A closed-form solution for zero-coupon bonds is obtained for a version of the discrete-time arbitrage-free Nelson-Siegel model. An estimation procedure relying on a Kalman filter is provided. The model is shown to produce adequate fit when applied to historical Canadian spot rate data and to improve distributional predictive performance over benchmarks. An adaptation of the mixed fund return model from Augustyniak et al. ((2021). ASTIN Bulletin: The Journal of the IAA, 51(1), 131–159.) is also provided to include the discrete-time arbitrage-free Nelson-Siegel model as one of its building blocks.

In this paper, we study a class of one-dimensional stochastic differential equations driven by fractional Brownian motion with Hurst parameter $ H \gt \frac{1}{2}$. The drift term of the equation is locally Lipschitz and unbounded in the neighbourhood of the origin. We show the existence, uniqueness and positivity of the solutions. The estimates of moments, including the negative power moments, are given. We also develop the implicit Euler scheme, proved that the scheme is positivity preserving and strong convergent, and obtain rate of convergence. Furthermore, by using Lamperti transformation, we show that our results can be applied to stochastic interest rate models such as mean-reverting stochastic volatility model and strongly nonlinear Aït-Sahalia type model.

In the last few years we have witnessed growing interest in Dynamic Financial Analysis (DFA) in the nonlife insurance industry. DFA combines many economic and mathematical concepts and methods. It is almost impossible to identify and describe a unique DFA methodology. There are some DFA software products for nonlife companies available in the market, each of them relying on its own approach to DFA. Our goal is to give an introduction into this field by presenting a model framework comprising those components many DFA models have in common. By explicit reference to mathematical language we introduce an up-and-running model that can easily be implemented and adjusted to individual needs. An application of this model is presented as well.

This paper proposes and analyzes discrete-time approximations to a class of diffusions, with an emphasis on preserving certain important features of the continuous-time processes in the approximations. We start with multivariate diffusions having three features in particular: they are martingales, each of their components evolves within the unit interval, and the components are almost surely ordered. In the models of the term structure of interest rates that motivate our investigation, these properties have the important implications that the model is arbitrage-free and that interest rates remain positive. In practice, numerical work with such models often requires Monte Carlo simulation and thus entails replacing the original continuous-time model with a discrete-time approximation. It is desirable that the approximating processes preserve the three features of the original model just noted, though standard discretization methods do not. We introduce new discretizations based on first applying nonlinear transformations from the unit interval to the real line (in particular, the inverse normal and inverse logit), then using an Euler discretization, and finally applying a small adjustment to the drift in the Euler scheme. We verify that these methods enforce important features in the discretization with no loss in the order of convergence (weak or strong). Numerical results suggest that these methods can also yield a better approximation to the law of the continuous-time process than does a more standard discretization.