Lably
Skip to content

Expected shortfall

Risk measure estimating the average loss in the worst tail of the distribution

  • 11 min read
  • 7 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Absolute value, Continuous function and Random variable

Expected shortfall is also called conditional value at risk (CVaR), average value at risk (AVaR), tail value at risk (TVaR), conditional tail expectation (CTE), expected tail loss (ETL), and superquantile. These names are often used interchangeably, although several definitions exist in the literature. These definitions coincide in many cases, but may differ for certain types of loss distributions.

Background

Risk measures are used both in mathematical finance and in actuarial science, and the value-at-risk and expected shortfall measures are often expressed using different sign conventions and tail conventions in these disciplines. The discussion that follows takes the mathematical finance point of view.

In mathematical finance, risk measures arise when considering the profit/loss distribution, i.e., payoff, for a financial portfolio, modeled as a random variable X. This can take positive or negative values, and downside risk corresponds to quantiles with α close to 0. A risk threshold α∈[0,1] is selected, and VaRα⁡(X) is defined to be the absolute value of the α quantile of X (ignoring some technicalities). This is also the 1−α quantile of −X. The expected shortfall at level α is then defined as the average value of VaRγ⁡(X) for γ in the interval [0,α], i.e., it is the average VaR over all levels below α.

Expected shortfall is often considered preferable to VaR because it accounts for the severity of the failure, not only the chance of failure. Further, it is a coherent spectral measure of financial portfolio risk, while VaR is not. This is a collection of mathematical properties, one of which ensures that diversification of a portfolio never leads to a higher measure of risk. Viewing the value produced by a risk measure as a capital reserve requirement, ES at level α is always more conservative than VaR at the same level, i.e., ES is always at least as big as VaR at the same level.

Sign in to keep reading

6 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Economics