Forecasting the yield curve: art or science?

Molenaars, Tomas K. and Reinerink, Nick H. and Hemminga, Marcus A. (2015): Forecasting the yield curve: art or science? Published in: Magazine De Actuaris (The Actuary) No. 22-4 (12 March 2015): pp. 38-40.

Abstract

The objective of our work is to analyze the forecast performance of the dynamic Nelson-Siegel yield curve model and, for comparison, the first order autoregressive (AR(1)) model applied to a set of US bond yield data that covers a large timespan from November 1971 to December 2008. As a reference we take the random walk model applied to the yield data. For our analysis, we make use of a simple parameter representing the relative forecast performance to compare forecasting results of different methods. Our findings indicate that none of the yield curve models convincingly beats the random walk model. Furthermore, our results show that deriving conclusions on basis of model testing for a limited time period is inadequate.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Term structure of interest rates; Yield curve modeling; Dynamic Nelson-Siegel model; Out-of-sample forecasting evaluations.
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 - Econometric Modeling; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E4 - Money and Interest Rates; G - Financial Economics > G1 - General Financial Markets > G17 - Financial Forecasting and Simulation

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