IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v22y2017icp259-267.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the use of the Moore–Penrose generalized inverse in the portfolio optimization problem

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Miyoung
  • Kim, Daehwan

Abstract

When the number of assets (N) exceeds the number of time periods (T), the sample covariance matrix is singular, and the portfolio optimization problem cannot be solved via traditional mean-variance algebra. In such a case, the Moore–Penrose (MP) generalized inverse becomes handy: In this paper, we critically examine the MP solution of the portfolio optimization problem. Our findings include: i) the MP solution leads to a portfolio of “pseudo-riskfree composite assets”; ii) it is orthogonal to principal components, iii) most importantly, it is poorly diversified. We illustrate our findings using equity market data.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Miyoung & Kim, Daehwan, 2017. "On the use of the Moore–Penrose generalized inverse in the portfolio optimization problem," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 259-267.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:22:y:2017:i:c:p:259-267
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2016.12.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612316304056
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2016.12.017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William F. Sharpe, 1963. "A Simplified Model for Portfolio Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 277-293, January.
    2. Ledoit, Olivier & Wolf, Michael, 2003. "Improved estimation of the covariance matrix of stock returns with an application to portfolio selection," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 603-621, December.
    3. Chamberlain, Gary & Rothschild, Michael, 1983. "Arbitrage, Factor Structure, and Mean-Variance Analysis on Large Asset Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(5), pages 1281-1304, September.
    4. Roll, Richard & Ross, Stephen A, 1980. "An Empirical Investigation of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(5), pages 1073-1103, December.
    5. Ryan, Peter J. & Lefoll, Jean, 1981. "A Comment on Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection with Either a Singular or a Non-Singular Variance-Covariance Matrix," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 389-395, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Munish Kansal & Manpreet Kaur & Litika Rani & Lorentz Jäntschi, 2023. "A Cubic Class of Iterative Procedures for Finding the Generalized Inverses," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-18, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zura Kakushadze & Willie Yu, 2016. "Multifactor Risk Models and Heterotic CAPM," Papers 1602.04902, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2016.
    2. Zura Kakushadze & Willie Yu, 2016. "Statistical Risk Models," Papers 1602.08070, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2017.
    3. Maurizio Daniele & Winfried Pohlmeier & Aygul Zagidullina, 2018. "Sparse Approximate Factor Estimation for High-Dimensional Covariance Matrices," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2018-07, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    4. Zura Kakushadze, 2015. "Heterotic Risk Models," Papers 1508.04883, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2016.
    5. Gregory Connor & Lisa R. Goldberg & Robert A. Korajczyk, 2010. "Portfolio Risk Analysis," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9224.
    6. Hannart, Alexis & Naveau, Philippe, 2014. "Estimating high dimensional covariance matrices: A new look at the Gaussian conjugate framework," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 149-162.
    7. Fan, Jianqing & Liao, Yuan & Shi, Xiaofeng, 2015. "Risks of large portfolios," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 186(2), pages 367-387.
    8. Francesco Lautizi, 2015. "Large Scale Covariance Estimates for Portfolio Selection," CEIS Research Paper 353, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 07 Aug 2015.
    9. Jianqing Fan & Xu Han, 2017. "Estimation of the false discovery proportion with unknown dependence," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 79(4), pages 1143-1164, September.
    10. Gabriel Frahm, 0. "Arbitrage Pricing Theory In Ergodic Markets," International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(05), pages 1-28.
    11. Wang, Christina Dan & Chen, Zhao & Lian, Yimin & Chen, Min, 2022. "Asset selection based on high frequency Sharpe ratio," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 227(1), pages 168-188.
    12. Jon Poynter & James Winder & Tzu Tai, 2015. "An analysis of co-movements in industrial sector indices over the last 30 years," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 69-88, January.
    13. Suat Teker & Oscar Varela, 1998. "A comparative analysis of security pricing using factor, macrovariable and arbitrage pricing models," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 22(2), pages 21-41, June.
    14. Attiya Yasmeen Javid, 2000. "Alternative Capital Asset Pricing Models: A Review of Theory and Evidence," PIDE Research Report 2000:3, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    15. Tae-Hwy Lee & Ekaterina Seregina, 2020. "Learning from Forecast Errors: A New Approach to Forecast Combination," Working Papers 202024, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics.
    16. Iwanicz-Drozdowska Małgorzata & Rogowicz Karol & Smaga Paweł, 2023. "Market-moving events and their role in portfolio optimization of generations X, Y, and Z," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 59(4), pages 371-397, December.
    17. Jonathan Fletcher, 2009. "Risk Reduction and Mean‐Variance Analysis: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7‐8), pages 951-971, September.
    18. Geweke, John & Zhou, Guofu, 1996. "Measuring the Pricing Error of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(2), pages 557-587.
    19. Masoud Rahiminezhad Galankashi & Farimah Mokhatab Rafiei & Maryam Ghezelbash, 2020. "Portfolio selection: a fuzzy-ANP approach," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 1-34, December.
    20. Frahm, Gabriel & Memmel, Christoph, 2008. "Dominating estimators for the global minimum variance portfolio," Discussion Papers in Econometrics and Statistics 2/08, University of Cologne, Institute of Econometrics and Statistics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Portfolio optimization with singular covariance matrix; Moore–Penrose generalized inverse; Minimum norm; Principal component; Diversification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • C60 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - General
    • C38 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Classification Methdos; Cluster Analysis; Principal Components; Factor Analysis

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:22:y:2017:i:c:p:259-267. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.