewed t distributed. Third, we build an intensity-based model to price Basket Credit Default Swaps by calibrating the skewed t distribution directly, without the need to separately calibrate the skewed t copula. To our knowledge this is the first use of the skewed t distribution in portfolio optimization and in portfolio credit risk.