Sensitivity of portfolio VaR and CVaR to portfolio return characteristics

Risk management through marginal rebalancing is important for institutional investors due to the size of their portfolios. We consider the problem of improving marginally portfolio VaR and CVaR through a marginal change in the portfolio return characteristics. We study the relative significance of standard deviation, mean, tail thickness, and skewness in a parametric setting assuming a Student’s t or a stable distribution for portfolio returns. We also carry out an empirical study with the constituents of DAX30, CAC40, and SMI. Our analysis leads to practical implications for institutional investors and regulators.     

基于因子模型的指数跟踪及实证分析

指数跟踪是指数基金和机构投资者广泛使用的被动投资管理策略. 通过建立股票收益的多因子模型, 提出了将组合的贝塔值控制在合适范围内, 并在期望超额收益非负的条件下, 最小化组合风险的指数跟踪模型. 同时,考虑到实际需要, 在模型中限制了组合中股票的数量和持有量.实证分析结果表明, 通过选取不同的控制参数,
该模型产生的跟踪组合既能实现较小的跟踪误差,也能实现一定的超额收益.     

考虑投资者风险态度的随机模糊投资组合模型及实证

考虑投资者面临证券市场随机和模糊的双重不确定性,把证券收益率视为随机模糊变量。在前景理论下考虑投资者的风险态度,建立不同的随机模糊收益率、期望收益隶属度函数和目标权重,构建考虑投资者风险态度的随机模糊投资组合模型。采用实证方法把市场分为下降和上升两个阶段,研究不同风险态度投资者的投资组合差异及模型表现。结果表明:投资者的风险态度会影响投资组合的结构;考虑投资者风险态度的随机模糊投资组合模型,能够满足不同风险态度投资者对投资收益和风险的差异需求,且在实际投资决策中具有可行性。     

Portfolio optimization with a neural network implementation of the coherent market hypothesis

Capital market research seems to be widely governed by traditional static linear models like arbitrage pricing theory and capital asset pricing model, though there is some evidence that better results can be achieved using nonlinear approaches. In this study we described a portfolio optimization model based on artificial neural networks embedded in the framework of a nonlinear dynamic capital market model, the coherent market hypothesis. The main advantage of this theory is that it drops the premise of rational investors and therefore relaxes the precondition of approximately normally distributed stock returns. Neural networks are used to estimate the return distributions in order to forecast the fundamental situation and the level of group behavior of the specific stocks. On the basis of these forecasts the relative stock performance is predicted and used to manage stock portfolios, In a simulation with out-of-sample data from 1991–1994 a portfolio constructed from the eight best ranked stocks achieved an annual return rate about 25% higher than that of the market portfolio and one built from the eight worst ranked stocks attained a return about 25% lower than the market portfolio's return rate. A hedging strategy based on the two aforementioned portfolios leads to a consistently positive annual return of about 25% regardless of the movements of the market portfolio with only 41% of the risk of a buy and hold strategy in the market portfolio.     

A multicriteria optimization model of portfolio rebalancing with transaction costs in fuzzy environment

In this paper we propose multicriteria credibilistic framework for portfolio rebalancing (adjusting) problem with fuzzy parameters considering return, risk and liquidity as key financial criteria. The portfolio risk is characterized by a risk curve that represents each likely loss of the portfolio return and the corresponding chance of its occurrence rather than a single pre-set level of the loss. Furthermore, we consider an investment market scenario where, at the end of a typical time period, the investor would like to modify his existing portfolio by buying and/or selling assets in response to changing market conditions. We assume that the investor pays transaction costs based on incremental discount schemes associated with the buying and/or selling of assets, which are adjusted in the net return of the portfolio. A hybrid intelligent algorithm that integrates fuzzy simulation with a real-coded genetic algorithm is developed to solve the portfolio rebalancing (adjusting) problem. The proposed solution approach is useful particularly for the cases where fuzzy parameters of the problem are characterized by general functional forms.     

基于CVaR约束的指数组合优化模型及实证分析

随着指数衍生产品日益受到重视,指数化投资组合常被投资者或机构所采用,而用有限的资金按指数构成比例进行投资显然是不现实的,所以指数的最优误差追踪就显得更加重要。本文将追踪误差定义为证券投资组合收益率与所追踪的指数基准收益率之差,并在分析CvaR(ConditionalValue at Risk)的基础上,在无交易费用和有交易费用的情况下,建立了基于CVaR约束的追踪误差最小化的指数组合优化模型,对指数进行复制,并通过实证分析,得出了基于CVaR约束的追踪误差最小时的样本期内及样本期外的最优投资策略,验证了CVaR约束控制风险的有效性。     

Twenty years of linear programming based portfolio optimization

Markowitz formulated the portfolio optimization problem through two criteria: the expected return and the risk, as a measure of the variability of the return. The classical Markowitz model uses the variance as the risk measure and is a quadratic programming problem. Many attempts have been made to linearize the portfolio optimization problem. Several different risk measures have been proposed which are computationally attractive as (for discrete random variables) they give rise to linear programming (LP) problems. About twenty years ago, the mean absolute deviation (MAD) model drew a lot of attention resulting in much research and speeding up development of other LP models. Further, the LP models based on the conditional value at risk (CVaR) have a great impact on new developments in portfolio optimization during the first decade of the 21st century. The LP solvability may become relevant for real-life decisions when portfolios have to meet side constraints and take into account transaction costs or when large size instances have to be solved. In this paper we review the variety of LP solvable portfolio optimization models presented in the literature, the real features that have been modeled and the solution approaches to the resulting models, in most of the cases mixed integer linear programming (MILP) models. We also discuss the impact of the inclusion of the real features.     

