Risk-Sensitive Dynamic Asset Management

This paper develops a continuous time portfolio optimization model where the mean returns of individual securities or asset categories are explicitly affected by underlying economic factors such as dividend yields, a firm's return on equity, interest rates, and unemployment rates. In particular, the factors are Gaussian processes, and the drift coefficients for the securities are affine functions of these factors. We employ methods of risk-sensitive control theory, thereby using an infinite horizon objective that is natural and features the long run expected growth rate, the asymptotic variance, and a single risk-aversion parameter. Even with constraints on the admissible trading strategies, it is shown that the optimal trading strategy has a simple characterization in terms of the factor levels. For particular factor levels, the optimal trading positions can be obtained as the solution of a quadratic program. The optimal objective value, as a function of the risk-aversion parameter, is shown to be the solution of a partial differential equation. A simple asset allocation example, featuring a Vasicek-type interest rate which affects a stock index and also serves as a second investment opportunity, provides some additional insight about the risk-sensitive criterion in the context of dynamic asset management. Accepted 10 December 1997     

An expected regret minimization portfolio selection model

Fuzzy portfolio selection has been widely studied within the framework of the credibility theory. However, all existing models provide only concentrated investment solutions, which contradicts the risk diversification concept in the classical portfolio selection theory. In this paper, we propose an expected regret minimization model, which minimizes the expected value of the distance between the maximum return and the obtained return associated with each portfolio. We prove that our model is advantageous for obtaining distributive investment and reducing investor regret. The effectiveness of the model is demonstrated by using an example of a portfolio selection problem comprising ten securities in the Shanghai Stock Exchange 180 Index.     

模糊环境中带交易费用的投资组合策略问题

由于金融市场是波动的,风险资产的预期收益率由于很多不确定性是很难估计的,本文考虑预期收益率是可能性分布(模糊数),并且在此基础上用模糊数的可能性均值表示投资组合的收益,用模糊数的平均绝对偏差表示风险,考虑了交易费用后,得到投资组合模型,最后给出了数值计算的例子.     

Portfolio selection with a minimax measure in safety constraint

In this paper, we attempt to design a portfolio optimization model for investors who desire to minimize the variation around the mean return and at the same time wish to achieve better return than the worst possible return realization at every time point in a single period portfolio investment. The portfolio is to be selected from the risky assets in the equity market. Since the minimax portfolio optimization model provides us with the portfolio that maximizes (minimizes) the worst return (worst loss) realization in the investment horizon period, in order to safeguard the interest of investors, the optimal value of the minimax optimization model is used to design a constraint in the mean-absolute semideviation model. This constraint can be viewed as a safety strategy adopted by an investor. Thus, our proposed bi-objective linear programming model involves mean return as a reward and mean-absolute semideviation as a risk in the objective function and minimax as a safety constraint, which enables a trade off between return and risk with a fixed safety value. The efficient frontier of the model is generated using the augmented -constraint method on the GAMS software. We simultaneously solve the ratio optimization problem which maximizes the ratio of mean return over mean-absolute semideviation with same minimax value in the safety constraint. Subsequently, we choose two portfolios on the above generated efficient frontier such that the risk from one of them is less and the mean return from other portfolio is more than the respective quantities of the optimal portfolio from the ratio optimization model. Extensive computational results and in-sample and out-of-sample analysis are provided to compare the financial performance of the optimal portfolios selected by our proposed model with that of the optimal portfolios from the existing minimax and mean-absolute semideviation portfolio optimization models on real data from S&P CNX Nifty index.     

Resource allocation with stochastic optimal control approach

A control-theoretic decision making system is proposed for an agent (decision maker) to “optimally” allocate and deploy his/her resources over time among a dynamically changing list of opportunities (e.g., financial assets), in an uncertain market environment. The solution is a sequence of actions with the objective of optimizing total reward function. This control-theoretic approach is unique in a sense that it solves the problem at distinct time epochs over a finite time horizon and strategies are discovered directly. Rather than basing a decision making system on forecasts or training via a reinforcement learning algorithm using current state data, we train our system via a Q-learning algorithm using Geometric Brownian Motion as an asset price function. While the above problem is quite general, we focus solely on the problem of dynamic financial portfolio management with the objective of maximizing the expected utility for a given risk level. The performance functions that we consider for our system are realized mean return, drawdown and standard deviation. We find that our model achieves a better return and drawdown compared to a known market index as a benchmark.     

