This paper solves explicitly a simple equilibrium model with liquidity risk. In our liquidityadjusted capital asset pricing model, a security s required return depends on its expected liquidity as well as on the covariances of its own return and liquidity with the market return and liquidity. In addition, a persistent negative shock to a security s liquidity results in low contemporaneous returns and high predicted future returns. The model provides a unified framework for understanding the various channels through which liquidity risk may affect asset prices. Our empirical results shed light on the total and relative economic significance of these channels and provide evidence of flight to liquidity. r 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Market Liquidity: Asset Pricing with Liquidity Risk

Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards

High Idiosyncratic Volatility and Low Returns: International and Further U.S. Evidence

This paper examines the use of credit derivatives by US bank holding companies with assets in excess of one billion dollars from 1999 to 2005. Using the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Bank Holding Company Database, we find that in 2005 the gross notional amount of credit derivatives held by banks exceeds the amount of loans on their books. Only 23 large banks out of 395 use credit derivatives and most of their derivatives positions are held for dealer activities rather than for hedging of loans. The net notional amount of credit derivatives used for hedging of loans in 2005 represents less than 2% of the total notional amount of credit derivatives held by banks and less than 2% of their loans. Banks hedge less risky loans more than riskier ones. The banks are more likely to be net protection buyers if they have lower capital ratios, a lower net interest rate margin, engage in asset securitization, originate foreign loans, have more commercial and industrial loans in their portfolio, and have fewer agricultural loans. We conclude that the use of credit derivatives by banks to hedge loans is limited because of adverse selection and moral hazard problems and because of the inability of banks to use hedge accounting when hedging with credit derivatives. Our evidence raises important questions about the validity of the often-held view that the use of credit derivatives makes banks sounder.

How Much Do Banks Use Credit Derivatives to Hedge Loans

This research has been partially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (#U1811462, #71874023, #71771037, #71725001, and #71433001).

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Machine learning methods for systemic risk analysis in financial sectors

Systemic risk: The impact of COVID-19.

The systematic failure of the global equity markets during the recent financial crisis made investors re-evaluate their portfolio constituents. It is argued that equities that comply with the Islamic investment principles perform better than conventional equities during the declining phase of capital markets. The better performance of Islamic investments can be attributed to the Shari'ah based screening criteria that specifically forbids investment in shares of those companies that are excessively leveraged and/or engaged in lending activities. This study investigates the extent to which this claim is valid by comparing the performance of global and regional Islamic equity indices (IEIs) with conventional equity indices during the past decade. The equity indices for such analysis are preferred since it does not account for transaction costs or management skills. A logistic smooth transition autoregressive (LSTAR) model is used to investigate whether the ‘down market’ performance of IEIs differs from conventional indices. The LSTAR is superior to conventional ordinary least squares models since this allows for a smooth transition from the ‘down market’ to the ‘up market’ rather than an abrupt change. The empirical results indicate that IEIs, in general, perform better than conventional indices during the period 2000 to 2012. We do not find any abnormal returns associated with Islamic equity indices on a global basis, however, there is evidence of positive abnormal returns in the case of regional indices from Europe and Asia. Overall, IEIs exhibit lower systematic risk as compared with their benchmark suggesting that any excess performance from Islamic investments stems from the systematic risk that each investment assumes with respect to their benchmark during the declining phase of capital markets. The findings of this study are of interest to both academics and the general investing public since it provides evidence that IEIs are comparatively less risky than their conventional counterpart and thus provide hedging opportunities during the downfall of capital markets.

Matching perception with the reality—Performance of Islamic equity investments

A net stable funding ratio for Islamic banks and its impact on financial stability: An international investigation

Islamic equity funds are subject to the screening criteria for stock selection imposed by the principles of Islamic jurisprudence (Shari’ah). Equities must pass three basic screens: revenue source, business activity, and financial factors to be included in an Islamic fund. However, screening criteria are not universal especially for the financial factors. One can use financial ratios based on either the book-value of total assets or the market-value of equity for screening of stocks. This may not only result in a different portfolio composition but also entail diverse rebalancing and monitoring costs. The performance of 29 Islamic equity indices (IEIs) versus conventional indices from four major international index providers using different Shari’ah screening criteria are analyzed in a single as well as in a multi-equation framework. The use of a multi-equation framework has the added advantage of utilizing the information content of different screening criteria adopted by different index providers. The empirical findings suggest that the difference in screening criteria does not significantly affect the performance of IEIs. Returns deviation, if any, stems from the relative riskiness of the IEI as compared with the relevant benchmark. Work needs to done to streamline the quantitative screening criteria to avoid confusion among the investing public.

Does Shari’ah Screening Cause Abnormal Returns? Empirical Evidence from Islamic Equity Indices

This study compares the performance of market-weighted Shariah-compliant portfolios (SCPs) with conventional benchmark portfolios (CBPs) from the USA, Canada, Europe, the GCC, and Japan. Portfolios are constructed from constituent-level monthly price data using the Shariah screening criteria as proposed by MSCI, FTSE, Dow Jones, S&P and AAOIFI. The unique SCP construction approach used in this study removes any concerns of performance deviation due to the portfolio construction methodology, rebalancing timing, and management skills for security selection or market timing. Empirical results indicate that SCPs are generally less risky than CBPs. We also find that Shariah screening standards are insignificant in their effect on return performance. SCPs using the BVTA approach usually report a little better nominal and risk-adjusted returns than SCPs using the MVE approach for financial screening. The negligible difference in risk-adjusted performance and rebalancing based on different criteria indicate a need for greater consistency in applying Shariah screening standards.

Dawood Ashraf

Papers

Systemic risk: The impact of COVID-19.

Matching perception with the reality—Performance of Islamic equity investments

A net stable funding ratio for Islamic banks and its impact on financial stability: An international investigation

Does Shari’ah Screening Cause Abnormal Returns? Empirical Evidence from Islamic Equity Indices

Does the Shariah screening process matter? Evidence from Shariah compliant portfolios