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Analytical Delta and Vega for Black Caplets

Article Quant Q&A · Author: Joseph

Summary

The discussion presents the Black formula for a caplet and asks how to differentiate its price with respect to the forward rate and volatility. It states the familiar forward delta as the discounting and accrual factors multiplied by the normal cumulative distribution evaluated at d1. It then sketches a chain-rule derivation: differentiate both normal terms in the price, use the shared forward derivative of d1 and d2, and show that the density terms cancel through the Black identity linking the two normal densities.

For volatility sensitivity, the answer gives only a hint to differentiate the formula through d1 and d2; it does not provide the resulting vega expression. It suggests checking delta numerically with a centered finite difference around the forward rate. The setup assumes the Black caplet formula and its stated rate conventions, so users should align discounting, accrual, and maturity inputs with their own market conventions.

Key ideas

  • The caplet price under Black depends on the forward rate through d1 and d2 and is scaled by discounting and accrual factors.
  • The forward delta simplifies to the scale factors multiplied by the cumulative normal distribution at d1.
  • In the chain-rule derivation, the normal-density terms cancel using the relation between d1 and d2.
  • A centered finite difference around the forward rate can provide a numerical check on delta.
  • The answer does not complete the analytical vega derivation, which requires differentiating through d1 and d2.

Tags

Full text
# Delta and vega sensitivities for Cap


# Delta and vega sensitivities for Cap












I have a task to do but it is very difficult.. I have to calculate the:

- Delta Sensitivity analytically, that is the first derivative of caplet price wrt the forward rate, using the black model to price a generic caplet

- Delta Vega analytically, that is the first derivative of caplet price wrt the volatility, using the black model to price a generic caplet

How can I obtain that?

## Answer by David Duarte (score 4)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/60532

I'm not sure I agree with that being a very difficult task...

The black formula for a caplet (using notation from Hull's book) is given by:

$caplet = L \delta_k P(0, t_{k+1}) [F_k N(d_1) - R_kN(d_2)]$

where:

$d_1 = \frac{ln(F_k/R_k) + \sigma_k^2t_k/2}{\sigma_k\sqrt{t_k}}$ and $d_2 = d_1 - \sigma_K \sqrt{t_k}$

The delta will just be the first derivative of the equation above in respect to F, ie:

Delta = $ L \delta_k P(0, t_{k+1}) N(d_1)$

You can test this by comparing the calculated Delta * 1 basis point on one side with the caplet price for forward + 1 basis point minus the caplet price for forward - 1 basis point divided by two.

For the vega, just do the same thing, but derive in respect to $\sigma$. (hint: the sigma is in the $d_1$)

Edit after comments:

As Jan Stuller very well pointed out, the derivation of the well known result for the delta is, in fact, not as simple as it seems, although not that difficult.

Ignoring the constants $L \delta_k P(0, t_{k+1})$ ...

$$ \Delta = \frac{\partial c}{\partial F} = N(d_1) + F \frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial F} - R_k \frac{\partial N(d_2)}{\partial F}$$

Next we apply the chain rule:

$$ \frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial F} = \frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial d_1} \frac{\partial d_1}{\partial F}$$

and so:

$$ \Delta = N(d_1) + F \frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial d_1} \frac{\partial d_1}{\partial F} - R_k \frac{\partial N(d_2)}{\partial d_2} \frac{\partial d_2}{\partial F}$$

First thing to notice is that since:

$d_1 = \frac{ln(F_k/R_k) + \sigma_k^2t_k/2}{\sigma_k\sqrt{t_k}}$ and $d_2 = d_1 - \sigma_K \sqrt{t_k}$

we have:

$$\frac{\partial d_1}{\partial F} = \frac{\partial d_2}{\partial F} = \frac{1}{F_k \sigma \sqrt{t_k}}$$

and so:

$$ \Delta = N(d_1) + \frac{1}{F_k \sigma \sqrt{t_k}} \left[ F \frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial d_1} - R_k \frac{\partial N(d_2)}{\partial d_2} \right] $$

Second, lets see how we can simplify:

$$ \left[ F \frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial d_1} - R_k \frac{\partial N(d_2)}{\partial d_2} \right]$$

Considering that:

$$N(d_1) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}} \int^{d_1}_{-\infty} e^{-x^2 / 2} dx$$

it follows that:

$$\frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial d_1} = N^{'}(d_1) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}} e^{-d_1^2 / 2}$$

and so:

$$ \left[ F \frac{\partial N(d_1)}{\partial d_1} - R_k \frac{\partial N(d_2)}{\partial d_2} \right] = \left[ FN^{'}(d_1) - R_k N^{'}(d_2) \right]$$

Now with a simple substitution of $d_2$ for $d_1 - \sigma_k \sqrt{t_k}$, we have:

$$R_k N^{'}(d_2) = R_k N^{'}(d_1 - \sigma_k \sqrt{t_k})$$

$$ = R_k \frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}} e^{\frac{-(d_1 - \sigma_k \sqrt{t_k})^2}{2}} = R_k \frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}} e^{\frac{-d_1^2}{2}} e^{ \frac{-(2d_1 \sigma_k \sqrt{t_k} + \sigma_t^2 t_k)}{2}}$$

$$ = R_k N^{'}(d_1) e^{ \frac{ln(F_k/R_k) + \sigma_k^2t_k/2}{\sigma_k\sqrt{t_k}} \sigma_k \sqrt{t_k}} e^{- \sigma_t^2 t_k / 2)} = R_k N^{'}(d_1) e^{ ln(F_k/R_k) + \sigma_k^2t_k/2} e^{- \sigma_t^2 t_k / 2)}$$

$$ = R_k N^{'}(d_1) e^{ ln(F_k/R_k) + \sigma_k^2t_k/2 - \sigma_t^2 t_k / 2)} = R_k N^{'}(d_1) \frac{F_k}{R_k} = F_k N^{'}(d_1)$$

$$ $$

and so

$$R_k N^{'}(d_2) = F_k N^{'}(d_1)$$

$$F_k N^{'}(d_1) - R_k N^{'}(d_2) = 0$$

So finally, the delta of the caplet would be:

$$ \Delta = N(d_1) + \frac{1}{F_k \sigma \sqrt{t_k}} \left[ FN^{'}(d_1) - R_k N^{'}(d_2) \right] = N(d_1) + \frac{1}{F_k \sigma \sqrt{t_k}} \times 0 $$

$$ \Delta = N(d_1)$$

Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.