Valuing rebate options and equity-linked products

Abstract

In this article, we propose rebate options with multi-step barriers, which are an extension of rebate options with a constant barrier. Despite the applicability and marketability of rebate options, there have been only a few research on obtaining analytical formulas. Accordingly, in this paper, we derive closed-form pricing formulas for these options under the Black–Scholes framework. The rebate options with multi-step barriers allow a flexible barrier structure, and thus we propose complex equity-linked products embedded with rebate options with barriers and derive pricing formulas for them. We conduct numerical studies on the pricing of rebate options with multi-step barriers, equity-linked securities, and equity-indexed annuities. The numerical studies validate the prices obtained from the pricing formulas.