Optimal investment of DC pension plan under short-selling constraints and portfolio insurance

In this paper we investigate an optimal investment problem under short-selling and portfolio insurance constraints faced by a defined contribution pension fund manager who is loss averse. The financial market consists of a cash bond, an indexed bond and a stock. The manager aims to maximize the expected S-shaped utility of the terminal wealth exceeding a minimum guarantee. We apply the dual control method to solve the problem and derive the representations of the optimal wealth process and trading strategies in terms of the dual controlled process and the dual value function. We also perform some numerical tests and show how the S-shaped utility, the short-selling constraints and the portfolio insurance impact the optimal terminal wealth.     

Optimal Investment and Consumption with Proportional Transaction Costs in Regime-Switching Model

This paper is concerned with an infinite-horizon problem of optimal investment and consumption with proportional transaction costs in continuous-time regime-switching models. An investor distributes his/her wealth between a stock and a bond and consumes at a non-negative rate from the bond account. The market parameters (the interest rate, the appreciation rate, and the volatility rate of the stock) are assumed to depend on a continuous-time Markov chain with a finite number of states (also known as regimes). The objective of the optimization problem is to maximize the expected discounted total utility of consumption. We first show that for a class of hyperbolic absolute risk aversion utility functions, the value function is a viscosity solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation associated with the optimization problem. We then treat a power utility function and generalize the existing results to the regime-switching case.     

Heston随机波动率市场中带VaR约束的最优投资策略

本文研究了Heston随机波动率市场下, 基于VaR约束下的动态最优投资组合问题。
假设Heston随机波动率市场由一个无风险资产和一个风险资产构成,投资者的目标为最大化其终端的期望效用。与此同时, 投资者将动态地评估其待选的投资组合的VaR风险,并将其控制在一个可接受的范围之内。本文在合理的假设下,使用动态规划的方法,来求解该问题的最优投资策略。在特定的参数范围内,利用数值方法计算出近似的最优投资策略和相应值函数, 并对结果进行了分析。     

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??In this paper, we investigate a robust optimal portfolio and reinsurance problem under inflation risk for an ambiguity-averse insurer (AAI), who worries about uncertainty in model parameters. We assume that the AAI is allowed to purchase proportional reinsurance and invest his/her wealth in a financial market which consists of a risk-free asset and a risky asset. The objective of the AAI is to maximize the minimal expected power utility of terminal wealth. By using techniques of stochastic control theory, closed-form expressions for the value function and optimal strategies are obtained.     

Robust optimal reinsurance and investment strategies for an AAI with multiple risks

This paper studies the robust optimal reinsurance and investment problem for an ambiguity averse insurer (abbr. AAI). The AAI sells insurance contracts and has access to proportional reinsurance business. The AAI can invest in a financial market consisting of four assets: one risk-free asset, one bond, one inflation protected bond and one stock, and has different levels of ambiguity aversions towards the risks. The goal of the AAI is to seek the robust optimal reinsurance and investment strategies under the worst case scenario. Here, the nominal interest rate is characterized by the Vasicek model; the inflation index is introduced according to the Fisher’s equation; and the stock price is driven by the Heston’s stochastic volatility model. The explicit forms of the robust optimal strategies and value function are derived by introducing an auxiliary robust optimal control problem and stochastic dynamic programming method. In the end of this paper, a detailed sensitivity analysis is presented to show the effects of market parameters on the robust optimal reinsurance policy, the robust optimal investment strategy and the utility loss when ignoring ambiguity.     

HARA frontiers of optimal portfolios in stochastic markets

In this paper, we consider the optimal portfolio selection problem in continuous-time settings where the investor maximizes the expected utility of the terminal wealth in a stochastic market. The utility function has the structure of the HARA family and the market states change according to a Markov process. The states of the market describe the prevailing economic, financial, social and other conditions that affect the deterministic and probabilistic parameters of the model. This includes the distributions of the random asset returns as well as the utility function. We analyzed Black–Scholes type continuous-time models where the market parameters are driven by Markov processes. The Markov process that affects the state of the market is independent of the underlying Brownian motion that drives the stock prices. The problem of maximizing the expected utility of the terminal wealth is investigated and solved by stochastic optimal control methods for exponential, logarithmic and power utility functions. We found explicit solutions for optimal policy and the associated value functions. We also constructed the optimal wealth process explicitly and discussed some of its properties. In particular, it is shown that the optimal policy provides linear frontiers.     

跳扩散模型中具有成比例交易费的最优投资消费模型

研究在跳扩散模型中一类最优投资消费问题．假定市场由无风险债券和一种风险股票构成且具有成比例的交易费,在限制卖空股票和借款的条件下,证明了该问题的值函数为相应HJB方程惟一的带状态空间约束的粘性解．     

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.     

