Value at Risk (VaR) is a statistical measure used in finance to quantify the risk of an investment portfolio. It is defined as the maximum amount of loss that an investment portfolio is expected to incur over a specified time horizon and with a specified confidence level. The purpose of VaR is to give investors a quantitative estimate of the potential loss that a portfolio may experience under normal market conditions.
For example, a VaR of $100,000 over a one-day horizon with a confidence level of 95% means that there is a 5% chance that the portfolio will lose more than $100,000 in one day. VaR is a widely used tool in risk management as it provides a single metric that can be used to measure and compare the risk of different portfolios. VaR can be calculated for various asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, and commodities, and for various time horizons, such as one day, one week, or one month.
