Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the MSc in Finance FINANCE DISSERTATION ON THE APPLICATION OF VALUE-AT-RISK IN MEASURING RISKS OF VIETNAMESE STOCK MARKET NGUYEN THUY DUNG ID No: 20000233 Intake 3 Supervisor: Dr. Tran Manh Ha September 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Financial market is highly important for the growth and development of any economies globally as the facilitators of the sources of funds and the uses of funds. However, an inherent characteristic of the financial market is its volatility associated with a diversified set of risks. Yet, the problematic puzzle of measuring the complex risks of the financial market remains a challenge for not only academic scholars but also financial market players.
To this end, this paper attempted to develop closer analysis to the presence of Value-at-Risk (VaR) in quantifying the risks associated with the financial market. Within the scope of this paper, the focus would shed the light into VaR application in Vietnamese stock market. With the consideration of the VN30 index as the valuable snapshot of the stock market in Vietnam for the period from 21 April 2019 to 20 April 2020, this paper implements four VaR approaches, including Parametric Value at Risk (PVaR), Historical Value at Risk (HVaR), Modified Value at Risk (MVaR) and Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR). Each method might have specific weaknesses that can be overcome with the advantages of other ones.
The main findings of this paper are hoped to provide practical insights on the application of VaR into measuring the risk for stock market in Vietnam based on the in-depth analysis of previous literatures on this matter. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. i TABLE OF CONTENTS. ii LIST OF FIGURE.
Synopsis of research. Background of financial risks. Value-at-Risk (VaR). VIETNAMESE ECONOMY AND STOCK MARKET.
Overview of Vietnamese economy. The development of Vietnamese stock market. Data collection and data analysis approach. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Risk assessment using VaR .48 ii LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1. Comparison between VaR and CVar. Vietnam’s GDP Growth from 2013 to 2019. FDI growth in Vietnam from 2015-2019.
Political Stability Index in Vietnam. Bond market growth from 2010-2015. Vietnam Stock Market Structure. Stock market capitalization as % of GDP in Vietnam.
VN30 Daily Compounded Rate of Return. VN30 index descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics for individual stocks in VN30 index. Mean Compounded Rate of Return for individual stock.
Summary of the VaR result for VN30 index. Individual VaR results at 95% confidence level. Individual losses of VN30 index components measured by VaR at confidence level of 95%. Research rationale Financial market is highly important for the growth and development of any nation in the world.
Acting as the intermediary to connect the sources of funds and the uses of funds, one of the financial market inherent characteristics would be its uncertainty and volatility. Risks have been among key consideration for financial theorists since the longest time. Indeed, the movements of commodities and financial securities deal with various uncertainties resulting from a wide range of attributes. To this perspective, risks can be considered as an unavoidable aspect in the financial market and in business world.
As a matter of fact, the complication of risks in the financial market can be far more complication, contributing to further difficulties for the players in the financial market. Series of financial crisis and scandals booming from the beginning of the century have put on the questions of how such uncertainties and risks associated with the financial market can be managed and supervised. The management of risks require comprehensive efforts in identifying risks, assessing and measuring its impacts as well as determining the proper risk mitigation method. In response to such alarming signals, researchers and scholars have long been gravitated towards the development of a proper sophisticated model to measure and tackle risks.
One of the most important and traditional method of risk measurements frequently utilized by the scholars is the usage of Value at Risk model (VaR). At its core the VaR model measure the potential losses led by unfavorable market movements. As a matter of fact, over the past few periods, the VaR model has become a standard tool utilized in the risks management process by not only financial market players but also management in other business sectors. Research background Vietnam has become one of the continually growing nations in the Asian region as well as globally.
The development of Vietnam has been emerging after Vietnamese Government’s efforts in reforming its traditional economy. Strong growth in the national economy is largely strengthened by the contribution of the circulation of capital between the savers and investors. Hence, the health of financial market infrastructure become increasingly critical for the development of the national economy. It is essential to identify that the financial market in Vietnam is heavily relied on the facilitation of the stock market while bond market 1 is relatively inexperienced and dominated by the institutional players.
The strong composition of the stock market in Vietnam highlights the significance of strengthening this market against the presence of increasing risks. In addition, it is important to highlight that the stock market in Vietnam is relatively young and inexperienced while the infrastructure and regulatory frameworks have yet been able to keep up with the emerging expansion of the financial market and national economy. Moreover, the ongoingly growing participants of foreign investors as well as other impacts of globalization process enhances the complexity of the financial market. Such attributes further contribute to higher level of volatility and riskiness faced by investors.