Portfolio-optimization models for small investors

Since 2010, the client base of online-trading service providers has grown significantly. Such companies enable small investors to access the stock market at advantageous rates. Because small investors buy and sell stocks in moderate amounts, they should consider fixed transaction costs, integral transaction units, and dividends when selecting their portfolio. In this paper, we consider the small investor’s problem of investing capital in stocks in a way that maximizes the expected portfolio return and guarantees that the portfolio risk does not exceed a prescribed risk level. Portfolio-optimization models known from the literature are in general designed for institutional investors and do not consider the specific constraints of small investors. We therefore extend four well-known portfolio-optimization models to make them applicable for small investors. We consider one nonlinear model that uses variance as a risk measure and three linear models that use the mean absolute deviation from the portfolio return, the maximum loss, and the conditional value-at-risk as risk measures. We extend all models to consider piecewise-constant transaction costs, integral transaction units, and dividends. In an out-of-sample experiment based on Swiss stock-market data and the cost structure of the online-trading service provider Swissquote, we apply both the basic models and the extended models; the former represent the perspective of an institutional investor, and the latter the perspective of a small investor. The basic models compute portfolios that yield on average a slightly higher return than the portfolios computed with the extended models. However, all generated portfolios yield on average a higher return than the Swiss performance index. There are considerable differences between the four risk measures with respect to the mean realized portfolio return and the standard deviation of the realized portfolio return.     

债券投资组合业绩归因的多期实证研究

目前国内对投资组合的业绩归因研究主要从管理者层面着手,将超额收益的来源归结为择时能力和选股能力,但这并不适用于债券投资。本文基于Campisi模型,对债券定价公式进行分解,从债券自身的特性来研究组合的超额收益来源,并结合GRAP跨期处理方法,形成多期业绩归因模型,对长期债券投资组合进行归因分析。相对于单期的归因模型,多期归因模型可以对任意一段时间内投资组合的超额收益进行归因,而不是单期归因项的简单加总。本文以中证全债指数为基准组合,对32只债券构成的投资组合进行实证研究,结果表明模型符合市场情况和实际操作情况。因此本文提出的多期业绩归因研究具有实用性。     

A dynamic bank portfolio planning model with multiple scenarios,multiple goals and changing priorities

The paper discusses a practical application of a two-stage linear goal programming model to the management of the domestic and foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities of a large bank in Finland. The planning horizon includes three one-year planning periods. A number of alternative scenarios are used to describe uncertainty concerning future developments in these periods. The scenarios are related to general economic conditions as well as the state of the domestic and foreign financial markets. The bank is assumed to have multiple conflicting goals with different and changing priorities. The goals deal with expected profits, risk, liquidity, capital adequacy, growth, customer relationships and several other aspects of the bank's operations.     

Optimal portfolios using linear programming models

The classical quadratic programming (QP) formulation of the well-known portfolio selection problem has traditionally been regarded as cumbersome and time consuming. This paper formulates two additional models: (i) maximin, and (ii) minimization of mean absolute deviation. Data from 67 securities over 48 months are used to examine to what extent all three formulations provide similar portfolios. As expected, the maximin formulation yields the highest return and risk, while the QP formulation provides the lowest risk and return, which also creates the efficient frontier. The minimization of mean absolute deviation is close to the QP formulation. When the expected returns are confronted with the true ones at the end of a 6-month period, the maximin portfolios seem to be the most robust of all.     

A mixed 0–1 LP for index tracking problem with CVaR risk constraints

Index tracking problems are concerned in this paper. A CVaR risk constraint is introduced into general index tracking model to control the downside risk of tracking portfolios that consist of a subset of component stocks in given index. Resulting problem is a mixed 0?C1 and non-differentiable linear programming problem, and can be converted into a mixed 0?C1 linear program so that some existing optimization software such as CPLEX can be used to solve the problem. It is shown that adding the CVaR constraint will have no impact on the optimal tracking portfolio when the index has good (return increasing) performance, but can limit the downside risk of the optimal tracking portfolio when index has bad (return decreasing) performance. Numerical tests on Hang Seng index tracking and FTSE 100 index tracking show that the proposed index tracking model is effective in controlling the downside risk of the optimal tracking portfolio.     

Mean-absolute deviation portfolio optimization for mortgage-backed securities

We develop an integrated simulation/optimization model for managing portfolios of mortgage-backed securities. The mortgage portfolio problem is viewed in the same spirit of models used for the management of portfolios of equities. That is, it trades off rates of return with a suitable measure of risk. In this respect we employ amean-absolute deviation model which is consistent with the asymmetric distribution of returns of mortgage securities and derivative products. We develop a simulation procedure to compute holding period returns of the mortgage securities under a range of interest rate scenarios. The simulation explicitly takes into account the stylized facts of mortgage securities: the propensity of homeowners to prepay their mortgages, and theoption adjusted premia associated with these securities. Details of both the simulation and optimization models are presented. The model is then applied to the funding of a typical insurance liability stream, and it is shown to generate superior results than the standardportfolio immunization approach.     

