Purpose: In a first place, the present paper is designed to examine the dynamic correlations persistent between five cryptocurrencies, WTI, Gold, VIX and four stock markets (SP500, FTSE, NIKKEI and MSCIEM). In a second place, it investigates the relevant optimal hedging strategy.Design/methodology/approach: Empirically, the authors examine how WTI, Gold, VIX and five cryptocurrencies can be applicable to hedge the four stock markets. Three variants of multivariate GARCH models (DCC, ADCC and GO-GARCH) are implemented to estimate dynamic optimal hedge ratios.Findings: The reached findings prove that both of the Bitcoin and Gold turn out to display remarkable hedging commodity features, while the other assets appear to demonstrate a rather noticeable disposition to act as diversifiers. Moreover, the results show that the VIX turns out to stand as the most effectively appropriate instrument, fit for hedging the stock market indices various related refits. Furthermore, the results prove that the hedging strategy instrument was indifferent for FTSE and NIKKEI stock while for the American and emerging markets, the hedging strategy was reversed from the pre-cryptocurrency crash to the during cryptocurrency crash period.Originality/value: The first paper's empirical contribution lies in analyzing emerging cross-hedge ratios with financial assets and compare hedging effectiveness within the period of crash and the period before Bitcoin crash as well as the sensitivity of results to refits choose to compare between short term hedging strategy and long-term one.

We examine the quantile-time-frequency connectedness of stock returns among BRICS and G7 markets over the period January 2000 to January 2024, employing the Quantile Vector Autoregression (QVAR) model. Our findings reveal that spillover effects intensify during periods of extreme market conditions, compared to more tranquil phases. Furthermore, the stock markets of France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Canada emerge as primary sources of contagion, whereas the BRICS markets and Japan primarily act as recipients across all quantile regimes. The frequency-quantile decomposition reveals that short-term dynamics primarily drive the net transmission of shocks at both the median and upper quantiles, whereas long-term dynamics are dominant at the lower quantile, indicating more persistent effects during market downturns. Finally, we construct investment portfolios based on the Minimum Connectedness Portfolio (MCP) approach and evaluate them through average portfolio weights and Hedging Effectiveness (HE) ratios. The results demonstrate that G7-based portfolios tend to have lower average weights and higher hedging efficiency, implying greater diversification benefits and enhanced risk mitigation performance compared to BRICS-based portfolios.

In this study, we aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of the risk management potential of sectoral Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) within financial portfolios. Our objectives are threefold: (i) to investigate the safe haven properties of sectoral CDSs; (ii) to assess their hedging effectiveness and evaluate the diversification benefits of incorporating sectoral CDSs into both conventional and Islamic stock market portfolios; and (iii) to compare these findings with those obtained from alternative assets such as the VSTOXX, gold, and Bitcoin indices. To achieve this, we estimate time-varying hedge ratios using a range of multivariate GARCH (MGARCH) models and subsequently compute hedging effectiveness metrics. Conditional correlations derived from the Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlation (ADCC) model are employed in linear regression analyses to assess safe haven characteristics. This methodology is applied across different subperiods to capture the impact of the crypto currency bubble and the COVID-19 pandemic on hedging performance.