Margrabe price for swapping one asset into another
Question
Two assets follow geometric Brownian motions with volatilities and correlation , and pay no dividends. Price a European option that at time lets the holder give up asset 2 and receive asset 1, i.e. with payoff .
Short answer
, with and . Using asset 2 as numeraire, the ratio is a driftless GBM with volatility , and the payoff becomes : a call struck at with zero rate. The interest rate drops out.
Adapted from Zhou, A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews, sec. 6.3 Option Portfolios and Exotic Options, 'Exchange options', p.160; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
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