考虑保守卖空与财务困境的背景风险投资组合模型

如何合理地考虑投资者所面临的背景风险及现实市场限制来进行有效地投资决策是人们所广泛关注的重要实际管理决策问题。本文研究投资者同时面临加性和乘性两类背景风险的前提下具有保守卖空与财务困境的投资组合选择问题。假定投资者寻求使得投资收益最大、投资风险最小及证券主体财务困境最小的最优投资组合策略,进而提出考虑保守卖空与财务困境的背景风险投资组合模型。然后,利用具有精英策略的非支配排序遗传算法对模型进行求解。最后,通过实例来阐述模型的实用性。研究结果表明：考虑保守卖空能为投资者提供更大的收益;两类背景风险的变化均导致有效前沿面的变化。     

A stochastic programming approach to multicriteria portfolio optimization

We study a stochastic programming approach to multicriteria multi-period portfolio optimization problem. We use a Single Index Model to estimate the returns of stocks from a market-representative index and a random walk model to generate scenarios on the possible values of the index return. We consider expected return, Conditional Value at Risk and liquidity as our criteria. With stocks from Istanbul Stock Exchange, we make computational studies for the two and three-criteria cases. We demonstrate the tradeoffs between criteria and show that treating these criteria simultaneously yields meaningful efficient solutions. We provide insights based on our experiments.     

条件收益率下的VaR投资组合研究

本文以新的VaR风险控制体系和价格条件的VaR理论为基础,建立了一种新的最优投资组合模型——μ_s-VaR_s模型。其主要特点有:首先,μ_s-VaR_s模型主要关注相对价格的预期收益和风险,在没有股指期货对冲大盘指数风险的条件下,该模型可以为投资组合跑赢大盘提供了科学思路;其次,在μ_s-VaR_s风模型中,仿照夏普指数创建出了新的选股指标γ_s_i(t),使投资组合更有效率;最后,μ_s-VaR_s模型充分考虑了沪深股票市场的交易成本和交易条件限制,使模型具有较强的现实可用性.经过对沪深股票市场的实证分析发现:μ_s-VaR_s模型明显优于马柯威茨的M-V模型;应用μ_s-VaR_s模型所构建的投资组合的累积收益率显著高于大盘的同期累积收益率.     

含有背景风险的双目标投资组合模型研究

投资者进行投资实践时无不面临着背景风险。绝大多数以均值方差为框架的投资组合并没有考虑背景风险,其效用在实际应用中容易受到背景风险的影响。本文在含有交易费用的双目标函数模型中引入背景风险,从是否含有背景风险和背景风险偏好度大小两方面对投资组合问题展开研究,并使用智能算法得到模型的最优解,对模型进行实证分析。实证结果表明:1)当背景风险收益为0时,含有背景风险的投资组合比不含有背景风险的投资组合更能反映真实的投资环境。2) 当背景风险收益不为0时,含有背景风险的投资组合比不含有背景风险的投资组合得到更高的收益。因此,考虑背景风险后投资组合的构建优于不考虑背景风险投资组合的构建。     

A risk index model for portfolio selection with returns subject to experts’ estimations

Portfolio selection is concerned with selecting an optimal portfolio that can strike a balance between maximizing the return and minimizing the risk among a large number of securities. Traditionally, security returns were regarded as random variables. However, there are cases that the predictions of security returns are given mainly based on experts’ judgements and estimations rather than historical data. In this paper, we introduce a new type of variable to reflect the subjective estimations of the security returns. A risk index for uncertain portfolio selection is proposed and a new safe criterion for judging the portfolio investment is introduced. Based on the proposed risk index, a new mean-risk index model is developed and its crisp forms are given. In addition, to illustrate the application of the model, two numerical examples are also presented.     

Dynamic Index Tracking and Risk Exposure Control Using Derivatives

We develop a methodology for index tracking and risk exposure control using financial derivatives. Under a continuous-time diffusion framework for price evolution, we present a pathwise approach to construct dynamic portfolios of derivatives in order to gain exposure to an index and/or market factors that may be not directly tradable. Among our results, we establish a general tracking condition that relates the portfolio drift to the desired exposure coefficients under any given model. We also derive a slippage process that reveals how the portfolio return deviates from the targeted return. In our multi-factor setting, the portfolio’s realized slippage depends not only on the realized variance of the index but also the realized covariance among the index and factors. We implement our trading strategies under a number of models, and compare the tracking strategies and performances when using different derivatives, such as futures and options.     

On the number of securities which constitute an efficient portfolio

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between the number of securities which constitute an efficient portfolio as defined by the standard mean-variance portfolio selection model and the number of periods used to compute the efficient portfolio. It is shown that the number of data gives the upper bound of the number of securities which constitute an efficient portfolio, when each efficient portfolio is unique for a given expected return. Empirical tests based on actual return data show that this upper bound is very tight when the number of data is small. However, when more data are used, the upper bound becomes looser. This result is incompatible with the market efficiency. These empirical tests also indicate that a very tight upper bound often causes a degenerate case ensuring zero-variance portfolios.     

基于随机因子模型的增强型指数基金

创新性的假设传统的Fama-French三因素模型中的三因素为服从正态分布的随机变量,进而获得了股票收益随机变量的分布信息.采取部分复制的原则建立增强型指数基金随机投资组合优化模型,通过引入投资组合风险概率约束给出增强型指数基金的绝对风险上限,针对增强型指数基金建立基于VaR的超额收益概率约束.引入最买入门槛限制降低增强型指数基金的管理费用,增强其流动性.最后,根据股票收益的概率分布特征,获得基于上述约束的指数基金和增强型指数基金的确定性优化模型,并同时基于上证A股进行了实证分析.