On “optimal pension management in a stochastic framework” with exponential utility

This paper reconsiders the optimal asset allocation problem in a stochastic framework for defined-contribution pension plans with exponential utility, which has been investigated by Battocchio and Menoncin [Battocchio, P., Menoncin, F., 2004. Optimal pension management in a stochastic framework. Insurance: Math. Econ. 34, 79-95]. When there are three types of asset, cash, bond and stock, and a non-hedgeable wage risk, the optimal pension portfolio composition is horizon dependent for pension plan members whose terminal utility is an exponential function of real wealth (nominal wealth-to-price index ratio). With market parameters usually assumed, wealth invested in bond and stock increases as retirement approaches, and wealth invested in cash asset decreases. The present study also shows that there are errors in the formulation of the wealth process and control variables in solving the optimization problem in the study of Battocchio and Menoncin, which render their solution erroneous and lead to wrong results in their numerical simulation.     

Stability of Merton's portfolio optimization problem for Lévy models

Merton's classical portfolio optimization problem for an investor, who can trade in a risk-free bond and a stock, can be extended to the case where the driving noise of the logreturns is a pure jump process instead of a Brownian motion. Benth et al. [4,5] solved the problem and found the optimal control implicitly given by an integral equation in the hyperbolic absolute risk aversion (HARA) utility case. There are several ways to approximate a Levy process with infinite activity by neglecting the small jumps or approximating them with a Brownian motion, as discussed in Asmussen and Rosinski [1]. In this setting, we study stability of the corresponding optimal investment problems. The optimal controls are solutions of integral equations, for which we study convergence. We are able to characterize the rate of convergence in terms of the variance of the small jumps. Additionally, we prove convergence of the corresponding wealth processes and indirect utilities (value functions).     

Robust Optimal Portfolio Choice Under Markovian Regime-switching Model

We investigate an optimal portfolio selection problem in a continuous-time Markov-modulated financial market when an economic agent faces model uncertainty and seeks a robust optimal portfolio strategy. The key market parameters are assumed to be modulated by a continuous-time, finite-state Markov chain whose states are interpreted as different states of an economy. The goal of the agent is to maximize the minimal expected utility of terminal wealth over a family of probability measures in a finite time horizon. The problem is then formulated as a Markovian regime-switching version of a two-player, zero-sum stochastic differential game between the agent and the market. We solve the problem by the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman approach.      

Does stock return predictability affect ESO fair value?

Executive Stock Options (ESOs) are modified American options that cannot be valued using standard methods. With a few exceptions, the literature has discussed the ESO fair value by assuming unpredictable stock returns which are not supported by the available empirical evidence. In this paper we obtain the fair value of American ESOs when stock returns are predictable and, specifically, driven by the trending Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process of Lo and Wang (1995). We solve the executive’s portfolio allocation problem for a simple buy-and-hold strategy when his wealth can be distributed between a risk-free asset and a market portfolio. This problem is jointly solved with the executive’s optimal exercise policy. We find that executives tend to wait longer the higher the predictability, independently of the composition of executive’s asset menu. We have also analyzed the implications under the FAS123R proposals for the ESO fair value and found that, even for low autocorrelations, there is a meaningful mispricing when unpredictable returns are erroneously assumed.     

Portfolio selection in discrete time with transaction costs and power utility function: a perturbation analysis

In this article, we study a multi-period portfolio selection model in which a generic class of probability distributions is assumed for the returns of the risky asset. An investor with a power utility function rebalances a portfolio comprising a risk-free and risky asset at the beginning of each time period in order to maximize expected utility of terminal wealth. Trading the risky asset incurs a cost that is proportional to the value of the transaction. At each time period, the optimal investment strategy involves buying or selling the risky asset to reach the boundaries of a certain no-transaction region. In the limit of small transaction costs, dynamic programming and perturbation analysis are applied to obtain explicit approximations to the optimal boundaries and optimal value function of the portfolio at each stage of a multi-period investment process of any length.     

Optimal investment with a constraint on ruin for a fuzzy discrete-time insurance risk model

In this paper, we consider a mean–variance portfolio optimization problem for a fuzzy discrete-time insurance risk model. The model consists of independent, identically distributed net losses considered within successive time periods, and incorporates investment incomes from a two-asset portfolio. More precisely, in the beginning of each period, the surplus is invested in both a risk-free bond with fixed interest, and a risky stock with fuzzy return rate. Our purpose is to determine the proportion invested in the stock that maximizes the insurer’s expected wealth, while reducing his risks. Therefore, for this fuzzy model, we formulate mean–variance optimization problems that also include constraints on ruin, and we present a method for determining the resulting optimal proportion to be invested in the risky stock. This method is illustrated in a numerical study in which the fuzzy return rate is considered to be an adaptive fuzzy number that generalizes the well-known trapezoidal fuzzy number.     

