It depends. If volatility fluctuates in a forecastable way, volatility fore
casts are useful for risk management (hence the interest in volatility fore
castability in the risk management literature). Volatility forecastability,
however, varies with horizon, and different horizons are relevant in diffe
rent applications. Moreover, existing assessments of volatility forecastabi
lity are plagued by the fact that they are joint assessments of volatility
forecastability and an assumed model, and the results can vary not only wit
h the horizon but also with the assumed model. To address this problem, we
develop a model-free procedure for assessing volatility forecastability acr
oss horizons. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that volatility forecastability
decays quickly with horizon. Volatility forecastability-although clearly o
f relevance for risk management at the short horizons relevant for, say, tr
ading desk management-may be much less important at longer horizons.