Hull-White Model Overview
The Hull-White Model is an important concept in the context of financial mathematics. The Hull-White Model deals with future rates of interest. John Hull and Alan White explained the original version of Hull-White model in 1990.
The Hull-White model had been formulated by using a trinomial lattice. The Hull-White model is a supplement of the Vasicek model. However, the Hull-White model is different from the Vasicek model. The main difference lies in the nature of the mean reversion.
Description of Hull-White Model
In the Hull-White Model the interest rate for a shorter period of time is of utmost importance. Thus the Hull-White Model can also be alternatively described as No-arbitrage Yield Curve model or Short-rate model or Single-Factor model.
Equational Representation of Hull-White Model
The equational representation of the Hull-White model is dr(t) = (φ(t) - α(t)r(t))dt + σ(t)dW(t)
The details of the equational representation of the Hull-White model could be explained as below:
| Sign |
Meaning or Representation |
| dr |
Short term interest rate change over a short period of time |
| dt |
Minor movement of time |
| r |
Rate of interest over a shorter period of time |
| s |
Short rate's yearly standard variation |
| q(t) |
Function of time that determines the average direction of r's movement. The function is chosen in a way that changes in the short term rate of interest tally with the yield curve of the modern zero coupon bond |
| dz |
It is a Wiener process. It is derived from a random standard normal process |
| a |
Average rate of reversion. It regulates the relationship of the long rate volatilities and short rate volatilities |
Application of Hull-White Model
The Hull-White model is used to determine the value of bonds. The Hull-White model is also applied to find out the worth of derivatives.