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.     

Portfolio rebalancing model with transaction costs based on fuzzy decision theory

The fuzzy set is one of the powerful tools used to describe an uncertain environment. As well as quantifying any potential return and risk, portfolio liquidity is taken into account and a linear programming model for portfolio rebalancing with transaction costs is proposed. The level of return that an investor might aspire to, the risk and the liquidity of portfolio are vague in an uncertain financial environment. Considering them as fuzzy numbers, we propose a portfolio rebalancing model with transaction costs based on fuzzy decision theory. An example is given to illustrate the behavior of the proposed model using real data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange.     

Portfolio selection with transaction costs under expected shortfall constraints

An investor subject to proportional transaction costs allocates funds to multiple stocks and a bank account, to maximise the expected growth rate of the portfolio value under Expected Shortfall (ES) constraints. In a numerical example with ten time steps and one stock important innovations are caused by the introduction of the Expected Shortfall constraint: First, expected returns are reduced by less than one-tenth when the ES constraint is introduced. In comparison, economic capital as measured by ES, is reduced to amounts between one-half and three-quarters, when the ES constraint is introduced. Second, the dependence of expected return and ES on the initial portfolio, in particular when transaction costs are high, is largely removed by the introduction of the ES constraint.     

Optimale Portefeuilles für Institutionelle Anleger

Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe der Standardmethode von Markowitz werden optimale Portefeuilles für Pensionskassen und Lebensversicherungen aufgrund von schweizerischem Datenmaterial beberechnet. Dem Umstand, daß es sich um institutionelle Anleger handelt, wird durch die Wahl der Daten Rechnung getragen. Es stellt sich heraus, daß die optimalen Portefeuilles sowohl bei einer nominellen als auch bei einer realen Zielsetzung stets einen geringen Aktienanteil aufweisen. Zudem fällt der Effizienzverlust, welcher aus einer nominellen Zielsetzung der institutionellen Anleger und einer realen Zielsetzung der Versicherten resultiert, extrem klein aus.

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Summary This study analyzes optimal portfolios for pension funds and life insurance compagnies. Portfolios optimal in real or nominal terms are calculated by Markowitz' method using Swiss data. The characteristics of Swiss institutional investors were taken into account by choosing the specific data. The main results are as follows: 1) Common stocks play a minor roll in efficient portfolios. Bonds and real estate dominate. 2) The efficiency loss due to optimizing in nominal terms (as institutional investors tend to do) rather than real terms (as the insured would possibly favor) is extremely small.

     

Fuzzy portfolio model with different investor risk attitudes

We propose a fuzzy portfolio model designed for efficient portfolio selection with respect to uncertain or vague returns. Although many researchers have studied the fuzzy portfolio model, no researcher has yet attempted a behavioral analysis of the investor in the fuzzy portfolio model. To address this problem, we examined investor risk attitudes—risk-averse, risk-neutral, or risk-seeking behaviors—to discover an efficient method for fuzzy portfolio selection. In this study, we relied on the advantages of possibilistic mean–standard deviation models that we believed would fit the risk attitudes of investors. Thus, we developed a fuzzy portfolio model that focuses on different investor risk attitudes so that fuzzy portfolio selection for investors who possess different risk attitudes can be achieved more easily. Finally, we presented a numerical example of a portfolio selection problem to illustrate ways to address problems presented by a variety of investor risk attitudes.     

Enhanced indexation based on second-order stochastic dominance

Second order Stochastic Dominance (SSD) has a well recognised importance in portfolio selection, since it provides a natural interpretation of the theory of risk-averse investor behaviour. Recently, SSD-based models of portfolio choice have been proposed; these assume that a reference distribution is available and a portfolio is constructed, whose return distribution dominates the reference distribution with respect to SSD. We present an empirical study which analyses the effectiveness of such strategies in the context of enhanced indexation. Several datasets, drawn from FTSE 100, SP 500 and Nikkei 225 are investigated through portfolio rebalancing and backtesting. Three main conclusions are drawn. First, the portfolios chosen by the SSD based models consistently outperformed the indices and the traditional index trackers. Secondly, the SSD based models do not require imposition of cardinality constraints since naturally a small number of stocks are selected. Thus, they do not present the computational difficulty normally associated with index tracking models. Finally, the SSD based models are robust with respect to small changes in the scenario set and little or no rebalancing is necessary.     

