Ways to compute Greeks from a pricer
Question
You have a function that prices a derivative. What techniques can you use to get its Greeks, and what are the trade-offs?
Short answer
Finite differences, pathwise derivatives, likelihood-ratio weights and adjoint (AAD) methods. Bump-and-reprice is generic but costs extra pricings and has bias and, under Monte Carlo, noise unless random numbers are reused. Pathwise differentiation is unbiased and low-variance but needs a smooth payoff. Likelihood-ratio handles discontinuous payoffs at the price of higher variance. AAD gives all sensitivities for a small multiple of one pricing but takes effort to implement.
Adapted from Joshi, Denson & Downes, Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers, Q2.43, p.20; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
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Open the worked solutionLessons behind this question
- Greeks and Numerical Sensitivities
- Derivation — From Binomial Trees to Black-Scholes in the Continuous Limit
- The Black-Scholes Formula Derived via Change of Measure
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