Volatility: A dead ringer for downside risk

Volatility is as widely used as is widely criticized as a risk metric. This short article argues that despite its many shortcomings volatility is pervasive for two mutually-reinforcing reasons: First, it is very widely known; and second, it is a very good proxy for the downside risk that investors r...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Estrada, J. (Javier)|||/items/10eb52f4-753e-4abb-b6c5-c86ed2103820
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Navarra
Repositorio:Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dadun.unav.edu:10171/122359
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10171/122359
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Volatility
Downside risk
Semideviation
Drawdown
Descripción
Sumario:Volatility is as widely used as is widely criticized as a risk metric. This short article argues that despite its many shortcomings volatility is pervasive for two mutually-reinforcing reasons: First, it is very widely known; and second, it is a very good proxy for the downside risk that investors really dislike. The evidence discussed here shows that a ranking of assets by volatility is very highly correlated with rankings made by different metrics that directly assess downside risk.