Minimizing the lifetime shortfall or shortfall at death

We find the optimal investment strategy for an individual who seeks to minimize one of four objectives: (1) the probability that his/her wealth reaches a specified ruin level before death, (2) the probability that his/her wealth reaches that level at death, (3) the expectation of how low his/her wealth drops below a specified level before death, and (4) the expectation of how low his/her wealth drops below a specified level at death. Young [Young, V.R., 2004. Optimal investment strategy to minimize the probability of lifetime ruin. N. Am. Actua. J. 8 (4), 105-126] showed that under criterion (1), the optimal investment strategy is a heavily leveraged position in the risky asset for low wealth.In this paper, we introduce the other three criteria in order to reduce the leveraging observed by Young, the above mentioned reference. We discovered that surprisingly the optimal investment strategy for criterion (3) is identical to the one for (1) and that the strategies for (2) and (4) are more leveraged than the one for (1) at low wealth. Because these criteria do not reduce leveraging, we completely remove it by considering problems (1) and (3) under the restriction that the individual cannot borrow to invest in the risky asset.     

On minimizing drawdown risks of lifetime investments

Drawdown measures the decline of portfolio value from its historic high-water mark. In this paper, we study a lifetime investment problem aiming at minimizing the risk of drawdown occurrences. Under the Black–Scholes framework, we examine two financial market models: a market with two risky assets, and a market with a risk-free asset and a risky asset. Closed-form optimal trading strategies are derived under both models by utilizing a decomposition technique on the associated Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation. We show that it is optimal to minimize the portfolio variance when the fund value is at its historic high-water mark. Moreover, when the fund value drops, the proportion of wealth invested in the asset with a higher instantaneous rate of return should be increased. We find that the instantaneous return rate of the minimum lifetime drawdown probability (MLDP) portfolio is never less than the return rate of the minimum variance (MV) portfolio. This supports the practical use of drawdown-based performance measures in which the role of volatility is replaced by drawdown.     

Minimizing the probability of lifetime ruin under borrowing constraints

We determine the optimal investment strategy of an individual who targets a given rate of consumption and who seeks to minimize the probability of going bankrupt before she dies, also known as lifetime ruin. We impose two types of borrowing constraints: First, we do not allow the individual to borrow money to invest in the risky asset nor to sell the risky asset short. However, the latter is not a real restriction because in the unconstrained case, the individual does not sell the risky asset short. Second, we allow the individual to borrow money but only at a rate that is higher than the rate earned on the riskless asset.We consider two forms of the consumption function: (1) The individual consumes at a constant (real) dollar rate, and (2) the individual consumes a constant proportion of her wealth. The first is arguably more realistic, but the second is closely connected with Merton’s model of optimal consumption and investment under power utility. We demonstrate that connection in this paper, as well as include a numerical example to illustrate our results.     

Efficient frontier of utility and CVaR

We study the efficient frontier problem of maximizing the expected utility of terminal wealth and minimizing the conditional VaR of the utility loss. We establish the existence of the optimal solution with the convex duality analysis. We find the optimal value of the constrained problem with the sequential penalty function and the dynamic programming method.      

Optimal dynamic excess-of-loss reinsurance and multidimensional portfolio selection

In this paper, the surplus process of the insurance company is described by a Brownian motion with drift. In addition, the insurer is allowed to invest in a risk-free asset and n risky assets and purchase excess-of-loss reinsurance. Under short-selling prohibition, we consider two optimization problems: the problem of maximizing the expected exponential utility of terminal wealth and the problem of minimizing the probability of ruin. We first show that the excess-of-loss reinsurance strategy is always better than the proportional reinsurance under two objective functions. Then, by solving the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations, the closed-form solutions of their optimal value functions and the corresponding optimal strategies are obtained. In particular, when there is no risky-free interest rate, the results indicate that the optimal strategies, under maximizing the expected exponential utility and minimizing the probability of ruin, are equivalent for some special parameter. This validates Ferguson’s longstanding conjecture about the relation between the two problems.     

Single machine scheduling problems with controllable processing times and total absolute differences penalties

In this paper, we consider single machine scheduling problem in which job processing times are controllable variables with linear costs. We concentrate on two goals separately, namely, minimizing a cost function containing total completion time, total absolute differences in completion times and total compression cost; minimizing a cost function containing total waiting time, total absolute differences in waiting times and total compression cost. The problem is modelled as an assignment problem, and thus can be solved with the well-known algorithms. For the case where all the jobs have a common difference between normal and crash processing time and an equal unit compression penalty, we present an O(n log n) algorithm to obtain the optimal solution.     

