Optimal portfolio choice for an insurer with loss aversion

The problem of optimal investment for an insurance company attracts more attention in recent years. In general, the investment decision maker of the insurance company is assumed to be rational and risk averse. This is inconsistent with non fully rational decision-making way in the real world. In this paper we investigate an optimal portfolio selection problem for the insurer. The investment decision maker is assumed to be loss averse. The surplus process of the insurer is modeled by a Lévy process. The insurer aims to maximize the expected utility when terminal wealth exceeds his aspiration level. With the help of martingale method, we translate the dynamic maximization problem into an equivalent static optimization problem. By solving the static optimization problem, we derive explicit expressions of the optimal portfolio and the optimal wealth process.     

Optimal payoff under the generalized dual theory of choice

We consider portfolio optimization under a preference model in a single-period, complete market. This preference model includes Yaari’s dual theory of choice and quantile maximization as special cases. We characterize when the optimal solution exists and derive the optimal solution in closed form when it exists. The optimal portfolio yields an in-the-money payoff when the market is good and zero payoff otherwise. Finally, we extend our portfolio optimization problem by imposing a dependence structure with a given benchmark payoff.     

Lose oneself in comparison: An investment and consumption game between two agents

We study an investment and consumption model with two agents. Each agent may derive extra utilities (disutilities) from positive (negative) outcomes of comparisons between her and the other agent’s consumption levels. In the unique Nash equilibrium, comparison induces the more (less) risk averse agent to invest more aggressively (conservatively) and the more (less) patient agent to increase consumption earlier (later). Adopting these distorted policies can be costly when agents’ real welfare is measured by their absolute consumption levels.     

Optimal portfolio strategies benchmarking the stock market

The paper investigates the impact of adding a shortfall risk constraint to the problem of a portfolio manager who wishes to maximize his utility from the portfolios terminal wealth. Since portfolio managers are often evaluated relative to benchmarks which depend on the stock market we capture risk management considerations by allowing a prespecified risk of falling short such a benchmark. This risk is measured by the expected loss in utility. Using the Black–Scholes model of a complete financial market and applying martingale methods, explicit analytic expressions for the optimal terminal wealth and the optimal portfolio strategies are given. Numerical examples illustrate the analytic results.     

Tracking models and the optimal regret distribution in asset allocation

We present a tracking model for asset allocation that tracks desired investment goals. The model is shown to be optimal with respect to an investor's ‘regret distribution’, the cumulative distribution of the difference between the revenue under perfect foresight and that possible without foresight. Relationships with Markowitz mean/variance models are also explored.     

Portfolio theory for the recourse certainty equivalent maximizing investor

The portfolio selection problem with one safe andn risky assets is analyzed via a new decision theoretic criterion based on the Recourse Certainty Equivalent (RCE). Fundamental results in portfolio theory, previously studied under the Expected Utility criterion (EU), such as separation theorems, comparative static analysis, and threshold values for inclusion or exclusion of risky assets in the optimal portfolio, are obtained here. In contrast to the EU model, our results for the RCE maximizing investor do not impose restrictions on either the utility function or the underlying probability laws. We also derive a dual portfolio selection problem and provide it with a concrete economic interpretation.Research partly supported by ONR Contracts N0014-81-C-0236 and N00014-82-K-0295, and NSF Grant SES-8408134 with the Center for Cybernetic Studies, The University of Texas at Austin.Partly supported by NSF Grant DDM-8896112.Partly supported by AFOSR Grant 0218-88 and NSF Grant ECS-8802239 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus.     

不存在无风险资产的投资组合灵敏度分析

本文研究了M－V证券投资组合灵敏度分析方法。考虑了不存在无险资产时证券预睡益率和协方差矩阵存在扰动的情形，给出了最优投资组合有效边缘的漂移方程及组合扩展路径。     

A unified approach to portfolio optimization with linear transaction costs

In this paper we study the continuous time optimal portfolio selection problem for an investor with a finite horizon who maximizes expected utility of terminal wealth and faces transaction costs in the capital market. It is well known that, depending on a particular structure of transaction costs, such a problem is formulated and solved within either stochastic singular control or stochastic impulse control framework. In this paper we propose a unified framework, which generalizes the contemporary approaches and is capable to deal with any problem where transaction costs are a linear/piecewise-linear function of the volume of trade. We also discuss some methods for solving numerically the problem within our unified framework.     

带交易费用的证券组合投资选择的优化模型

本文利用在约束条件中加入证券多样化选择约束的办法来抵减非系统风险 ,就证券组合投资的选择问题 ,建立了带交易费用的综合考虑收益和风险的多目标规划模型 ,然后通过变换将不可微的多目标规划问题转化为一个多目标线性规划问题 ,最后给出了问题的一个算法和算例     

Conditioned stochastic differential equations: theory, examples and application to finance

We generalize the notion of Brownian bridge. More precisely, we study a standard Brownian motion for which a certain functional is conditioned to follow a given law. Such processes appear as weak solutions of stochastic differential equations that we call conditioned stochastic differential equations. The link with the theory of initial enlargement of filtration is made and after a general presentation several examples are studied: the conditioning of a standard Brownian motion (and more generally of a Markov diffusion) by its value at a given date, the conditioning of a geometric Brownian motion with negative drift by its quadratic variation and finally the conditioning of a standard Brownian motion by its first hitting time of a given level. As an application, we introduce the notion of weak information on a complete market, and we give a “quantitative” value to this weak information.