Optimal investment and risk control policies for an insurer in an incomplete market

In this paper, we apply the martingale approach to investigate the optimal investment and risk control problem for an insurer in an incomplete market. The claim risk of per policy is characterized by a compound Poisson process with drift, and the insurer can be invested in multiple risky assets whose price processes are described by the geometric Brownian motions model. By ‘complete’ the incomplete market, closed-form solutions to the problems of mean–variance criterion and expected exponential utility maximization are obtained. Moreover, numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the results with the basic parameters.     

不完全市场下基于对数效用的动态投资组合

应用鞅方法研究不完全市场下的动态投资组合优化问题。首先,通过降低布朗运动的维数将不完全金融市场转化为完全金融市场,并在转化后的完全金融市场里应用鞅方法研究对数效用函数下的动态投资组合问题,得到了最优投资策略的显示表达式。然后,根据转化后的完全金融市场与原不完全金融市场之间的参数关系,得到原不完全金融市场下的最优投资策略。算例分析比较了不完全金融市场与转化后的完全金融市场下最优投资策略的变化趋势,并与幂效用、指数效用下最优投资策略的变化趋势做了比较。     

Optimal Control for Utility Portfolio Selection with Liability

In this paper we use stochastic optimal control theory to investigate a dynamic portfolio selection problem with liability process, in which the liability process is assumed to be a geometric Brownian motion and completely correlated with stock prices. We apply dynamic programming principle to obtain Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equations for the value function and systematically study the optimal investment strategies for power utility, exponential utility and logarithm utility. Firstly, the explicit expressions of the optimal portfolios for power utility and exponential utility are obtained by applying variable change technique to solve corresponding HJB equations. Secondly, we apply Legendre transform and dual approach to derive the optimal portfolio for logarithm utility. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the results obtained and analyze the effects of the market parameters on the optimal portfolios.     

Optimal consumption and investment strategies with liquidity risk and lifetime uncertainty for Markov regime-switching jump diffusion models

In this paper, we consider the optimal consumption and investment strategies for households throughout their lifetime. Risks such as the illiquidity of assets, abrupt changes of market states, and lifetime uncertainty are considered. Taking the effects of heritage into account, investors are willing to limit their current consumption in exchange for greater wealth at their death, because they can take advantage of the higher expected returns of illiquid assets. Further, we model the liquidity risks in an illiquid market state by introducing frozen periods with uncertain lengths, during which investors cannot continuously rebalance their portfolios between different types of assets. In liquid market, investors can continuously remix their investment portfolios. In addition, a Markov regime-switching process is introduced to describe the changes in the market’s states. Jumps, classified as either moderate or severe, are jointly investigated with liquidity risks. Explicit forms of the optimal consumption and investment strategies are developed using the dynamic programming principle. Markov chain approximation methods are adopted to obtain the value function. Numerical examples demonstrate that the liquidity of assets and market states have significant effects on optimal consumption and investment strategies in various scenarios.     

Optimal Investment Strategies for an Insurer with SAHARA Utility

In this paper, we consider the optimal investment strategy which maximizes the utility of the terminal wealth of an insurer with SAHARA utility functions. This class of utility functions has non-monotone absolute risk aversion, which is more flexible than the CARA and CRRA utility functions. In the case that the risk process is modeled as a Brownian motion and the stock process is modeled as a geometric Brownian motion, we get the closed-form solutions for our problem by the martingale method for both the constant threshold and when the threshold evolves dynamically according to a specific process. Finally, we show that the optimal strategy is state-dependent.     

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??In this paper, we consider the optimal investment strategy which maximizes the utility of the terminal wealth of an insurer with SAHARA utility functions. This class of utility functions has non-monotone absolute risk aversion, which is more flexible than the CARA and CRRA utility functions. In the case that the risk process is modeled as a Brownian motion and the stock process is modeled as a geometric Brownian motion, we get the closed-form solutions for our problem by the martingale method for both the constant threshold and when the threshold evolves dynamically according to a specific process. Finally, we show that the optimal strategy is state-dependent.     

