Heston Model

The Heston Model is a type of stochastic volatility model used by financial professionals to price options. It can be compared to the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

The Heston Model was developed by associate finance professor Steven Heston in 1993. It is an option pricing model that can be used for pricing options on various securities.

As a stochastic volatility model, the Heston Model uses statistical methods to calculate and forecast option pricing with the assumption that volatility is arbitrary. The assumption that volatility is arbitrary rather than constant is the key factor that makes stochastic volatility models unique. Other types of stochastic volatility models include the SABR model, the Chen model and the GARCH model.

The Heston Model is also a type of volatility smile model. "Smile" refers to the volatility smile, a graphical representation of several options with identical expiration dates that show increasing volatility as the options become more in-the-money or out-of-the-money. The smile model's name derives from the concave shape of the graph, which resembles a smile.

The Heston Model is a closed-form solution for pricing options that seeks to overcome some of the shortcomings presented in the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Heston Model is a tool for advanced investors.

It is calculated from the following:

The Black-Scholes model for option pricing was introduced in 1970 and served as one of the first models for helping investors derive a price associated with an option on a security. In general it helped to promote option investing as it created a model for analyzing the price of options on various securities. Overall, option pricing models are used by advanced investors to estimate and gauge the price of a particular option, trading on an underlying security in the financial marketplace. Options, just like their underlying security, will have prices that change throughout the trading day. Option pricing models seek to analyze and integrate the variables that cause fluctuation of option prices in order to identify the best option price for investment.

Both the Black-Scholes and Heston Model are based on underlying calculations that can be coded and programed through advanced Excel or other quantitative systems. The Black-Scholes model is calculated from the following:

Black-Scholes Formula (See also: Black-Scholes Model)

The Black-Scholes call option formula is calculated by multiplying the stock price by the cumulative standard normal probability distribution function. Thereafter, the net present value (NPV) of the strike price multiplied by the cumulative standard normal distribution is subtracted from the resulting value of the previous calculation. In mathematical notation, C = S*N(d1) - Ke^(-r*T)*N(d2). Conversely, the value of a put option could be calculated using the formula: P = Ke^(-r*T)*N(-d2) - S*N(-d1). In both formulas, S is the stock price, K is the strike price, r is the risk-free interest rate and T is the time to maturity. The formula for d1 is: (ln(S/K) + (r + (annualized volatility)^2 / 2)*T) / (annualized volatility * (T^(0.5))). The formula for d2 is: d1 - (annualized volatility)*(T^(0.5)).

The Heston Model is noteworthy because it seeks to provide for one of the main limitations of the Black-Scholes model which holds volatility constant. The use of stochastic variables in the Heston Model provides for the notion that volatility is not constant but arbitrary.

Both the basic Black-Scholes model and the Heston Model still only provide option pricing estimates for a European option, which is an option that can only be exercised on its expiration date. Various research and models have been studied for pricing American options through both Black-Scholes and the Heston Model. These variations provide estimates for options that can be exercised on any date leading up to the expiration date, as is the case for American options.