Building an Optimal Portfolio in Discrete Time in the Presence of Transaction Costs

Abstract

Portfolio theory covers different approaches to the construction of a portfolio offering maximum expected returns for a given level of risk tolerance where the goal is to find the optimal investment rule. Each investor has a certain utility for money which is reflected by the choice of a utility function. In this article, a risk averse power utility function is studied in discrete time for a large class of underlying probability distribution of the returns of the asset prices. Each investor chooses, at the beginning of an investment period, the feasible portfolio allocation which maximizes the expected value of the utility function for terminal wealth. Effects of both large and small proportional transaction costs on the choice of an optimal portfolio are taken into account. The transaction regions are approximated by using asymptotic methods when the proportional transaction costs are small and by using expansions about critical points for large transaction costs.     

A jump model for fads in asset prices under asymmetric information

This paper addresses how asymmetric information, fads and Lévy jumps in the price of an asset affect the optimal portfolio strategies and maximum expected utilities of two distinct classes of rational investors in a financial market. We obtain the investors’ optimal portfolios and maximum expected logarithmic utilities and show that the optimal portfolio of each investor is more or less than its Merton optimal. Our approximation results suggest that jumps reduce the excess asymptotic utility of the informed investor relative to that of uninformed investor, and hence jump risk could be helpful for market efficiency as an indirect reducer of information asymmetry. Our study also suggests that investors should pay more attention to the overall variance of the asset pricing process when jumps exist in fads models. Moreover, if there are very little or too much fads, then the informed investor has no utility advantage in the long run.     

基于收益及收益偏差平方和多期组合投资

本文在分析Markowitz组合投资的基础上,建立考虑交易费用的收益偏差平方和极小化和收益率极大化的动态资产的投资组合模型.通过调整多期投资组合各期的投资数量,保障投资者根据股票市场变化进行易于操作的、相对合理的投资调整策略,为投资者进行风险管理提供决策依据.最后通过释例进行了说明.     

Mean-variance Hedging for Pricing European-type Contingent Claims with Transaction Costs

In this paper,a European-type contingent claim pricing problem with transaction costs is considered by a mean-variance hedging argument.The investor has to pay transaction costs which areproportional to the amount of stock transacted.The writer‘‘s hedging object is to minimize the hedgingrisk,defined as the variance of hedging error at expiration,with a proper expected excess return level.At first, we consider the mean-variance hedging problem:for initial hedging wealth f,maximizing the excess expected return under the minimum hedging risk level V0.On the other hand,we consider a mean-variance portfolio problem,which is to maximize the expected return with initial wealth 0 under the same risk level V0.The minimum initial hedging wealth f,which can offset the difference of the maximum expected return of these two problems,is the writer‘s price.     

Portfolio Selection Problem with Minimax Type Risk Function

The investor's preference in risk estimation of portfolio selection problems is important as it influences investment strategies. In this paper a minimax risk criterion is considered. Specifically, the investor aims to restrict the standard deviation for each of the available stocks. The corresponding portfolio optimization problem is formulated as a linear program. Hence it can be implemented easily. A capital asset pricing model between the market portfolio and each individual return for this model is established using nonsmooth optimization methods. Some numerical examples are given to illustrate our approach for the risk estimation.     

多约束的多阶段积极投资组合模型及实证研究

构建投资组合时需要衡量其风险, 除了考虑组合本身的风险暴露, 还需考虑其相对基准组合的风险暴露. 再者, 确定组合权重时需要根据市场的规则加入合适的约束. 基于此, 为了较为完整地考虑现实投资组合面临的风险及交易约束, 将绝对风险(CVaR)和相对风险(跟踪误差)作为风险约束, 将交易成本、卖空限制和多元权值作为交易限制约束, 构建一个新的多阶段投资组合模型, 并利用动态规划和非线性优化方法进行求解. 最后, 利用上证50成分股中41只股票构建投资组合进行实证研究. 实证结果表明构建的多阶段投资组合模型能持续战胜基准组合且优于单阶段投资组合, 同时也表明模型考虑多元权值约束具有现实意义.     

An exact solution to a robust portfolio choice problem with multiple risk measures under ambiguous distribution

This paper proposes a unified framework to solve distributionally robust mean-risk optimization problem that simultaneously uses variance, value-at-risk (VaR) and conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) as a triple-risk measure. It provides investors with more flexibility to find portfolios in the sense that it allows investors to optimize a return-risk profile in the presence of estimation error. We derive a closed-form expression for the optimal portfolio strategy to the robust mean-multiple risk portfolio selection model under distribution and mean return ambiguity (RMP). Specially, the robust mean-variance, robust maximum return, robust minimum VaR and robust minimum CVaR efficient portfolios are all special instances of RMP portfolios. We analytically and numerically show that the resulting portfolio weight converges to the minimum variance portfolio when the level of ambiguity aversion is in a high value. Using numerical experiment with simulated data, we demonstrate that our robust portfolios under ambiguity are more stable over time than the non-robust portfolios.