Module 11 · Financial Risk and Performance Statistics Lesson 105 of 120

Value at Risk Intuition

A quantile threshold is not a worst-case promise.

2:29 clip5:38:22–5:40:51 in the full courseWatch on YouTube

Transcript

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Check your understanding

Does dollar VaR 1,200 mean 1,200 is the worst possible loss?

Choose one answer

Code lab

Run it yourself

The lesson source in 7 languages. Edit it, run TypeScript and Python right here, and compare with the expected output.

105-value-at-risk-intuition.ts
Start from GitHub
/**
 * Fintech Math Bootcamp · Lesson 105 of 120
 * Value at Risk Intuition
 * Module 11: Financial Risk and Performance Statistics
 *
 * Scenario: A quantile threshold is not a worst-case promise
 * Rule:     VaRα = Qα(loss)
 *
 * Try it:   Does dollar VaR 1,200 mean 1,200 is the worst possible loss?
 *
 * Lesson article: https://thefintechbuilder.com/financial-mathematics-statistics-and-data-foundations/financial-risk-and-performance-statistics/value-at-risk-intuition/
 * Free course:    https://courses.thefintechbuilder.com
 * Synthetic teaching example, not financial advice or a production library.
 */

export function lesson105() {
  const lossVaR=.012,exposure=100000;
  const result={lossVaR,simplifiedDollarVaR:lossVaR*exposure,
    confidence:.8,nominalTail:1-.8};
  return result;
}

export const checkedResult = {"lossVaR":0.012,"simplifiedDollarVaR":1200,"confidence":0.8,"nominalTail":0.19999999999999996};

// Run this file directly: npx tsx lessons/11-financial-risk-and-performance-statistics/105-value-at-risk-intuition.ts
if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url.endsWith(process.argv[1].replace(/\\/g, "/").split("/").pop()!)) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(lesson105(), null, 2));
}

Your output

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Expected output

{
  "lossVaR": 0.012,
  "simplifiedDollarVaR": 1200,
  "confidence": 0.8,
  "nominalTail": 0.19999999999999996
}

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Lesson notes

The rule

VaRα = Qα(loss)