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In mathematical finance, convexity refers to non-linearities in a financial model. In other words, if the price of an underlying variable changes, the price of an output does not change linearly, but depends on the second derivative (or, loosely speaking, higher-order terms) of the modeling function. Geometrically, the model is no longer flat but curved, and the degree of curvature is called the convexity.
As the second derivative is the first non-linear term, and thus often the most significant, "convexity" is also used loosely to refer to non-linearities generally, including higher-order terms. Refining a model to account for non-linearities is referred to as a convexity correction.
The precise convexity adjustment depends on the model of future price movements of the underlying (the probability distribution) and on the model of the price, though it is linear in the convexity (second derivative of the price function).
In Black–Scholes pricing of options, omitting interest rates and the first derivative, the Black–Scholes equation reduces to "(infinitesimally) the time value is the convexity". That is, the value of an option is due to the convexity of the ultimate payout: one has the option to buy an asset or not (in a call; for a put it is an option to sell), and the ultimate payout function (a hockey stick shape) is convex – "optionality" corresponds to convexity in the payout. Thus, if one purchases a call option, the expected value of the option is higher than simply taking the expected future value of the underlying and inputting it into the option payout function: the expected value of a convex function is higher than the function of the expected value (Jensen inequality). The price of the option – the value of the optionality – thus reflects the convexity of the payoff function.
This value is isolated via a straddle – purchasing an at-the-money straddle (whose value increases if the price of the underlying increases or decreases) has (initially) no delta: one is simply purchasing convexity (optionality), without taking a position on the underlying asset – one benefits from the degree of movement, not the direction.
From the point of view of risk management, being long convexity (having positive Gamma and hence (ignoring interest rates and Delta) negative Theta) means that one benefits from volatility (positive Gamma), but loses money over time (negative Theta) – one net profits if prices move more than expected, and net loses if prices move less than expected.
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