However, to sustain higher level of efficiency in circulating the capital and investments of the financial market as well as attract investors to participate in such process, it become urgent significance for Vietnam to be able to identify proper approach towards risk identification and mitigations within the stock market as well as other aspects of the financial market. Research objectives Although many literatures have applied the VaR models in different market, there have been limited researches and findings associated with the development of risk measurement through VaR model for the stock market in Vietnam. Moreover, previous studies have the tendency to formulate the risks determinants through Ordinary Least Square (OLS) model utilizing traditional financial ratios while there have been limited evidences focusing on how risks are measured. Withstanding from the above attributes, this paper is developed as a research focused on applying the VaR model in measuring risks in Vietnamese stock market.
In accomplish this research aim, different research objectives have been formulated: - To implement the VaR model in measuring risks in stock market in Vietnam; - To understand the current risks and volatility in the Vietnamese stock market; - To determine the existence of diversified conclusions among different VaR approaches; - To further outline potential recommendations on risks management for the stock market in Vietnam. 2 Within the scope of this paper, the study focuses on the Vietnamese stock market only. By which it means that the risks associated with trading other form of financial securities in Vietnamese financial market like bond trading, derivatives markets, etc. would be neglected.
On the other hand, it also identifies that any comparative studies between Vietnamese and foreign stock markets would not be within the scope of this paper. Research contribution This paper would be expected to contribute to the academic world in multiple aspects. At first, there have been limited studies attempting to measuring the level of risks in the financial market in Vietnam. In fact, such implications in other emerging markets have been increasingly conducted by scholars and financial theorists.
Hence, this paper contributed to the discussion of risks and risks management for financial market in Vietnam with respects to the usage of Value at Risk model and its different approaches. On the other hand, as the Vietnamese stock market has been growing expanding over the last few years and contributing massively to the financial market, its stability and growth remain a considerable concern for not only the players in these markets but also the government and regulators. Hence, a secondary contribution and significance of this paper would to assess the current risk level of Vietnamese stock market to help regulators to have the clear overview of current risks scheme in the financial market. With the growing consideration of Value at Risk model in risk management, which was further emphasized by the Basel III, this paper would further engage in a large picture of risks management in financial world and the applicability of Value at Risk (VaR) model in the stock market.
The main findings of this paper are hoped to provide practical insights on the application of VaR into measuring the risk for stock market in Vietnam based on the in-depth analysis of previous literatures on this matter. Based on which, potential drawbacks and strengths of VaR as the measurement of stock risks in Vietnam would be further revealed. With that being said, the contribution of this paper would potentially help future studies as well as financial market players a better view on the risk landscape of Vietnam’s stock market. Synopsis of research The later research would be conducted as follow.
For the first chapter, the research would give a brief introduction to the research rationale as well as the 3 determination of the research objectives and research questions. Moreover, this first chapter also gives the overview of the current stock market background in Vietnam as well as different concerns with respects to the usage of Value at Risk model in financial market. Moving on to the second chapter, this chapter is conducted as a comprehensive literature review of a wide range of issues in relation to risks and the Value at Risk model. In other word, this second chapter help establish a solid foundation and background for the later study and analysis.
Next, the third chapter focuses on the analysis of the current economic background in Vietnam along with different development and characteristics of the financial market, especially the stock market in Vietnam. Having profound ideas on the current macroeconomic status and the growth of stock market in Vietnam would support a strong foundation on the later analysis as these factors are highly correlated to the movements in risks and returns of the stock market. Later on, the fourth chapter provide a detailed information on the research design with respects to a wide range of attributes and consideration for research methodology ranging from the research design, sampling method, data collection and data analysis method, etc. The next chapter summarizes and give a more comprehensive discussion of the data collected from the Value at Risk model and attempt to answer the research questions and achieve the research objectives.
Furthermore, in-depth descriptive statistics and discussion would be presented in this specific chapter. For the final chapter, this paper would give the conclusion remark sum up the entire paper and findings from previous chapters. Background of financial risks i. The concepts and measurements of financial risks Risk, which is also referred as volatility or uncertainty are important concept and aspect in not only the finance world but also the physical world.
The concept of risks has become one of the most popular concepts yet difficult to capture and conceptualize in finance field. Yet, it is noteworthy that physical world does not exist without uncertainty. Furthermore, company must take on risky investment opportunity to grow and prosper. In general, risks are much perceived as the degree of uncertainty which might be experienced in almost every aspects of life (Shkolnyk, 2019).
To this extent, risk can be characterized by two components including the level of uncertainty and the relative exposure with respects to the object facing the former uncertainty (Pasaribu, 2010). The concept of risks was further simplified into mathematical ideology with the work of Meyer (1985) on the uncertainty principle.