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.     

基于再保险和投资的随机微分博弈

本文研究了具有再保险和投资的随机微分博弈.应用线性-二次控制的理论,在指数效用和幂效用下,求得了最优再保险策略、最优投资策略、最优市场策略和值函数的显示解,推广了文[8]的结果.通过本文的研究,当市场出现最坏的情况时,可以指导保险公司选择恰当的再保险和投资策略使自身所获得的财富最大化.     

ͨ������Ӱ���»������΢�ֲ��ĵ������ٱ��պ�Ͷ��

??Under inflation influence, this paper investigate a stochastic differential game with reinsurance and investment. Insurance company chose a strategy to minimizing the variance of the final wealth, and the financial markets as a game ``virtual hand' chosen a probability measure represents the economic ``environment' to maximize the variance of the final wealth. Through this double game between the insurance companies and the financial markets, get optimal portfolio strategies. When investing, we consider inflation, the method of dealing with inflation is: Firstly, the inflation is converted to the risky assets, and then constructs the wealth process. Through change the original based on the mean-variance criteria stochastic differential game into unrestricted cases, then application linear-quadratic control theory obtain optimal reinsurance strategy and investment strategy and optimal market strategy as well as the closed form expression of efficient frontier are obtained; finally get reinsurance strategy and optimal investment strategy and optimal market strategy as well as the closed form expression of efficient frontier for the original stochastic differential game.     

Optimal proportional reinsurance and investment with transaction costs, I: Maximizing the terminal wealth

We consider a problem of optimal reinsurance and investment with multiple risky assets for an insurance company whose surplus is governed by a linear diffusion. The insurance company’s risk can be reduced through reinsurance, while in addition the company invests its surplus in a financial market with one risk-free asset and n risky assets. In this paper, we consider the transaction costs when investing in the risky assets. Also, we use Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) to control the whole risk. We consider the optimization problem of maximizing the expected exponential utility of terminal wealth and solve it by using the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. Explicit expression for the optimal value function and the corresponding optimal strategies are obtained.     

Merton problem in a discrete market with frictions

We study the classical optimal investment and consumption problem of Merton in a discrete time model with frictions. Market friction causes the investor to lose wealth due to trading. This loss is modeled through a nonlinear penalty function of the portfolio adjustment. The classical transaction cost and the liquidity models are included in this abstract formulation. The investor maximizes her utility derived from consumption and the final portfolio position. The utility is modeled as the expected value of the discounted sum of the utilities from each step. At the final time, the stock positions are liquidated and a utility is obtained from the resulting cash value. The controls are the investment and the consumption decisions at each time. The utility function is maximized over all controls that keep the after liquidation value of the portfolio non-negative. A dynamic programming principle is proved and the value function is characterized as its unique solution with appropriate initial data. Optimal investment and consumption strategies are constructed as well.     

均值-方差准则下具有负债的随机微分博弈

研究了均值-方差准则下,具有负债的随机微分博弈.研究目标是:在终值财富的均值等于k的限制下,在市场出现最坏的情况下找到最优的投资策略使终值财富的方差最小.即:基于均值-方差随机微分博弈的投资组合选择问题.使用线性-二次控制的理论解决了该问题,获得了最优的投资策略、最优市场策略和有效边界的显示解.并通过对所得结果进行进一步分析,在经济上给出了进一步的解释.通过本文的研究,可以指导金融公司在面临负债和金融市场情况恶劣时,选择恰当的投资策略使自身获得一定的财富而面临的风险最小.     

Risk-based optimal investment and proportional reinsurance of an insurer with hidden regime switching

In this paper, we study the optimal investment and proportional reinsurance strategy for an insurer in a hidden Markov regime-switching environment. A risk-based approach is considered, where the insurer aims at selecting an optimal strategy with a view to minimizing the risk described by a convex risk measure of its terminal wealth. We solve the problem in two steps. First, we employ the filtering theory to turn the optimization problem with partial observations into one with complete observations. Second, by using BSDEs with jumps, we solve the problem with complete observations.     

开环策略下多阶段均值-方差投资组合优化研究

首先研究开环策略下不同财富动态过程的多阶段均值-方差投资组合优化模型,讨论它们的实际意义和计算方法,其中投资比例财富动态过程模型为高度非线性非凸数学规划.进一步研究投资比例财富动态过程模型实际计算问题,并且通过构造辅助模型,给出投资比例两阶段模型的全局解求解方法并通过数值算例和仿真说明该方法的有效性和准确性.最后通过数值算例比较不同财富动态过程在开环策略下和闭环策略下前沿面的关系,结果表明在闭环策略下三种财富过程等价,但是在开环策略下资产财富模型的前沿面最高、资产调整模型的前沿面次之、投资比例多阶段模型的前沿面最低.     