Optimal investment and consumption models with non-linear stock dynamics

We study a generalization of the Merton's original problem of optimal consumption and portfolio choice for a single investor in an intertemporal economy. The agent trades between a bond and a stock account and he may consume out of his bond holdings. The price of the bond is deterministic as opposed to the stock price which is modelled as a diffusion process. The main assumption is that the coefficients of the stock price diffusion are arbitrary nonlinear functions of the underlying process. The investor's goal is to maximize his expected utility from terminal wealth and/or his expected utility of intermediate consumption. The individual preferences are of Constant Relative Risk Aversion (CRRA) type for both the consumption stream and the terminal wealth. Employing a novel transformation, we are able to produce closed form solutions for the value function and the optimal policies. In the absence of intermediate consumption, the value function can be expressed in terms of a power of the solution of a homogeneous linear parabolic equation. When intermediate consumption is allowed, the value function is expressed via the solution of a non-homogeneous linear parabolic equation.     

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.     

含不动产项目的保险公司再保险-投资策略

站在保险公司管理者的角度, 考虑存在不动产项目投资机会时保险公司的再保险--投资策略问题. 假定保险公司可以投资于不动产项目、风险证券和无风险证券, 并通过比例再保险控制风险, 目标是最小化保险公司破产概率并求得相应最佳策略, 包括: 不动产项目投资时机、 再保险比例以及投资于风险证券的金额. 运用混合随机控制-最优停时方法, 得到最优值函数及最佳策略的显式解. 结果表明, 当且仅当其盈余资金多于某一水平(称为投资阈值)时保险公司投资于不动产项目. 进一步的数值算例分析表明: (a)~不动产项目投资的阈值主要受项目收益率影响而与投资金额无明显关系, 收益率越高则投资阈值越低; (b)~市场环境较好(牛市)时项目的投资阈值降低; 反之, 当市场环境较差(熊市)时投资阈值提高.     

Vasicek利率模型下带有零息票债券的投资-消费模型

应用随机最优控制理论研究Vasicek利率模型下的投资-消费问题,其中假设无风险利率是服从Vasicek利率模型的随机过程,且与股票价格过程存在一般相关性.假设金融市场由一种无风险资产、一种风险资产和一种零息票债券所构成,投资者的目标是最大化中期消费与终端财富的期望贴现效用.应用变量替换方法得到了幂效用下最优投资-消费策略的显示表达式,并分析了最优投资-消费策略对市场参数的灵敏度.     

A BSDE approach to risk-based asset allocation of pension funds with regime switching

An asset allocation problem of a member of a defined contribution (DC) pension fund is discussed in a hidden, Markov regime-switching, economy using backward stochastic differential equations, (BSDEs). A risk-based approach is considered, where the member selects an optimal asset mix with a view to minimizing the risk described by a convex risk measure of his/her terminal wealth. Firstly, filtering theory is adopted to transform the hidden, Markov regime-switching, economy into one with complete observations and to develop, (robust), filters for the hidden Markov chain. Then the optimal asset allocation problem of the member is formulated as a two-person, zero-sum stochastic differential game between the member and the market in the economy with complete observations. The BSDE approach is then used to solve the game problem and to characterize the saddle point of the game problem. An explicit expression for the optimal asset mix is obtained in the case of a convex risk measure with quadratic penalty and it can be considered a generalized version of the Merton ratio. An explicit expression for the optimal strategy of the market is also obtained, which leads to a risk-neutral wealth dynamic and may provide some insights into asset pricing in the economy with inflation risk and regime-switching risk. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate financial implications of the BSDE solution.     

Portfolio selection in stochastic markets with HARA utility functions

In this paper, we consider the optimal portfolio selection problem where the investor maximizes the expected utility of the terminal wealth. The utility function belongs to the HARA family which includes exponential, logarithmic, and power utility functions. The main feature of the model is that returns of the risky assets and the utility function all depend on an external process that represents the stochastic market. The states of the market describe the prevailing economic, financial, social, political and other conditions that affect the deterministic and probabilistic parameters of the model. We suppose that the random changes in the market states are depicted by a Markov chain. Dynamic programming is used to obtain an explicit characterization of the optimal policy. In particular, it is shown that optimal portfolios satisfy the separation property and the composition of the risky portfolio does not depend on the wealth of the investor. We also provide an explicit construction of the optimal wealth process and use it to determine various quantities of interest. The return-risk frontiers of the terminal wealth are shown to have linear forms. Special cases are discussed together with numerical illustrations.