Instantaneous volatility of the yield curve, variance risk premium and bond return predictability

This paper proposes a new way of estimating the instantaneous volatility of fixed income securities using derivatives data, which can further be used to construct the corresponding yield curve variance risk premium (VRP). We show that this VRP measure exhibits strong long-horizon predictive power for bond excess returns. After controlling for the shape of the yield curve, the VRP strongly predicts 1-year holding period excess returns for 2-year to 10-year zero coupon bonds. The marginal $R^2$ of VRP is as high as 12.6%. One standard deviation increase in the VRP is associated with 2.224% increase in the bond excess return. This result is robust when we include various other bond return predictors, such as the Cochrane–Piazzesi “tent-shaped” factor. The out-of-sample analysis suggests that this predictability is not only statistically significant, but also can be translated into economic gains. Additional tests suggest that this predictability varies with economic conditions.