Optimal portfolio selection for general provisioning and terminal wealth problems

In Dhaene et al. (2005), multiperiod portfolio selection problems are discussed, using an analytical approach to find optimal constant mix investment strategies in a provisioning or a savings context. In this paper we extend some of these results, investigating some specific, real-life situations. The problems that we consider in the first section of this paper are general in the sense that they allow for liabilities that can be both positive or negative, as opposed to Dhaene et al. (2005), where all liabilities have to be of the same sign. Secondly, we generalize portfolio selection problems to the case where a minimal return requirement is imposed. We derive an intuitive formula that can be used in provisioning and terminal wealth problems as a constraint on the admissible investment portfolios, in order to guarantee a minimal annualized return. We apply our results to optimal portfolio selection.     

Optimal Cross Hedging of Insurance Derivatives

Abstract

We consider insurance derivatives depending on an external physical risk process, for example, a temperature in a low dimensional climate model. We assume that this process is correlated with a tradable financial asset. We derive optimal strategies for exponential utility from terminal wealth, determine the indifference prices of the derivatives, and interpret them in terms of diversification pressure. Moreover, we check the optimal investment strategies for standard admissibility criteria. Finally, we compare the static risk connected with an insurance derivative to the reduced risk due to a dynamic investment into the correlated asset. We show that dynamic hedging reduces the risk aversion in terms of entropic risk measures by a factor related to the correlation.     

Optimal retirement with borrowing constraints and forced unemployment risk

In this paper, we study optimal retirement in a two-dimensional incomplete market caused by borrowing constraints and forced unemployment risk. We show that the two aspects jointly affect an individual’s optimal consumption, investment, and retirement strategies. In contrast to the complete market case, the endogenously determined wealth threshold for retirement is significantly affected by the two-dimensional market incompleteness, resulting in a lower wealth threshold. We also discuss a possible unemployment insurance scheme for the borrowing-constrained individual to respond to the shocks of forced unemployment.     

Worst-case portfolio optimization with proportional transaction costs

We study optimal asset allocation in a crash-threatened financial market with proportional transaction costs. The market is assumed to be either in a normal state, in which the risky asset follows a geometric Brownian motion, or in a crash state, in which the price of the risky asset can suddenly drop by a certain relative amount. We only assume the maximum number and the maximum relative size of the crashes to be given and do not make any assumptions about their distributions. For every investment strategy, we identify the worst-case scenario in the sense that the expected utility of terminal wealth is minimized. The objective is then to determine the investment strategy which yields the highest expected utility in its worst-case scenario. We solve the problem for utility functions with constant relative risk aversion using a stochastic control approach. We characterize the value function as the unique viscosity solution of a second-order nonlinear partial differential equation. The optimal strategies are characterized by time-dependent free boundaries which we compute numerically. The numerical examples suggest that it is not optimal to invest any wealth in the risky asset close to the investment horizon, while a long position in the risky asset is optimal if the remaining investment period is sufficiently large.     

具有交易费用和马氏调制的均值-方差组合选择

研究了均值-方差准则下,最优投资组合选择问题.投资者为了增加财富它可以在金融市场上投资.金融市场由一个无风险资产和n个带跳的风险资产组成,并假设金融市场具有马氏调制,买卖风险资产时,考虑交易费用.目标是,在终值财富的均值等于d的限制下,使终值财富的方差最小,即均值-方差组合选择问题.应用随机控制的理论解决该问题,获得了最优的投资策略和有效边界.     

Exponential utility maximization for an insurer with time-inconsistent preferences

This paper studies the optimal consumption–investment–reinsurance problem for an insurer with a general discount function and exponential utility function in a non-Markovian model. The appreciation rate and volatility of the stock, the premium rate and volatility of the risk process of the insurer are assumed to be adapted stochastic processes, while the interest rate is assumed to be deterministic. The object is to maximize the utility of intertemporal consumption and terminal wealth. By the method of multi-person differential game, we show that the time-consistent equilibrium strategy and the corresponding equilibrium value function can be characterized by the unique solutions of a BSDE and an integral equation. Under appropriate conditions, we show that this integral equation admits a unique solution. Furthermore, we compare the time-consistent equilibrium strategies with the optimal strategy for exponential discount function, and with the strategies for naive insurers in two special cases.