var vs short fall risk

CFA Level III Derivatives
#1

what’s the difference?

#2

I think one key difference is shortfall risk deals with a target “return” while VAR deals with a “loss” level

#3

shortfall risk doesn’t assume normal distribution (not sure why not but check the first EOC in that section). Value at risk does assume normal distriubtion.

#4

Shortfall risk is a probability that you fall below a certain #. It is measured in terms of the number of std. deviations … and expands into Sharpe Ratio/Roy’s Safety First and so on.

VaR is a number assignment. It is a minimum loss amount that may be suffered by the portfolio at a particular probability (significance level).

#5

And neither tell you the magnitude of the potential loss which is a weakness for both

#6

thanks all!

#7

I saw “shotfall level” somewhere, but it’s like Ri-2*(standard deviation). Two questions:

  1. Does shortfall risk measure Normality? 2) Is shortfall risk only an annualized measure?