15,178 research outputs found
Optimal Investment Under Transaction Costs: A Threshold Rebalanced Portfolio Approach
We study optimal investment in a financial market having a finite number of
assets from a signal processing perspective. We investigate how an investor
should distribute capital over these assets and when he should reallocate the
distribution of the funds over these assets to maximize the cumulative wealth
over any investment period. In particular, we introduce a portfolio selection
algorithm that maximizes the expected cumulative wealth in i.i.d. two-asset
discrete-time markets where the market levies proportional transaction costs in
buying and selling stocks. We achieve this using "threshold rebalanced
portfolios", where trading occurs only if the portfolio breaches certain
thresholds. Under the assumption that the relative price sequences have
log-normal distribution from the Black-Scholes model, we evaluate the expected
wealth under proportional transaction costs and find the threshold rebalanced
portfolio that achieves the maximal expected cumulative wealth over any
investment period. Our derivations can be readily extended to markets having
more than two stocks, where these extensions are pointed out in the paper. As
predicted from our derivations, we significantly improve the achieved wealth
over portfolio selection algorithms from the literature on historical data
sets.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Signal Processin
Wisdom of the institutional crowd
The average portfolio structure of institutional investors is shown to have
properties which account for transaction costs in an optimal way. This implies
that financial institutions unknowingly display collective rationality, or
Wisdom of the Crowd. Individual deviations from the rational benchmark are
ample, which illustrates that system-wide rationality does not need nearly
rational individuals. Finally we discuss the importance of accounting for
constraints when assessing the presence of Wisdom of the Crowd.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure
Efficient option pricing with transaction costs
A fast numerical algorithm is developed to price European options with proportional transaction costs using the utility-maximization framework of Davis (1997). This approach allows option prices to be computed by solving the investor’s basic portfolio selection problem without insertion of the option payoff into the terminal value function. The properties of the value function can then be used to drastically reduce the number of operations needed to locate the boundaries of the no-transaction region, which leads to very efficient option valuation. The optimization problem is solved numerically for the case of exponential utility, and comparisons with approximately replicating strategies reveal tight bounds for option prices even as transaction costs become large. The computational technique involves a discrete-time Markov chain approximation to a continuous-time singular stochastic optimal control problem. A general definition of an option hedging strategy in this framework is developed. This involves calculating the perturbation to the optimal portfolio strategy when an option trade is executed
Risk Without Return
Risk-only investment strategies have been growing in popularity as
traditional in- vestment strategies have fallen short of return targets over
the last decade. However, risk-based investors should be aware of four things.
First, theoretical considerations and empirical studies show that apparently
dictinct risk-based investment strategies are manifestations of a single
effect. Second, turnover and associated transaction costs can be a substantial
drag on return. Third, capital diversification benefits may be reduced. Fourth,
there is an apparent connection between performance and risk diversification.
To analyze risk diversification benefits in a consistent way, we introduce the
Risk Diversification Index (RDI) which measures risk concentrations and
complements the Herfindahl-Herschman Index (HHI) for capital concentrations
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Migration, credit markets, moral hazard, interlinkage.
A fast numerical algorithm is developed to price European options with
proportional transaction costs using the utility maximization framework
of Davis (1997). This approach allows option prices to be computed by
solving the investor's basic portfolio selection problem, without the inser-
tion of the option payo into the terminal value function. The properties
of the value function can then be used to drastically reduce the number of
operations needed to locate the boundaries of the no transaction region,
which leads to very e cient option valuation. The optimization problem
is solved numerically for the case of exponential utility, and comparisons
with approximately replicating strategies reveal tight bounds for option
prices even as transaction costs become large. The computational tech-
nique involves a discrete time Markov chain approximation to a continuous
time singular stochastic optimal control problem. A general de nition of
an option hedging strategy in this framework is developed. This involves
calculating the perturbation to the optimal portfolio strategy when an
option trade is execute
Sparse and stable Markowitz portfolios
We consider the problem of portfolio selection within the classical Markowitz
mean-variance framework, reformulated as a constrained least-squares regression
problem. We propose to add to the objective function a penalty proportional to
the sum of the absolute values of the portfolio weights. This penalty
regularizes (stabilizes) the optimization problem, encourages sparse portfolios
(i.e. portfolios with only few active positions), and allows to account for
transaction costs. Our approach recovers as special cases the
no-short-positions portfolios, but does allow for short positions in limited
number. We implement this methodology on two benchmark data sets constructed by
Fama and French. Using only a modest amount of training data, we construct
portfolios whose out-of-sample performance, as measured by Sharpe ratio, is
consistently and significantly better than that of the naive evenly-weighted
portfolio which constitutes, as shown in recent literature, a very tough
benchmark.Comment: Better emphasis of main result, new abstract, new examples and
figures. New appendix with full details of algorithm. 17 pages, 6 figure
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