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Pricing with volatility that varies over time

Question

Suppose a stock's volatility is not constant but a known deterministic function σ(t)\sigma(t). How do you price and hedge a European option on it?

Short answer

Use Black-Scholes with the root-mean-square volatility over the remaining life. Log-returns are still normal, with variance ∫tTσ(s)2ds\int_t^T\sigma(s)^2ds, so the price is the Black-Scholes formula with σˉ2=1T−t∫tTσ(s)2ds\bar\sigma^2=\tfrac{1}{T-t}\int_t^T\sigma(s)^2ds. Hedge with the corresponding delta, recomputed at each date with the variance still to come.

Adapted from Joshi, Denson & Downes, Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers, Q2.5, p.16; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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