基于指数效用无差异价值过程的不完备市场下的可违约期权的定价模型

本文研究不完备市场情况下的可违约期权的动态指数效用无差异定价。不同于大多数的可违约期权定价文献,本文没有假定鞅的不变性,即通常的H 假设,而是通过信息流的扩张和测度的变换,将信用风险敏感的资产转换为一个G 局部鞅,其后引入一个具体的倒向随机微分方程（BSDE）,并证明该方程解的存在性与唯一性;然后利用无差异价值过程C_t（B,α）在最小熵鞅测度下对一般的投资策略为上鞅,而在最优投资策略下为鞅的事实,证明无差异价值过程C_t（B,α）就是BSDE 的解,从而给出可违约期权的定价。     

Martingale method for optimal investment and proportional reinsurance

Numerous researchers have applied the martingale approach for models driven by Levy processes to study optimal investment problems. This paper considers an insurer who wants to maximize the expected utility of terminal wealth by selecting optimal investment and proportional reinsurance strategies. The insurer's risk process is modeled by a Levy process and the capital can be invested in a security market described by the standard Black-Scholes model. By the martingale approach, the closed-form solutions to the problems of expected utility maximization are derived. Numerical examples are presented to show the impact of model parameters on the optimal strategies.     

Optimal dynamic asset allocation of pension fund in mortality and salary risks framework

In this paper, we consider the optimal dynamic asset allocation of pension fund with mortality risk and salary risk. The managers of the pension fund try to find the optimal investment policy (optimal asset allocation) to maximize the expected utility of terminal wealth. The market is a combination of financial market and insurance market. The financial market consists of three assets: cashes with stochastic interest rate, stocks and rolling bonds, while the insurance market consists of mortality risk and salary risk. These two non-hedging risks cause incompleteness of the market. By martingale method and dynamic programming principle we first derive the approximate optimal investment policy to overcome the difficulty, then investigate the efficiency of the approximation. Finally, we solve an optimal assets liabilities management(ALM) problem with mortality risk and salary risk under CRRA utility, and reveal the influence of these two risks on the optimal investment policy by numerical illustration.     

Asymptotic arbitrage and large deviations

Typical models of mathematical finance admit equivalent martingale measures up to any finite time horizon but not globally, and this means that arbitrage opportunities arise in the long run. In this paper, we derive explicit estimates for asymptotic arbitrage, and we show how they are related to large deviation estimates for the market price of risk. As a case study we consider a geometric Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process. In this setting we also compute the optimal trading strategies and the resulting optimal growth rates of expected utility for all HARA utilities.     

Asset allocation under loss aversion and minimum performance constraint in a DC pension plan with inflation risk

In this paper we investigate an optimal investment strategy for a defined-contribution (DC) pension plan member who is loss averse, pays close attention to inflation and longevity risks and requires a minimum performance at retirement. The member aims to maximize the expected S-shaped utility from the terminal wealth exceeding the minimum performance by investing her wealth in a financial market consisting of an indexed bond, a stock and a risk-free asset. We derive the optimal investment strategy in closed-form using the martingale approach. Our theoretical and numerical results reveal that the wealth proportion invested in each risky asset has a V-shaped pattern in the reference point level, while it always increases in the rising lifespan; with a positive correlation between salary and inflation risks, the presence of salary decreases the member’s investment in risky assets; the minimum performance helps to hedge the longevity risk by increasing her investment in risky assets.     

Socially Responsible Investment: A multicriteria approach to portfolio selection combining ethical and financial objectives

In a context of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), this paper deals with portfolio selection for investors interested in ethical policies. In the opportunity set there are ethical assets and other assets which are not characterized as ethical. Two goals are considered, the traditional financial goal in the classical utility theory under uncertainty and an ethical goal in the same utility framework. A new financial-ethical bi-criteria model is proposed with absolute risk aversion coefficients and targets depending on the investor’s ethical profile. This approach is relevant as an increasing number of mutual funds are becoming interested in SRI strategies. From the proposed model, an actual case on green investment is developed. Concerning this case (without generalizing to other contexts), an analysis of the numerical results shows that efficient portfolios obtained by the traditional E-V model outperform the strong green portfolios in terms of expected return and risk, but this does not significantly occur with weak green investment.     

Optimal Consumption and Portfolio with Ambiguity to Markovian Switching

This paper considers the problem of maximizing expected utility from consumption and terminal wealth under model uncertainty for a general semimartingale market, where the agent with an initial capital and a random endowment can invest. To find a solution to the investment problem we use the martingale method. We first prove that under appropriate assumptions a unique solution to the investment problem exists. Then we deduce that the value functions of primal problem and dual problem are convex conjugate functions. Furthermore we consider a diffusion-jump-model where the coefficients depend on the state of a Markov chain and the investor is ambiguity to the intensity of the underlying Poisson process. Finally, for an agent with the logarithmic utility function, we use the stochastic control method to derive the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellmann (HJB) equation. And the solution to this HJB equation can be determined numerically. We also show how thereby the optimal investment strategy can be computed.     

