COVID-19 pandemic and financial innovations.

This study is motivated around the COVID-19 pandemic as a source of rising financial market risks. Hence, we investigate whether pandemic-induced risks can be hedged by alternative investment in financial innovations captured in exchange traded funds (ETFs). We explore the hedging effectiveness of sectoral ETFs along with a battery of robustness measures.

Assessing the hedging potential of gold and other precious metals against uncertainty due to epidemics and pandemics.

We assess the hedging capabilities of four prominent precious metals namely gold, palladium, platinum and silver against market risks due to epidemics and pandemics. The research objective is informed by the COVID-19 pandemic which amplifies health risks with attendant concerns for financial markets. We utilize the health-related uncertainty index developed by Baker et al.