Firm Fundamentals and Variance Risk Premiums

We develop a tractable valuation model which shows that future asset returns are predictably related to two firm characteristics, book-to-market (bm) and return on equity (roe), because these measures carry information about priced risk. The model we derive predicts a negative relation between expected variance returns embedded in option prices (variance risk premiums) and both bm and roe. We confirm this prediction using a variety of empirical specifications. Our results show that accounting-based characteristics simultaneously inform investors about cash flows as well as the priced risk of those cash flows.