Stability of central finite difference schemes for the Heston PDE

This paper deals with stability in the numerical solution of the prominent Heston partial differential equation from mathematical finance. We study the well-known central second-order finite difference discretization, which leads to large semi-discrete systems with non-normal matrices A. By employing the logarithmic spectral norm we prove practical, rigorous stability bounds. Our theoretical stability results are illustrated by ample numerical experiments

Application of Operator Splitting Methods in Finance

Financial derivatives pricing aims to find the fair value of a financial contract on an underlying asset. Here we consider option pricing in the partial differential equations framework. The contemporary models lead to one-dimensional or multidimensional parabolic problems of the convection-diffusion type and generalizations thereof. An overview of various operator splitting methods is presented for the efficient numerical solution of these problems. Splitting schemes of the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) type are discussed for multidimensional problems, e.g. given by stochastic volatility (SV) models. For jump models Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) methods are considered which efficiently treat the nonlocal jump operator. For American options an easy-to-implement operator splitting method is described for the resulting linear complementarity problems. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the actual stability and convergence of the splitting schemes. Here European and American put options are considered under four asset price models: the classical Black-Scholes model, the Merton jump-diffusion model, the Heston SV model, and the Bates SV model with jumps

Pricing and Hedging GLWB in the Heston and in the Black-Scholes with Stochastic Interest Rate Models

Valuing Guaranteed Lifelong Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) has attracted significant attention from both the academic field and real world financial markets. As remarked by Forsyth and Vetzal the Black and Scholes framework seems to be inappropriate for such long maturity products. They propose to use a regime switching model. Alternatively, we propose here to use a stochastic volatility model (Heston model) and a Black Scholes model with stochastic interest rate (Hull White model). For this purpose we present four numerical methods for pricing GLWB variables annuities: a hybrid tree-finite difference method and a hybrid Monte Carlo method, an ADI finite difference scheme, and a standard Monte Carlo method. These methods are used to determine the no-arbitrage fee for the most popular versions of the GLWB contract, and to calculate the Greeks used in hedging. Both constant withdrawal and optimal withdrawal (including lapsation) strategies are considered. Numerical results are presented which demonstrate the sensitivity of the no-arbitrage fee to economic, contractual and longevity assumptions

Instabilities of Super-Time-Stepping Methods on the Heston Stochastic Volatility Model

This note explores in more details instabilities of explicit super-time-stepping schemes, such as the Runge-Kutta-Chebyshev or Runge-Kutta-Legendre schemes, noticed in the litterature, when applied to the Heston stochastic volatility model. The stability remarks are relevant beyond the scope of super-time-stepping schemes