We present a new methodology for the numerical pricing of a class of exotic derivatives such as Asian or barrier options when the underlying asset price dynamics are modelled by a geometric Brownian motion or a number of mean-reverting processes of interest. This methodology identifies derivative prices with infinite-dimensional linear programming problems involving the moments of appropriate measures, and then develops suitable finite-dimensional relaxations that take the form of semi-definite programs indexed by the number of moments involved. By maximising or minimising appropriate criteria, monotone sequences of both upper and lower bounds are obtained. Numerical investigation shows that very good results are obtained with only a small number of moments. Theoretical convergence results are also established.
Citation
Mathematical Finance 16, No 3 (2006), 469--494