Option-Implied Equity Premium Predictions via Entropic Tilting

We propose a new method to improve density forecasts of the equity premium us- ing information from options markets. We tilt the predictive densities from standard econometric models suggested in the stock return predictability literature towards the second moment of the risk-neutral distribution implied by options prices. In so do- ing, we use a simple regression-based approach to remove the variance risk premium. By combining the backward-looking information contained in the econometric models with the forward-looking information from the options prices, tilting yields sharper predictive densities. Using density forecasts of the U.S. equity premium in Rapach and Zhou (2012), we nd that tilting leads to more accurate predictions, both in terms of statistical and economic performance.