Optimal consumption, investment and insurance with insurable risk for an investor in a Lévy market

Numerous researchers have applied the martingale approach for models driven by Lévy processes to study optimal investment problems. The aim of this paper is to apply the martingale approach to obtain a closed form solution for the optimal investment, consumption and insurance strategies of an individual in the presence of an insurable risk when the insurable risk and risky asset returns are described by Lévy processes and the utility is a constant absolute risk aversion (CARA). The model developed in this paper can potentially be applied to absorb large insurable losses in the absence of insurance protection and to examine the level of diminishing current utility and consumption.     

Risk-adjusted probability measures in portfolio optimization with coherent measures of risk

We consider the problem of optimizing a portfolio of n assets, whose returns are described by a joint discrete distribution. We formulate the mean–risk model, using as risk functionals the semideviation, deviation from quantile, and spectral risk measures. Using the modern theory of measures of risk, we derive an equivalent representation of the portfolio problem as a zero-sum matrix game, and we provide ways to solve it by convex optimization techniques. In this way, we reconstruct new probability measures which constitute part of the saddle point of the game. These risk-adjusted measures always exist, irrespective of the completeness of the market. We provide an illustrative example, in which we derive these measures in a universe of 200 assets and we use them to evaluate the market portfolio and optimal risk-averse portfolios.     

Optimal impulse control of a portfolio with a fixed transaction cost

The aim of this work is to investigate a portfolio optimization problem in presence of fixed transaction costs. We consider an economy with two assets: one risky, modeled by a geometric Brownian motion, and one risk-free which grows at a certain fixed rate. The agent is fully described by his/her utility function and the objective is to maximize the expected utility from the liquidation of wealth at a terminal date. We deal with different forms of utility functions (power, logarithmic and exponential utility), describing in each case how the fixed transaction costs influence the agent’s behavior. We show when it is optimal to recalibrate his/her portfolio and which are the best adjusted portfolios. We also analyze how the optimal strategy is influenced by the risk-aversion, as well as other model parameters.     

Dynamic mean-variance and optimal reinsurance problems under the no-bankruptcy constraint for an insurer

In this paper, we consider the optimal investment and optimal reinsurance problems for an insurer under the criterion of mean-variance with bankruptcy prohibition, i.e., the wealth process of the insurer is not allowed to be below zero at any time. The risk process is a diffusion model and the insurer can invest in a risk-free asset and multiple risky assets. In view of the standard martingale approach in tackling continuous-time portfolio choice models, we consider two subproblems. After solving the two subproblems respectively, we can obtain the solution to the mean-variance optimal problem. We also consider the optimal problem when bankruptcy is allowed. In this situation, we obtain the efficient strategy and efficient frontier using the stochastic linear-quadratic control theory. Then we compare the results in the two cases and give a numerical example to illustrate our results.     

Elasticity approach to portfolio optimization

We study investment problems in a continuous-time setting and conclude that the proper control variables are elasticities to the traded assets or, in the case of stochastic interest rates, (factor) durations. This formulation of a portfolio problem allows us to solve the problems in a kind of two-step procedure: First, by calculating the optimal elasticities and durations we determine the optimal wealth process and then we compute a portfolio process which tracks these elasticities and durations. Our findings are not only interesting in itself, but the approach also proves useful in many varied applications including portfolios with (path-dependent) options. An important application can be the solution of portfolio problems with defaultable bonds modelled by a firm value approach.     

随机通胀风险下基于半鞅理论的最优投资策略

本文在半鞅理论框架下,构建包括可交易风险资产、不可交易风险资产和未定权益的金融投资模型。在考虑随机通胀风险和获取部分市场信息的情形下,研究投资经理人终端真实净财富指数效用最大化问题。运用滤波理论、半鞅和倒向随机微分方程(BSDE)理论,求解带有随机通胀风险的最优投资策略和价值过程精确解。数值分析结果发现,可交易风险资产最优投资额随着预期通胀率的增加而减少,投资价值呈先增后减态势。当通胀波动率无限接近可交易风险资产名义价格波动率时,通胀风险可完全对冲,投资人会不断追加在可交易风险资产的投资额,以期实现终端真实净财富期望指数效用最大化。研究结果为金融市场的投资决策提供更加科学的理论参考。